Vanderhoof runners have picked up great momentum this season.
Multiple runners from town won gold during their recent participation at the Quesnel Invitational Cross-Country race.
Runners gathered at West Fraser Timber Park in Quesnel on Saturday, Oct. 5 and the crisp fall weather provided ideal temperatures for the long distance run.
And Vanderhoof ran to win.
Nolan McCleary from Nechako Valley Secondary School has been having a great season, and he won the senior male division with a time of 15 minutes and 49 seconds.
“We had another excellent day as we edge closer to the Zone Championship,” said Brian Nemethy, coach for the NVSS cross country team.
Meanwhile, Ava Bailey from NVSS placed first in the Bantam female group with a time of 15 minutes and 33 seconds. And in the Bantam male, Nolan Baumann of NVSS placed 7th with a time of 17 minutes and 37 seconds.
In the juvenile male category, NVSS runners dominated. They ended up winning gold, silver and bronze.
Tanton Mueller won gold with a time of 10 minutes and 54 seconds; Judah Klassen placed seconds with a time of 13 minutes and 43 seconds and Rayen Remple placed third with a time of 15 minutes. Nikles Kadonaga placed fourth in the same category with a time of 15 min and 6 seconds.
In the juvenile female category, Danica Bailey from NVSS placed fifth and Ailis McCleary from the same school placed sixth.
Aiden Simrose of NVSS placed third in the elementary male category. Jimmy Reed and Tommy Reed from EDS placed third and seventh respectively in the same category.
In the junior male category, Jonathan van Betuw, Tim Teichroeb and Hayden Zacharias of NVSS placed third, fourth and sixth respectively.
Lastly, Alexis Seely from NVSS placed eight in the senior female category.
“The junior boys team is next to perfect but the junior girls team has some injuries to deal with. I am hopeful that healing will all be done by Oct. 19,” Nemethy said.
Vanderhoof runners will be participating in the Zone Championship on Oct. 19 in Dawson Creek.
Individually Vanderhoof has strong runners, Nemethy said, noting they will fight hard to beat their competitors to finish line.
“Going into zones, our boys will be hard to beat. It can still be done by another school but we have depth in our junior boys,” he added.
He said junior girls will have to work harder as there are only four members in that category and a contingent needs four to qualify as a team.
“Our senior boys and girls don’t have enough for a team but individually we have what it takes to place in top 10,” Nemethy said.
B.C. High School Provincials cross country championships will be held on Nov. 2 in Abbotsford. Nemethy believes that there are many runners who will perform well in the zones to qualify for provincials.
With files from Ronan O’Doherty
Aman Parhar
Editor, Vanderhoof Omineca Express
aman.parhar@ominecaexpress.com
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