A handful of Surrey runners battled some of the country’s top competition – not to mention a challenging course, wind and below-zero temperatures – at Canadian Cross-Country Championships in Ottawa Saturday.
Southridge School grad Maya Kobylanski, who now runs at the University of Idaho, won a silver medal in the six-km women’s under-20 race, clocking a time of 23 minutes, 25 seconds. At the 2019 event, which was the most recent due to the 2020 championship being cancelled due to COVID-19, Kobylanski finished third in the U18 division.
Ally Ginther, an Earl Marriott Secondary grad, was also in Ottawa, where she finished seventh in the 10-km women’s open division race, while Jaiveer Tiwana, a Fleetwood Park Secondary student, was ninth in the men’s U20 race, which was an eight-km circuit.
In the 10-km men’s open race, Elgin Park alum – and two-time Canadian Olympian – Luc Bruchet was fourth, finishing just 11 seconds back of the first-place runner and only one second off the podium; fellow B.C. runner Cameron Provenciat was third, with his time of 31:44, compared to Bruchet’s 31:45.
Bruchet is no stranger to the Canadian cross-country podium – in 2019, he won silver, and he won back-to-back golds in 2017 and ‘18, as well as in 2013 when the event was held in Vancouver.
Elgin Park Secondary’s Connor Nichol – fresh off a gold-medal performance at B.C. High School Cross-Country Championships – also logged a top-10 finish last weekend in Ottawa, crossing the line ninth in the six-km men’s U18 race.
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