The first cross-country race of the Cowichan Valley Running Series was held at Bright Angel Park on Sept. 25. The rain managed to hold off as eight secondary schools from the Cowichan Valley took part in ”kicking off” this year‘s race season.
The first race was the Grade 8s, and the winner of the boys' 2km test was Liam Ramstead of Shawnigan Lake School with a time of 7:04. Second went to James Harvey (QMS) and third to Shea Brennan (Quamichan).
For the girls, first place went to Chelsea Ruiter of QMS with a time of 8:07. Second and third place were Alice Boyle (St. Johns) and Larisa Brennan (Quamichan) respectively.
The next two races saw the junior runners tackle a 3.5km course. First place for the boys went to Hudson Van Tongeren of Brentwood with a time of 14:22. Second was awarded to Zac Ramstead (Shawnigan) and Max Smith (Kelsey) took third.
In the girls’ race, the first five place finishes were earned by Gulf Islands Secondary students; Pasley Hayden (16:06), Lola Rosborough (16:11) and Annabelle Cropping (16:23) took first to third respectively.
The senior runners faced a longer course. The top three male finishers in the 4.5km event remained close the entire race. With a sprinting finish, Matthew Ruiter (QMS) finished first with a time of 19:01, followed closely by Zach Barr (Gulf Islands) and Tristan Chan (Shawnigan).
For the senior girls, QMS came out on top as well with Honey White winning with a time of 20:23. Second and third place went to Anya Dhillon (Brentwood), and Renee Hayden (Gulf Islands) respectively.
The second race in the series was held at Arbutus Meadows Farm in Nanoose Bay on Saturday, Oct. 4 in a preview of the site for the provincial championships on Nov. 1.
Frankie Swannell is a student at Queen Margaret's School
