NCXC26: Rookie Paul-Desmarais XC runner claims senior boys’ individual bronze, team gold in debut

By Dan Plouffe

About the worst question you could ask Raphael Markarian is to pick his favourite sport. He loves too many of them.

His main athletic pursuit, if you were to reframe the query, would likely be competitive fencing with Ottawa Fencing.

That became the Grade 12 Paul-Desmarais student’s primary focus in recent years, although he had a background in soccer before high school. He also plays ultimate and swims for his school.

“I’ve been falling in love with Hyrox lately,” adds Markarian, referencing the race circuit that involves a series of one-kilometre runs interspersed with fitness tests such as sled push, burpee broad jumps and sandbag lunges.

He’s a big fan of trail running too.

“I love seeing nature that way,” he says. “If I can get outdoors, I’d rather the trail over the track.”

This fall, another candidate has emerged in Markarian’s collection of favourite sporting endeavours – cross-country running.

He didn’t find the big hills the friendliest compared to his earlier running experiences, but strong legs from years of fencing training, and everything else, helped him cope with that new challenge.

After making his track-and-field debut for the Patriotes in the steeplechase this past spring, Markarian upped his run training considerably throughout the summer, and he’s made time to fit it into his jam-packed schedule this fall too, often practicing on his own for 30 minutes to an hour at night.

“I usually go around 11 because the day is so busy,” notes Paul-Desmarais’s student council president who plans to attend the University of Waterloo next year to study astrophysics, be on the fencing team and hopefully now the running team as well.

“Cross-country is an all-around amazing sport,” Markarian signals. “People are so inclusive. Anybody can run at any pace and we’re always going to be happy and proud of them.

“It’s an amazing sport and I’ll definitely be doing it in the future.”

Markarian’s views on the sport were greatly enhanced by his experience at the 2026 national capital high school cross-country running championships, which were his first.

The XC rookie found himself right at the front of the senior boys’ race in a three-man sprint to the finish at Mooney’s Bay on Oct. 28. Markarian wound up taking third place in 20:36.09 for the 6 km course, within .4 seconds of the gold medal-winning time.

But he can call himself a city champion nonetheless as the Patriotes’ lineup of Markarian, Logan McGarvie (fourth place), Evan Theriault (15th) and Tristan Von Teichman (32nd) combined to win the senior boys’ team title by seven placement points over Glebe.

“I think it’s our first time qualifying as a team for OFSAA, so I’m insanely proud of all my teammates,” Markarian highlights. “They push me harder than I’ve ever been pushed, so I’m very grateful for them. Our team is probably the best I could ever ask for.”

Markarian salutes McGarvie for inspiring him to try cross-country after learning that sport was within the strong sprinter/soccer player’s repertoire, he thanks Von Teichman for getting him into trail running and Theriault for his “crazy” work ethic, and he’s “very excited” to get the chance to run at the OFSAA XC Championships on Nov. 4 in Sudbury.

“I’ve only been running for one season. It shows that you can do so much in a short amount of time,” reflects Markarian. “I was active before I started running, so that could explain a bit of why the results have kind of skyrocketed. But at the heart of it, if you put in the hours and put in the time, you’re gonna see results no matter what.

“That’s what I really love about it. I love seeing the progress. It’s a beautiful feeling and I’m very grateful.”

Louis Picton of De La Salle became a first-time champion as well at the cross-country city championships, winning the final sprint to finish in 20:35.70, just ahead of Redeemer Christian’s Ezra Van Gilst in 20:36.07.

“I didn’t want to go too hard the first times up the hill, I didn’t really want to blow up, and it seemed like everyone kind of thought that too,” Picton recounts. “It was a pretty conservative race. Just tried to stay in the pack. Other people were willing to lead, so I let them lead.”

There was a large pack of eight runners remaining at the head of the race on the second tour of Mooney’s Bay beach, with none of the leaders making moves.

“The last time through the sand, I was like, ‘Time to go now,’ and I started pushing harder,” Picton continues. “It was a bit of back and forth with some other guys, and I just made the final move turning around the corner, coming down the hill at the end, I really pushed.”

Like Markarian, Picton’s primary pursuit is in another sport, as a cross-country skier with Nakkertok Nordic.

“That’s what I mostly do, and then just running for fun on the side,” he indicates.

Picton says “it’s pretty exciting” to win on foot, and also to have De La Salle claim both individual senior titles alongside fellow first-time national capital champ Bianca Arabackyj on the girls’ side.

“It showed that our school, which is not usually at the front, can still do good,” Picton highlights, crediting a positive team environment. “Everyone’s happy to be at practice. We have a couple students that are coaching everyone, and it just makes it fun.”

Also qualifying to represent the national capital association at OFSAA were Brookfield’s Aidan Savka (fifth place), St. Francis Xavier’s Brody Charbot (seventh) and Colonel By’s Lucas Seshadri (eighth), along with the runner-up Glebe team of Erich Schreiner (sixth), Theo Hurst (ninth), Kai Reeves (19th), Raphael Pons (27th) and Myles Durant (39th).

Team Canada UCI World Junior Cycling Championships competitor Carter de Veer could have been a strong contender for the title, but last year’s top Grade 11 senior boys’ finisher encountered the NCSSAA/OFSAA transfer rule, which keeps students who switch schools from competing for their new school for one year.

The 2024 junior boys’ team champion with Merivale High School switched to Sir Robert Borden High School for Grade 12. Merivale students follow year-long courses while SRB offers semester classes, so along with summer classes he completed, de Veer is set to graduate before his cycling season kicks into high gear into the spring.

The 1986 transfer rule was originally implemented to discourage students from transferring to powerhouse sports schools. The SRB senior boys’ team finished 17th with 400 points, while the OFSAA qualifiers scored 54 and 61.

Read More about the National Capital Secondary Schools Athletic Association Cross-Country Running Championships on our NCXC26 webpage here.