On Nov. 4, distance runner Ian McAllister from London, Ont. etched his title within the historical past books on the 2023 Ontario Prime College XC Championships (OFSAA XC), held at Toronto’s Centennial Park. He gained his moment consecutive OFSAA XC name.
McAllister’s moment directly victory was once historical, as he turned into best the twelfth runner since 1957 to win two consecutive Ontario highschool XC titles. His success puts him in an unique membership, along Canadian working legends equivalent to Moh Ahmed, Kevin Sullivan and Bruce Kidd, who’ve additionally achieved this uncommon feat.
Ultimate 12 months, McAllister gained the senior boys name as a Grade 11 scholar, in a tightly contested photograph end. This 12 months, dealing with the problem of shielding his name as a Grade 12 scholar from London Central SS, McAllister delivered a stellar efficiency, crossing the end line in 18 mins and 21 seconds. He outpaced Kitchener’s Travis Gaffney, who took moment position, trailing 13 seconds at the back of. Toronto’s David Jiang took the bronze, completing in 18:40.
In a post-race interview with RunnerSpace, McAllister published his plans to go back for a 5th 12 months of highschool as an alternative of pursuing post-secondary schooling within the NCAA or U Sports activities. His older brother, Heath, is recently in his freshman 12 months on the College of Michigan, competing on their monitor and box group. Particularly, Heath represented Staff Canada within the U20 race on the 2023 International XC Championships in Bathurst, Australia.
The Ontario highschool cross-country championships are famend as one of the vital premier highschool meets in North The united states. A lot of former OFSAA champions have long gone directly to constitute Staff Canada on the Olympic Video games and International Athletics Championships, equivalent to Ben Flanagan (2012), Justyn Knight (2013), Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (2012) and Kate Van Buskirk (2005).
Within the girls’s senior 6K tournament, rising skill Emily Cescon of Toronto secured victory with an 11-second lead over her shut pal and coaching spouse, Stephanie Bertram. Each Cescon and Bertram teach in combination below trainer Ethan Davenport on the Toronto Monitor Membership, even supposing they compete towards every different in highschool competitions. Each athletes have dedicated to the College of Michigan to additional their athletic careers in 2024, coaching below former Canadian middle-distance runner Kevin Sullivan.
Hanna Hollins from Pickering finished the ladies’s senior 6K podium in 21:39.
Males’s 4K beginner
William Thomas – 12:43 (Riverdale Collegiate, Toronto)
Timothy Woods – 12:46 (Denis Morris HS, St. Catharines, Ont.)
Emmett Leary – 12:53 (Georgian Bay SS, Midland, Ont.)
Girls’s 4K beginner
Rebecca Pribaz – 14:12:40 (Northern SS, Toronto)
Kate Nagy – 14:16:40 (Newmarket HS, Newmarket, Ont.)
Micah Carswell – 14:26:91 (Père-René-de-Galinée SS, Cambridge, Ont.)
Males’s 5K junior
Brody Clark – 14:34:30 (Milton District HS, Milton, Ont.)
William Scharf – 14:40:47 (Riverdale Collegiate, Toronto)
Jack Gregory – 14:43:68 (Napanee SS, Higher Napanee, Ont.)
Girls’s 5K junior
Eleanor Voykin – 15:50 (Birchmount Park HS, Toronto)
Riley Innes – 16:30 (Sir William Mulock HS, Newmarket, Ont.)
Keiva Birmingham – 17:12 (Northern SS, Toronto)
5 up-and-coming Canadian feminine athletes you will have to observe
Males’s 6K senior
Ian McAllister – 18:21 (London Central, London, Ont.)
Travis Gaffney – 18:34 (St Mary’s HS, Kitchener, Ont.)
David Jiang – 18:40 (Higher Canada School, Toronto)
Girls’s 6K senior
Emily Cescon – 21:25 (De Los angeles Salle School, Toronto)
Stephanie Bertram – 21:34 (Lawerence Park, Toronto)
Hanna Hollins – 21:39 (Dunbarton HS., Pickering, Ont.)
Combined Para 4K
Best male: Anthony Cigan – 14:39 (St. Joeseph CHS, Thomas, Ont.)
Best feminine: Ella Heeler – 19:05 (Regiopolis-Notre Dame SS, Kingston, Ont.)
For entire effects from the 2023 OFSAA XC Championships, please refer right here.