NCXC26: Bring on the cold, says junior boys’ cross-country running/ski champ

By Dan Plouffe

The forecast for Sudbury on Monday, Nov. 9 – the day of the 2026 OFSAA provincial high school cross-country running championships – is identical to the weather the runners experienced at the Oct. 28 national capital XC championships, a high of 7°C with showers.

There were hints that rain may be turning to snow in the not-too-distant future, and despite the week after the city finals feeling more like summer, Graeme Siderius won’t be complaining at all when the white stuff flies.

That’s because it’ll mean the cross-country ski season is on the horizon, and as swift as he was on grass and sand en route to capturing the junior boys’ title at Mooney’s Bay for the XC running city finals, it’s on snow that the Nakkertok Nordic Ski Club athlete really flies.

“It was a lot colder than all the previous races I’ve done,” noted Siderius, who pulled out some arm sleeves and gloves for his 5 km test. “But honestly, I didn’t really feel that cold. It actually feels a little bit like home to me.”

The Grade 10 Colonel By Secondary School student had been feeling good all running season, but he really wanted to push himself at city finals and see what kind of legs he had under him.

A novice XC city champ last year and fourth-place finisher at OFSAA XC, Siderius figured he’d be among the leaders this year as well.

He planned to push the pace once they finished the first tour of Mooney’s Bay beach and he built a solid lead come their second time up the hill next to the Terry Fox Athletic Facility, where he also trains with the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club.

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“I wanted to try to build a bit of a gap and just see how everyone responded, and then I just kind of went from there,” recounted Siderius, who wound up winning the race by a solid gap of 16.5 seconds in 16:53.50.

Graeme Siderius is 2-for-2 in national capital high cross-country running city championships. *Photo: Dan Plouffe*

A U16 national champion on snow back in March, the Team Ontario skier thoroughly enjoyed cheering several Nakkertok teammates on to victory in other XC races at the city finals. Siderius congratulated his fellow competitors on their performances and thanked them for pushing him this season.

“I’m just really excited for what’s next,” he added. “I’m sure once we get to OFSAA in Sudbury, it’s gonna feel even colder, and even more at home.”

Glebe flashes to the front of team competition

Frank Schreiner and the Glebe junior boys were 2026 national capital team champions. Photo: Dan Plouffe

The Glebe Gryphons ruled the team competition in the junior boys’ event, scoring almost half the points of their nearest challenger.

Three Gryphons were among the first seven finishers, with Frank Schreiner placing fourth, Oliver Vyvey sixth and Samuel Lewchuk seventh, followed by Oliver Maxwell-Swinburne in 17th and Tay Reeves in 29th.

“We’re very excited,” signalled Schreiner. “It was a really good race. Very fun, really hard with the hills, but I mean, this is our course, so we have an advantage.”

In what is often considered an individual sport, Schreiner believes teamwork was nonetheless essential to the Gryphons’ success.

“We always hang out together and just have fun,” he highlighted. “I’m really proud of my teammates.”

Cross-country running rules state that each team’s runners must all wear the same identifiable jerseys. There are no similar requirements mandated for shorts, however several Glebe junior boys were unmistakably matching with florescent pink bottoms flashing by Mooney’s Bay.

“I just found these at SportChek,” smiled Schreiner, who was only able to snag three pairs at the time but planned to search out a couple more to complete the full team wardrobe come OFSAA.

“We just wanna have fun,” he explained. “Why not? We just want to have the best time possible.”

No doubt Glebe’s coach was supportive, Kirk Dillabaugh being known to bust out the occasional colourful outfit (as commemorated recently on the race bibs secretly made by coaching colleagues for his final Gryphon Open earlier this season).

Schreiner, who is also a Nakkertok/Team Ontario cross-country skier, said there is no doubt his retiring coach is the biggest key to the success of Glebe’s vaulted XC program.

“I mean, Kirk, Mr. Dillabaugh is amazing. He’s just the best,” Schreiner underlined. “That’s mainly why I run, because of him.”

Julien Naud was Paul-Desmarais’s final scoring runner, just eight places back of the Patriotes’s top finisher. *Photo: Dan Plouffe*

The Paul-Desmarais Patriotes earned the second national capital team spot on the start line for the OFSAA championships.

Paul-Desmarais and Glebe are the NCSSAA’s OFSAA-bound junior boys’ teams. *Photo: Dan Plouffe*

They packed all four of their scoring runners within 45 seconds and eight places of one another at the city finals.

Felix Knight led the way in 13th spot, followed by Marc-Antoine Roux in 14th, Samuel Jean in 18th and Julien Naud in 21th, while Sebastian Clavijo Pacheco will join them as the team’s fifth runner.

The individual local OFSAA qualifiers were national capital silver medallist Jake Claydon-St John from John McCrae, bronze medallist Kaï Lebel of Colonel By, Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s Patrick Badgley (fifth place) and St. Mark’s Ben McAneney (eighth).