BC High School XC

[scottkent]

Slow down there buddy. The kwantlen Boys have an ok team and they are much stronger than last year but Nov 7th will be the deciding factor. We all know that the team title is usually won by the 4 and 5 runners. Depth is always hard to find in any inner school program.

Thanks for the supporting plug though...

[Bubbles]

Connor Clerke from Kelowna ran 16:04 on the tough Sunfair course in Yakima yesterday.

www.sunfairrun.com/sunfair2009/2009results/results-v7-boys.html

[trojanhorse]

Any Predictions on the top 10 males, females and top 5 teams might be?

[whitelightning]

Any Predictions for Fraser Valley's, coming up in exactly one week?

[leroy]

fraser valleys are going to be tough to predict because there have been certain teams holding their cards close to their chest.

Kwantlen Park was at the pre bcs as well as the pre fraser valleys yet they diddnt actually toe the line in either race. I am sure coach kent has them ready to go, but it will be tough to tell how strong they really are against the best the valley has to offer.

Typical powerhouse walnut grove also has not raced anyone else of note either. I would think beating up on the rest of the langley league has to be getting somewhat tiresome.

I predict the finishing result will be
1-Kwantlen (despite their selective racing schedule they are a sure bet)
2-elgin park (their top two looked very strong at big rock albeit against a relatively thin field, also they are still looking to avenge their 1 point loss to walnut grove from a couple years ago)
3-wlanut grove (no superstars but a tight pack that is well coached and always come ready for the big race)
4- semiahmoo (with Jack williams making a triumphant return to competitive running after being unsure if he would ever walk let alone run again, mrs. D has got the best xc/rugby team in the province)
5- Abby Christian (dont know too much about them but their # 1 looked good and they seemed to have a tight pack at pre frasers today, havent seen results yet though)

[leroy]

on the girsl side, Semihamoo will win the girls title by a landslide. Their 1-3 runners will all finish in the top 5 and 4 and 5 should be in the 20s, 6 and 7 should be in the 40s.

[pre]

don't sleep on walnut grove for the men's, they had nobody of note last year and still managed to come fourth

[leroy]

Oct 22, 2009 0:36:21 GMT -5 pre said:

don't sleep on walnut grove for the men's, they had nobody of note last year and still managed to come fourth

compared to last years team, the gators are not as good. Althought they had "nobody of note" they lost more to graduation than they gained this year. their 2 would be leaders have not produced thus far.

Just an outsiders perspective though;)

[scottkent]

Fraser Valley's is next week and things are starting to heat up for Clubs and BC High Schools. Leroy, I don't think Kwantlen has been laying low. Kwantlen has supported the 5 Surrey races like a good Surrey School should. Also, dealing with the H1N1 and a prodigy that doesn't like to run much. The Pre-races are great for the areas that don't have a league of 5 races, but as in last year, Kwantlen ran a couple of races too many prior to the BC Championships. The Pre-races are also the time to check out the coarse and to bond as a team. Both, Kwantlen took full advantage with. How many times do you need to race, the same guys, to know what should happen come the 28th. I think you have the first team right. I am not sure if you have guessed the 2nd team correctly. The Semi boys will be tough to knock out of second place. Jack is improving every race but they have 4 fit runners that will surprise a few teams at this race. Adam, Alex, Lucas and Tyler have all been training hard for track season and are fit enough to cause some serious problems for most of the teams. Rounding out third will most likely be Elgin. Good luck everyone and try and stay away from the Flu bug until after the BC's

[leroy]

I had heard that adam, alex, lucas and tyler were not going to be running cross, which is why I had them below elgin and walnut grove.

for sure with that kind of speed they should be a lock for second place.

as for the surrey league, it has so many races in it that it doesnt allow teams to race outside of it, like what kwantlen did this year. (or else they run the risk of over racing)

I did not have our kids race every surrey race because we wanted to get exposure to other competition. I think that it gets kind of stale racing against the same kids every week.

What would you think if there was a schedule where every second week there was a surrey league race, and on the other weeks there was a larger race with all the valley participating. I know langley would be interested and I would think abbotsford/chilliwack would be on board too. That way nobody gets burned out from trying to do every race, we still have a city championship, and we get to see the entire valley before the fvchamps.

the only way it is going to work though would be if all the key influencers/schools agreed to buy in. The grand prix series from a few years ago was a flop because the guy who organised it only went to his own race, and langley only went to their race.

In general it would be the best thing for the sport.
but this is just one coaches opinion I know.

[trojanhorse]

Well well well. Mt Sac Cross Country results are in and it looks like St Georges had a tough go. Showing a little more than a crack in their armor. If they perform like that in a couple of weeks they might get their butts handed to them on a silver platter. lol

[greener]

Results are in from Fraser Valleys:

www.fraservalleyxc.com/fv2009/

[prefontaine]

Hey I heard Deon is out with H1N1 can anyone confirm?

[leroy]

Deon does not have swine flu.

he has a back injury from rugby that flares up when he runs.

He is out of bc high schools.

[aintnostoppenme]

KP Win Valleys no surprise there but can they win BCs On the 7th any predictions guys. I saw some great runners shine from Kp at the Valleys, Kent(obviously), Bringi and Rajput had a good race could do very well in BCs, And don't count Delcourt out, he a good young kid except alot from him this year and years to come.

[kbutler]

With LP gone to Scotland not much in the way of BC high school cross country rankings this year so my two cents worth with one week to go.

