Thank you very much to Orienteering Ottawa for presenting the Ottawa Sports Pages’ XC Week! Orienteering is like cross-country running, with a few extra exciting twists and turns. Find out about the adventure that awaits you here.
By Isabella Disley
The junior girls’ race produced the closest finish of the day at the national capital high school cross-country running championships on Oct. 23 at the Hornets Nest, and all three of the local medallists who finished within 5.5 seconds of one another promise to challenge for the provincial podium at the 2025 OFSAA XC Championships on Nov. 1 in Brampton.
John McCrae’s Alexandra Harris was the bronze medal winner at OFSAA XC last fall, but she found herself only with the same colour medal at this year’s city finals. Ashbury’s Reem Alabed and Glebe’s Reve McInnes loudly signalled their potential for top provincial placements with their dash to the finish of the five-kilometre course in 18:55.1 and 18:56.9 respectively.
McInnes, who finished 1:16 back of Harris last year at OFSAA in 52nd place and 47.3 back at 2024 cities in third, showcased her improved form, while Alabed’s has been unbeatable in local meets since her return to Ottawa for this school year.
Ever since she was young, Alabed has moved back and forth between Egypt and Ottawa, and several other stops around the globe following her mother’s diplomatic postings. Success has followed her along the way.
“I was in seventh grade in Abu Dhabi, and I made the travel team for my school,” recounted Alabed. “Then we went to Austria, and I won that competition. I just kept winning all the other competitions at international.
“I run every day, even if it’s a shorter run some days, and I take rest days, obviously, but I try to run every day.”
While Alabed has raced in front of pyramids on hot and sandy terrain in Egypt, Ottawa offers a different type of challenge. Alabed expressed that it’s way colder than the weather she’s used to running in, while underlining that it’s “really nice” to live in Canada and attend Ashbury.
With competition day being a bit stressful, Alabed appreciated having the support of her mom, teammates and coach to help relieve the stress.
She may be new to high school cross-country running in Ottawa, but Alabed said she was well-aware that runners in blue and gold from the Glebe Gryphons could offer a stiff challenge.
“They’re a really good team, and they’re all such good runners,” she highlighted.
Out of breath after winning a furious sprint to the finish line, Alabed said with a grin on her face that her favourite part about cross-country is finishing.
McInnes earned a pair of podium finishes as her Gryphons posted the lowest point total out of all six divisions at the national capital finals.
McInnes, Stella Vickers (eighth), Leonie Ravard (ninth) and Anabelle Muir (13th) combined for Glebe’s impressive score of 32 points, while Eve Steffler provided solid support in 17th.
“I’m really happy to be part of the Glebe team. It’s a really strong team, and it’s really cool,” said McInnes, who started running in Grade 7 and cross-country in Grade 8, and later joined the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club.
At the starting line, the junior girl Gryphons stood in a circle and yelled a cheer before confidently lining up.
“It’s really enjoyable,” McInnes indicated. “It’s always good to have a good team at the start, and just to help you get hyped and ready for your race.”
The Nepean Knights put in a strong second-place team performance with 57 points – also the second-best total among all junior and senior divisions.
Charlie Fee led the way with her 19:11.6 fourth-place clocking, followed by Charlotte Eccles (seventh), Avery Vlad (16th), Helena Winkel (30th) and Nika Wallner (44th).
Joining Alabed and Harris as individual OFSAA qualifiers are St-Laurent Academy’s Lila Gauthier (fifth), Colonel By’s Kira Coldrey (sixth) and St. Pius’ Morgan Popwych (10th).
Two days after their 5k city final race and a week before OFSAA, a pair of the top local finishers became provincial champions, but on the soccer turf instead of the cross-country grass. Vickers and Gauthier are teammates with the Ottawa TFC under-15 girls’ soccer team, which won the Ontario Player Development League Charity Shield on Oct. 25 in Toronto. (Look for more coverage on that on OttawaSportsPages.ca in the coming days.)
The Ottawa Sports Pages will be posting race-by-race recaps and photo galleries each weekday leading into the Nov. 1 OFSAA XC Championships. Find them all on our XC Week webpage, presented by Orienteering Ottawa.
NCXC25 Junior Girls’ Photo Gallery
