Cross-country runners from Elphinstone Secondary School are basking in the glory after a successful conclusion to their season.Elphi captured the AA overall championship and the bantam/juvenile team won its division. There were also several individual highlights, including eight runners qualifying for last weekend's provincial championships, which were held in Abbotsford.Of the eight runners at the provincials, only three were Grade 11 students, while the other five were from Grades 9 and 10.This is significant because at the provincials all competitors run in the same race, meaning AA runners, in Elphi's case, run against AAA runners all at once."There are no boundaries. Grade 9 runners run up against Grade 12 at the provincials," said Elphi coach Tom Daniels. "I'm very proud of this group. They all did exceptionally well. There are six titles up for grabs on the North Shore between AA and AAA. To capture as many as we did speaks volumes of the quality of runners we have on this team."At the provincials, Shaun Stephens-Whale was 32nd out of more than 260 runners. Kendra Pomfret finished 70th and Jessica Stephens-Whale also finished strong, competing in her first provincial championship.Daniels also mentioned strong performances throughout the year by Natasha Wells, Stuart Richey and Andrew Kraus.The running season was cut short due to the teachers' strike. This meant that runners had to train on their own.Daniels said the commitment by Elphi showed in the final results."Everyone starting understanding the concept of team and earning points each race," Daniels said. "They started encouraging each other and pushing each other to perform at a higher level. The North Shore is the toughest zone to compete in and qualify for provincials. The kids are already starting to talk about next year and using the awards as momentum for the future."Daniels said the positive feelings will hopefully spill over into other sports."Some of the senior boys used the cross-country running to improve their 400 mtimes for track and field season in the spring," he said. "Others used it to get in shape for basketball and wrestling. Cross-country is a wonderful way to stay active and keep fit. I think the success of this team is just the start of a big year for athletics here at the school."