Girls Individual
1. Christine Ridenour (Cowichan) - top 10 last year and won Islands easily in a time for the Beaver Lake course that few girls, except JJ, have run.
2. Alison Hooper (Claremont) - last year's bronze medalist won Canada Games tri this summer. Took time off following a long competitive year. Will get stronger every day after finishing second to Ridenour at Islands.
3. Lindsay Butterworth (Handsworth) - last year's 4th place finisher will battle the Island girls for a medal.
4. Alex Siemans (WJ Mouatt) - Fraser Valley champion is young and talented.
5. Alycia Butterworth (Ballenas) - no relation to Lindsay except that she too is fast. National Youth steeple champion.

Teams:
1. West Point Grey Academy - last year's runners up ready to win a banner?
2. Oak Bay - lost Johnson, Draper and Woodward from last year's team. Young and rebuilding.
3. Nechako Valley - strong group of young runners from the North.
4. Semiahmoo - Fraser Valley champs have a strong first three
5. Tumbler Ridge - return all 7 runners from last year's team.

Boys Individual
1. Justin Kent (Kwantlen Park) - ran an exceptional race at BC Club championships to finish second overall in the combined junior/juvenile race.
2. Connor Clerke (Kelowna) - also ran an exceptional race at BC Clubs pushing Kent to the line. Great rematch looming.
3. Will Cliff - (St Georges) - leads a very strong St Georges team
4. Christian Gravel (St Georges) - a step behind or a step ahead of Cliff. BC 15 year old cross champion.
5. Thomas Riva (Kwalikum) - Island Champ has great finishing speed

Boys Team
1. St Georges - strong first three lead the way to a potential Saints victory
2. Oak Bay - a strong Island Championship win for defending champs makes the weekend interesting
3. Kwantlen Park - Kent has the support to put KP on the podium
4. Smithers - return a strong group from last year's top 10 team
5. Penticton - 7th last year and should move up

[scottkent]

Things are starting to heat up. From my point of view Saint Georges and Kwantlen Park are much closer then most people predict. I have them almost dead even through 4 runners with Kwantlen Park a few points a head. As usual, I think it will come down to the fifth runners. Neither school has a lock with their 5th runners and it could be that a strong team with 5 close runners, none being even top ten, that could win. Oak Bay might be the team that has that make-up but we will see in six days. I predict that both Kwantlen Park and St. Georges will have less than 50 points after their 4th runners and who know what will be their points after the 5th.

[theeagle]

I agree with Butler for the girls. From what I hear Hooper took a significant chunk of time off after tri season and would prefer to run faster when it counts...the summer.

For the men it will be interesting to see if BC school sports will let a certain school field their entire team if so, then there could be huge implications for the results...

[trojanhorse]

Shed some light to your comment pertaining to a school that might not be playing by all the rules. Are they maybe running a runner that has changed school in grade 11 and not sitting out the year? Spill it!

[leroy]

I would think that BC School sports has already decided who will and will not be allowed to compete in the race this weekend. The application process for eligible athletes was over a number of weeks ago.

Why dont you just come out and say who the school is. I am sure you would be able to find out your answer on this message board instead of having to wait till Saturday.

[theeagle]

A couple of fast Quebec guys transfered here this year for Tri's. One of them (they are both fast) is sub 16min off the bike for 5km.

Really would have like to see them race...they are staying with homestays so they are ineligible to compete

[trojanhorse]

What, are you a moron! With the talent we have in this province you have to blow smoke up some guys that are from out of province and running over a minute slower than the two or three runners. Two that are going to Guelph on the BC Junior team. Get real! Why didn't they race at the BC Club Championships, if they are that good. lol

[pre]

Nov 5, 2009 22:26:31 GMT -5 trojanhorse said:

What, are you a moron! With the talent we have in this province you have to blow smoke up some guys that are from out of province and running over a minute slower than the two or three runners. Two that are going to Guelph on the BC Junior team. Get real! Why didn't they race at the BC Club Championships, if they are that good. lol

why would they race bc club's? seeing as they're triathletes there's no reason for them to be racing this early in the year.

I've also heard from multiple sources that the one triathlete is good enough to win this year, too bad - it would have made for a better race.

[zibb0]

got a name..?

[trojanhorse]

Pre, you are a moron as well. This years race will do just fine without hyping tri geeks that can't lay it down this early in their season. Why mention them at all if they couldn't run even if they were eligible! lol

And as for making it a better race, two of the top three guys on this years BC Junior team are high school kids. The third ranked kid, a grade 10, probably could have made the BC Junior team as well. I am pretty sure there is ample excitement around this years race. I just don't think there are many high school kids on this site like there was in years past. In fact I am sure you are one of those kids from very recent years gone past. Sad, so sad....

My predictions for Junior Nationals is that both of these BC high school kids kick ass and beat most of the Ontario and Quebec runners. As for your tri guys, sub 15 might raise a few eyebrows, Sub 16 won't.

Good luck to all the kids that are racing this weekend. Tomorrow is for you.

[pre]

i think my post wasn't read as i intended it. i said it would have made a "better" race. i meant no disrespect to the kids in the race, i'm sure the race will be awesome. sorry if it came across as anything different.

good luck to everyone tomorrow

[theeagle]

I believe I said sub 16 OFF THE BIKE. But it doesnt matter now b/c they wont be able to race

Would have been nice to have seen them race is even though they would not have been in peak form.

They lose an opportunity to race (i.e out of season with no pressure- just straight up XC fun!) b/c of a loophole...

[pre]

some early results...
1. clerke
2. kent
3. will cliff
4. thomas riva

[zibb0]

It was a great battle to watch with clerke and kent. Clerke only gettin the better of kent this time. Nationals should be an interesting race for these two.

[whitelightning]

agreed yes it was a very interesting race to watch justin was pushing the pace and trying to break away conner was able to hold on and take it over the last 250m as was the clubs exiting to watch both pretty equally matched we shall see who will break the tie at nationals