Battling wet and windy conditions, runners from Elphinstone Secondary School came home with excellent results from Victoria last weekend.
The fierce rain made for a muddy, cold and slippery race at the 2006 provincial high school championships.
On the girls' side, 276 runners finished the 4.6 km race.
Kendra Pomfret finished 66th, and Alexandra Cloherty was 97th. "Kendra was hoping for a top 50 finish, and was only 26 seconds from doing so (that's how tight the runners are - 16 finishers in a 26 second span)," said Elphi coach Tom Daniels. "Alexandra was right on target, finishing in the top 100, despite giving away a bit too much off the massed start. Both girls looked very strong throughout the race, and we were all quite pleased with the result."
The North Shore Secondary Schools Sports Association was well represented on the girls' side, as Jessica Smith from Argyle was second, Chantelle Groenewould of Handsworth was fourth, and Helen Crofts of West Van was seventh. The West Van girls team finished third overall, and Handsworth was fifth, which was why the Elphi girls team found it so difficult to crack the top three on the North Shore. The top three are generally the top in the province, added Daniels.
On the boys side, 268 runners finished the 6.7 km race.
Shaun Stephens-Whale finished 19th, and the Elphi boys team, consisting of Shaun, Mason Gregory, Clayton Jones, Stuart Richey, Jonathan Garmulewicz, Andrew Kraus and Clay Brown, finished ninth out of the 28 Teams vying for the top 10 awards.
"This was our first ever top 20 individual and top 10 team placing at the provincials, so we were all quite pleased with the overall result," Daniels said. "I knew the team had the capabilities of being a top 10 team but thought that maybe the inexperience at this level of competition might work against us. They all ran quite well, however, despite hoping for better individual finishes.
"Some of the team members did not get the start they wanted, giving away a few too many spots to other runners and a few too many seconds of time. They managed to work together as a team throughout the race, though, running together and encouraging each other forward. As a result, most came within 30 seconds of meeting their individual goal, and as a team, we did what we hoped to do - finish in the top 10."
Mason finished 73rd, Clayton 138th, Jonathan, 147th, Stuart 153rd, Andrew 161st and Clay 173rd.
