HIGH ACHIEVERS: Glebe, Nepean ready to clash again in NCSSAA cross-country running championships

By Martin Cleary

There’s an intriguing, double-barrelled question hanging over the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association cross-country running championships, which are Thursday at the Hornets Nest.

Will the Glebe Collegiate Institute Gryphons stretch their boys and girls’ team aggregate dominance to 15 straight titles or will the Nepean High School Knights put a stop to it and match their 2009 performance, which was the last time a non-Glebe school was the overall champion?

Based on the results of this week’s West and East Conference cross-country running championships, the powerhouse programs from Glebe and Nepean will be going head-to-head once again with talented teams like the Colonel By Cougars, Ashbury Colts, John McCrae Bulldogs and Paul-Desmarais Patriotes trying to create their own pathways to the medal podium.

Under long-time teacher-coach Kirk Dillabaugh, Glebe has recruited, developed and produced hundreds of overland runners in the past 15 years and won the NCSSAA cross-country team aggregate title in the last 14 championships. The event was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The last time a non-Gryphon team won the city high school points aggregate title was in 2009 by Nepean, when it held off the defending champion of 2008… Glebe.

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The Gryphons will fly into the 2025 NCSSAA championships with great force and power, after registering an amazing 58 team points out of a possible 60 in the East Conference finals. The Glebe runners won five of the six age classes (girls’ novice, junior and senior and boys’ novice and senior), which were worth 10 points each, and were second in the boys’ junior class for another eight points.

It was the ninth straight East Conference title for Glebe (2016-25), which shifted from the West Conference, after winning that championship in 2015.

Despite the superior effort by the Gryphons, Colonel By showed its true strength by amassing a respectable 44 points. Ashbury was third in the East Conference team standings at 23 points.

After Glebe departed the West Conference in 2015, Nepean took control of the challenging cross-country courses and has strung together nine straight conference aggregate team titles.

The Knights’ girls’ teams have been the backbone of Nepean’s cross-country program for the past two years under long-time teacher-coach James White.

At the 2024 and this week’s 2025 West Conference championships, Nepean girls won the novice, junior and senior team titles for the maximum 30 aggregate points. The boys’ junior and senior teams contributed eight points for second place and two points for seventh this season.

Here is a breakdown of the East and West Conference championships by age-group divisions:

GIRLS’ NOVICE, 4 kilometres

Glebe placed its four scoring runners in the top 10 at the East Conference championships as Roan Gerth won the race in 14 minutes, 45.3 seconds, while teammate Charlotte Blondin was third in 15:52.6, pacing the Gryphons to an unmatched 19 team placement points.

Hannah Potter was fifth in 15:56.4 and Lottie Honeywell Doubbin was 10th in 16:43.1 for Glebe. Glebe also had eight of its 15 runners finish in the top 20.

Zoe Allina had a double second-place experience as the individual race runner-up in 15:22.4 and helped Colonel By, which entered the race with the minimum of four runners, fill that spot in the team category with 88 points. De La Salle was third on the team list with 92 points.

While Nepean had only one runner in the top 10 at the West Conference championships, the Knights put together four consistent runners for a winning 80 points.

Priya Bilcock paced the Knights in fifth at 15:46.7 and was followed by teammates Anna Hennigan, 16th at 16:38.6, Penelope Curley, 22nd at 16:57.0, and Charlotte Chang-Duffet, 37th at 18:11.3.

It was the third straight year Nepean had won the girls’ novice team title, after placing second in 2022.

Paul-Desmarais and All Saints were second and third respectively this season in the team standings with 102 points and 105 points.

Keira Ganton of Maplewood was the novice race champion in 15:20.2 as she held off runner-up Saoirse Hoogenraad of Longfields-Davidson Heights in 15:22.1 and third-place finisher Chloe Dustin of Earl of March in 15:25.9.

GIRLS’ JUNIOR, 5 kilometres

Glebe also compiled a low team winning total of 22 as its four scoring runners were third, fifth, sixth and eighth, while three other teammates were ninth, 10th and 12th. Colonel By was second at 62 points and Ashbury took third with 71 points.

