On Wednesday, high school athletes from across central Alberta competed in cross-country regionals in hopes of earning a spot in provincials.
As a result, approximately 112 players will represent their school at the 2024 ASAA Cross-Country Running Championships at the Wapiti Nordic Ski Club in Grande Prairie on Oct. 19.
Among the 4A schools, Lindsay Thurber High School finished in first with 178 points including 50 from the junior boys and 25 from the senior girls. Hunting Hills High School claimed second place with 91 points with 25 from the senior boys and Notre Dame came in third with 79 points with 45 from the intermediate boys.
Paige Giesbrecht from St. Augustine School in Ponoka won gold as the lone competitor in the girl's para two kilometre run. She finished the run in 26:42.2.
On the boy's side, Gerrit Bruggencate from Lacombe Composite (10:21.3), Ben McEvoy from Iron Ridge Secondary Campus (13:44.7), and Aaron Browne from Camrose Composite (19:09.4) were the top three finishers.
In the junior girl's four-kilometre run, Brit Tans from Lacombe Composite (17:31.0), Ella Younger from Coronation High (17:45.7), and Sue Butterfield from Lacombe Composite (18:21.7) all finished on the podium.
Among the junior boys, two runners from Lindsay Thurber High School Finn McKinnon and Taha Zarhmoul came in first and second in 14:40.5 and 14:44.4. Jhett Thue from Bawlf School won the bronze medal in 15:00.0.
The intermediate boys and girls ran five kilometres. The top finishers were Kate MacDonald from Bawlf School (25:15.3), Naomi Schmitt from Lindsay Thurber (23:16.4), and Kylar Cornelssen from Stettler (23:44.5). On the boys side, Cody Mills from Notre Dame (19:31.9), Nash Ronnie from Ponoka (19:50.4), and Harrison Grant from Notre Dame (20:07.4).
In the senior girl's competition, they ran five kilometres, meanwhile, the senior boys ran six kilometres. Notre Dame's McKenna Victor took home the gold medal 23:02.9 followed by Camrose's Ava Heie (23:29.8) and Lindsay Thurber's Amelia Roberts (23:48.2).
Lacombe's Brady Keller won gold in the senior boys run in 20:38.2 followed by Hunting Hills Josh Sloan (22:31.4) and Lindsay Thurber's Noah Hoffart (23:04.8).
