A pair of records were smashed in the North Zone Cross Country Running Championships Wednesday at Kal Provincial Park.
A total of 72 high school runners competed on avery fast day with both the girls and boys course records shattered for the second straight year.
Armstrong’s Mack Moody (Pleasant Valley Saints) was once again the class of the boys’ field knocking 15 seconds off the course record, finishing the 5.8-kilometre route in 21 minutes and 49 seconds.
Vernon Panther Conner Johnston had his best race of the season, finishing second in 22:41, just five seconds ahead of Salmon Arm Golds’ Jon Bakker.
Liam McGrath of Seaton was runner-up in the junior boys class, in 22:55, nine seconds behind winner Bruce Mobler of the Revelstoke Rams. Joey Kohut of the Fulton Maroons took fourth junior and eighth overall, at 23:50.
Sam Eggert of VSS finished 14th in 24:23, while Ricardo Gonzalez of Fulton was 16th in 24:53.
In the girls four-kilometre race, Salmon Arm’s Glynis Sim won in 15:20, obliterating the course record she set last year by 43 seconds.
Hanna Bennison of the Panthers challenged Sim the whole way and placed one second back. The lead pair were a full two minutes ahead of the third-place runner, Emmy Sim of Salmon Arm. Megan Johnston of VSS was fourth in 17:23.
Tabeau Nouschuet of the Seaton Sonics won the junior girls category in 19:44, good for 11th overall. Samantha Loewen of the Panthers was seventh in 18:55, while Jessica Laflamme of PVSS was ninth in 19:14.
In the team competition, VSS took the senior boys’ pennant and second place in senior girls, while Fulton beat out Shuswap Middle School to take third in the junior boys.
The Okanagan Valley Championships go Tuesday in Kamloops, followed by the B.C. finals, Saturday, Nov. 2, in Langley.