Reve McInnes of Glebe was third in 20:06.7 as Ashbury’s Reem Alabed, who has moved back to Canada from Egypt, won the race in 19:37.6 and Lila Gauthier of St. Laurent Academy was third in 19:59.2. Gauthier and McInnes were one-two respectively in the conference novice race in 2024.

The other Glebe scorers were Stella Vickers, fifth in 20:38.0, Leonie Ravard, sixth in 21:07.1, and Anabelle Muir, eighth in 22:03.3.

Nepean had an impressive effort in the West Conference championships, accumulating 27 team points, which was highlighted by a pair of top-three finishes.

Charlotte Eccles, who was fourth in the conference novice finals last year, placed first in 19:47.40, while teammate Charlie Fee, the 2024 conference novice runner-up, took third at 20:06.4. John McCrae’s Alexandra Harris, the 2024 OFSAA novice bronze medallist, was second in 20:03.2.

The Knights’ scoring team was completed by Avery Vlad, sixth in 21:49.4 and Nika Wallner, 17th in 23:22.4.

McCrae was second among the teams at 46, including a fifth-place result from Autumn Sakiyama in 21:46.1, and Sir Robert Borden took third with 76 points.

GIRLS’ SENIOR, 6 kilometres

The tightest girls’ team points race was in this category as Colonel By led Glebe after each of their first three runners crossed the finish, but surrendered the title, when their respective fourth-best runners came to a stop.

Glebe finished with 47 points, while By counted 49 points. Ashbury was third with 64 points.

Julia Van Wesenbeeck was Glebe’s top runner, placing eighth in 26:20.7 and was followed by Gryphon teammates Fenna Irish, 10th in 27:19.9, Kailena Allen, 13th in 28:19.0, and Fiona Quinn-Crook, 16th in 28:49.5.

By’s best four were race champion Laila Lebel, the 2024 conference junior winner, in 23:19.9, Kathryn MacDonald, seventh in 26:05.4, Jade Amber, 11th in 27:29.1, and Rosie Lee, 30th in 30:19.5.

The individual podium was rounded out by runner-up Evelyn Davies of Immaculata in 23:53.0, and Hillcrest’s Emily Munro, who was third in 24:12.0.

Davies and Van Wesenbeeck were second and third respectively in senior at the 2024 conference finals.

Nepean successfully defended its West Conference senior team title with 50 points, while the 14-runner Merivale team was second with 69 points and Earl of March claimed third with 81 points.

Edie Petrescu-Comnene paced Nepean with a second-place result in 23:50.6. The next best three scorers for the Knights were Gabrielle Forestier, seventh in 25:45.9, Olivia Voros, 19th in 27:36.9, and Annie Hume, 22nd in 27:48.6.

Franco-Ouest’s Kyra Lauter, the 2023 conference junior champion and third in her senior debut in 2024, was the race winner in a comfortable 22:53.3, while teammate Myla Carleton, who was a conference runner-up the last two years in junior and novice, was third in 24:02.7.

BOYS’ NOVICE, 4 kilometres

Colonel By runners took control of this race to finish first and second in the individual standings, but Glebe earned the team title over the Cougars by a margin of 28 points to 40 points.

Glebe’s four scoring runners charged into the top 10: third-place finisher Frank Schreiner in 13:41.5, Oliver Vyvey, sixth in 14:05.2, Adrian Wells, ninth in 14:44.3, and Willem Shelswell De Vlieger, 10th in 14:51.9.

By appeared to be headed for the team title after its first three runners, but the fourth-place finisher for the Cougars and the Gryphons decided the issue.

The top runners for the Cougars were Grade 9 race champion Graeme Siderius in 12:34.7 with a pace of 3:08/km, Kai Lebel, second in 13:23.7, Robert Ross, fifth in 13:54.2, and Luca Abi Chahine, 32nd in 17:07.8.

St. Peter took third place in the team standings with 84 points.

In the West Conference, Paul-Desmarais posted a comfortable team victory with 46 points, while Sacred Heart took second at 123 points and Longfields-Davidson Heights was third with 137 points.

Jake Claydon-St. John of McCrae earned first place in novice in 13:28.50. A.Y. Jackson’s Jaiden Taft was second in 13:30.6 and Sam Larocque of Longfields-Davidson Heights claimed third in 14:22.7. Ian Duncan was the best runner for Sacred Heart in fourth place at 14:31.1.

