The following article was submitted by the CCI cross-country running team.
The Collingwood Collegiate Fighting Owls cross-country running team put an exclamation mark on an historic 2024 season by capturing the overall combined team title at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) provincial championships held in Ottawa on Nov. 4.
Five of Collingwood’s six teams had top-eight finishes en route to the overall first place finish in Ontario. This marks the third straight year that CCI has tallied the most team points at OFSAA when all six team-based races are combined.
The Owls competed against the 17 other secondary school sport associations in Ontario and proved they are one of the best programs in the province. Each race featured up to 38 teams and 285 individual runners.
For the first time ever, the overall girls’ team championship was won by the CCI girls - novices, juniors and seniors combined.
On the guys’ side, their combined efforts were good for second place in all of Ontario.
As a result, the overall team combined to take the top honours in cross-country running again this year.
The day began with the novice girls team which captured a sixth place finish – led by Iris Green. Adalyn Farnand, Lucy Davis, Jane Evans and Leya Hamelin also ran great races in their OFSAA debuts to add valuable points to the girls’ and overall team titles in the process.
The novice boys race then produced the individual performance of the day as Alistair Wark ran to a bronze medal finish at his first OFSAA. This was the first medal by a CCI male since Jay Morrell in 2002.
The novice team also matched the best finish for a CCI boys’ team as they took fourth place. Lane van der Valk, Ashton Veldhuis, Charlie Johnson and Cameron McDermid rounded out the team that was a mere 12 points off the podium.
The junior girls then took to the challenging OFSAA course and battled fiercely to end up in 22nd position in the province. Stella Lennox led the way for the Owls followed closely by Julia Lehmann. Taylor Steinberg, Beatrice Cheek and Racheal MacMillan rounded out the junior squad.
On the guys’s side, Nolan Liotta paced the team to an impressive eighth place finish - again adding valuable points to the overall title. Cole Rouse, Liam McFarlane, Cole Elmes and Logan Wood all placed solidly in the top half of the field to grab the impressive team result.
The senior girls then took on the wind, the rain and a challenging field to emerge as OFSAA gold medallists. Sabine Cornell led the team in 15th position and the entire team posted results in the top 100. Ruby File, Sofia Mundle, Elly Moore and Sadie Johnson all put together championship runs to post the lowest score in the province for Senior Girls. In addition, this is CCI’s first ever senior gold medal at OFSAA.
The last race of the day featured the CCI senior boys who raced to another impressive finish taking sixth in Ontario. Wes MacMillan led the way in 23rd spot, followed closely by Johnny Liotta. Evan Moore, Nathan Sims and George Hamburg completed the senior team and posted a result that sealed the second place finish in the overall boys’ standings.
In all, it was a fantastic 2024 season, capped off with both individual and team successes. The regular season saw 24 team victories in the 24 Georgian Bay Series races.
The Owls then took top honours in the six team races at the GBSSA Championships. They have their first ever overall girls' team title and have now amassed more points at OFSAA Cross-Country than any other school three years in a row.
