Glebe Gryphons city cross-country championship reign reaches 8

By Charlie Pinkerton

It was a typically dominant performance by the Glebe Gryphons cross-country team on a perfect day that brought 810 runners together for the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association’s cross-country championships. The Gryphons won their 8th straight overall aggregate crown, winning team titles in 4 of 6 races (midget and senior boys and girls).

But for Glebe Collegiate Institute coach Kirk Dillabaugh, it was his junior girls’ team (2nd place in their division) whose performance was most special. Last year in the midget division, those Gryphon girls born in 2002 placed 4th.

“They were really passionate; they worked really hard this year and really wanted to qualify (for OFSAA),” reflects Dillabaugh, whose junior girls garnered their 2nd place finish with their scoring runners finishing in spots 8, 12, 13, 34.

The two schools with the lowest team points score in each division (calculated by their top-4 runners’ placings) qualified five runners for the Nov. 4 OFSAA provincial championships in Petawawa, while the best five individuals not already qualified as part of teams also earned OFSAA berths.

“They get a spot and that’s huge,” Dillabaugh said at the end of Thursday’s meet. “It makes me really happy when the kids come through like that.”

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The best divisional score went to Glebe’s senior girls, who landed finishes in spots 1, 2, 3, and 7 for a low on the day of 13. At OFSAA, the Glebe Gryphons will look to win their 6th OFSAA girls’ aggregate championship in a row.

Find photos from the races on SportsOttawa.com’s Facebook page and read full Ottawa Sportspage recaps of each race here:

Midget girls

Midget boys

Junior girls

Junior boys

Senior girls

Senior boys

Full results can be found here:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/0c8daa_b7a6c58cd56145c8a501bd38bc75ba5a.pdf