Quesnel schools ran a successful weekend at the zone championships in Vanderhoof.
Both QJS and Correlieu runners were competing for the chance to head to the cross-country championships in Langley next month.
Both Correlieu coach Pat Marsh and QJS coach Scott Trueman were happy with their runner’s performances, with Trueman noting his team’s growth.
“Overall, the QJS team improved considerably from the beginning of the season, with several athletes improving their times by two to three minutes compared with the same course just over a month ago,” he said.
Olivia Baptiste, a grade nine student from QJS beat grade 10, 11 and 12 girls to finish first overall in the girls category. The top 20 runners from both the girls and boys categories earned the chance to continue to provincials.
The top 20 girls included Avery Drew, a gr. 8 student at QJS, in fifth, Baylee McGillivray, a gr. 10 Correlieu student, in 11th, Correlieu gr. 10 student Kyra Teetzen in 12th and Mia Kozak, a gr. 10 student at Correlieu, in 16th.
In the boys category, Cole Dinsdale, a gr. 10 Correlieu student, found himself on the podium, taking third overall. Konrad Teetzen, a gr. 12 Correlieu student, finished in seventh, followed by gr. 9 QJS student Dane Jacobsen. Dylan Cathcart, a gr. 10 student at Correlieu, took 17th, with Brodie Lamarche, a gr. 12 Correlieu student, on his heels in 18th.
The Correlieu boys team, Teetzen, Dinsdale, Cathcart, Lamarche and Jon Richardson, took second in the tournament, allowing them to go to provincials as a team.
They will be joined by McGillivray, Kyra Teetzen, ad Mia Kozak also from Correlieu and Baptiste, Drew and Jacobsen from QJS
BC School Sports has sanctioned the first ever junior cross-country provincials this year, also in Langley on November second.
Trueman has chosen to enter a team of his runners into the junior race as well.
The QJS’s girls team, consisting of Olivia Baptiste, Avery Drew, Cassidy Giesbrecht, and Lyra Jonasson. Giesbrecht was fourth in her bantam division and Jonasson fifth. Boys, Liam Matzner, who finished fifth in juvenile, and Ryan Elden will be down at the same time to compete in the XC Junior Provincial Championships.
Runners are now back in training for provincials.