BOYS’ JUNIOR, 5 kilometres

Immaculata climbed one position in the team standings from the 2024 conference championships and won the junior title with 48 points. Glebe had a matching 48 points, but was placed second, after officials applied the tiebreaking formula (the better-placed fourth runner).

Canterbury was a close third with 53 points on the strength of performances by Onyx Sineus and Zain Sineus, who were second and fourth respectively in 17:43.50 and 18:32.8.

The members of the winning Immaculata team were Aleks Scullion, sixth in 18:38.3, Colden Davies, seventh in 19:08.4, Scout Cronkwright, 17th in 19:39.8, and Joshua Roseman, 18th in 19:45.0.

The top four scoring runners for Glebe were race winner Theo Hurst in 17:25.7, Adrian Rivers, eighth in 19:11.6, Nate Pilkington, 19th in 20:10.6, and Nicholas Behrend, 20th in 20:12.3.

The top-three individual standings were completed by William Saikaly of Colonel By in 18:00.8.

After winning the 2024 West Conference novice title, Brody Charbot of St. Francis Xavier kept the ball rolling and captured the junior title by a large margin in 17:34.6.

Theo Yakimchuk of McCrae recorded a second-place finish in 18:28.4 and Victor Curran of Redeemer Christian took third in 18:47.4.

Yakimchuk also had a taste of victory as he sparked McCrae to the junior team title with 65 points. He had strong support from Daniel Jovic, fifth in 19:18.5, Bennett McLellan, 26th in 21:04.7, and Odin Roeste, 32nd in 21:38.0.

BOYS’ SENIOR, 6 kilometres

For the third time in their careers, Owen Siderius of Colonel By and Charlie Mortimer of Hillcrest posted top-two results in the East Conference finals.

This year, Siderius was the winner in his second year as a senior in 20:07.6, while Mortimer finished second in 20:08.6.

As juniors in 2023, Mortimer was the champion and Siderius was the runner-up. In novice in 2022, Siderius reached the finish line ahead of Mortimer.

Siderius and Henry Taylor, who was sixth in 20:51.0, helped By to a second-place team result with 42 points, while Glebe was first with 37 points and Lisgar was slotted third with 64 points.

Glebe’s four scoring runners were Charlie Wolff, fifth in 20:47.6, Erich Schreiner, eighth in 20:54.6, Oscar Gorall, 11th in 21:10.6, and Lluc Bou, 13th in 21:14.4.

Third place in the individual race went to Evan James Rebane of Louis-Riel in 20:25.5.

Jackson McKercher of McCrae came within six seconds of winning his fourth consecutive West Conference title. After winning the senior, junior and novice championships in the past three years respectively, he was third this year in senior in 20:10.1.

Jamie Charlebois of Sacred Heart experienced his first top-three conference result, when he won the senior race in 20:04.6. St. Joseph’s Owen Recoskie improved to third in 20:06.1, after back-to-back fourths in senior in 2024 and junior in 2023.

McKercher and teammates Quinn Wolfe, 10th in 21:32.2, Mateo Harris, 11th in 21:40.5, and Yusuf Elmasry, 14th in 22:15.1 gave McCrae the team title with 38 points. St. Joseph was second with 79 points and Merivale was placed third with 79 points.

ALESSANDRO VIVOLO SELECTED OCAA’S TOP MEN’S SOCCER PLAYER

Algonquin College Wolves Alessandro Vivolo, a centre back turned right winger, has been named the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association men’s soccer player of the year.

In nine regular season games this season, Vivolo scored 16 goals to spark the Wolves to the East Division championship with a 9-1 record, which was one point ahead of Seneca College Stingers.

The OCAA and East Division scoring champion also was selected as a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association All-Canadian and a league first-team all-star.

The OCAA first all-star team also included Algonquin’s Cristian Aviles-Molina of Ottawa. Algonquin’s Azeez Al-Hammond of Ottawa, Shawn-Allen Guillaume of Aylmer, PQ, and Nick Parry of Ottawa were second-team all-star selections. Al-Hammond also was placed on the East Division all-rookie squad.