Two teams from Kingston Collegiate, two from Regiopolis Notre Dame and the junior boys from Frontenac are bound for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations cross-country meet in Duntroon next weekend, after their performances at the eastern Ontario championships Friday.
Runners from Kingston Area schools also won three of the six races contested on a calm, sunny day at Fort Henry.
With sisters Branna and Brogan MacDougall finishing 1-2, Regi captured the senior girls title by a single point, 37-36 over Thousand Islands of Brockville. Regi’s other scoring runners were Christina Tavares, who finished 10th, and Emma Adshade, who was 23rd.
Branna MacDougall won the 5.0-kilometre run in 18 minutes, 9.91 seconds, followed just 31 one-hundredths of a second later by her younger sister. Together, they were across the finish line more than a minute ahead of the rest of the field.
Jackie Quesnel of KC was third (19;21.48), and she also qualified for OFSAA, as did Kara Blair of Rideau District, who finished 10th.
The top two teams in each age group, and the top five individual runners not on one of those teams, qualified to compete at the provincial high school championships, Nov. 7 near Collingwood.
KC teammates Kieran L’Abbe and Cameron Linscott also gave KASSAA a 1-2 finish in the senior boys race, L’Abbe repeating his victory in the Kingston Area championship, this time winning by almost two seconds over Linscott, the OFSAA gold medalist a year ago. This race was closer, however, as Jonathan Stoppa of Madawaska Valley came third, just five second behind the leaders.
L’Abbe’s winning time over the hilly 7.0-kilometre course was 22 minutes, 24.56 seconds.
Four KC runners finished in the top 10 of the race. Following L’Abbe and Linscott, Alex Drover was eighth and Reilly Lacasandile was 10th.
Regi was second among senior boys teams, edging Thousand Islands by two points to qualify for OFSAA. Paul Saigriff led the Panthers, finishing sixth in 23:30.91. Other scoring members of the Regi team were Paul Bates (15th), Julien Guyon (20th) and Anson Hunt (35th).
Matt Flood of Bayridge, who was fifth in 23:10.53, also won a berth at OFSAA.
A third-place performance by Jack Rowlatt led Frontenac to its junior boys championship. With three runners in the top 21, the Falcons won by the narrowest of margins, 54-57, over Valour, the difference provided by the team’s No. 4 runner, Jake Adair, who finished five places ahead of the fourth scoring runner from Valour.
Rowlatt was nipped at the finish line for second place by Max Taylor of Holy Cross, who was just 46 one-hundredths of a second better (20:29.00) at the end of the 6.0-kilometre race. Cailan Loebel of North Grenville in Kemptville won the race in 20 minutes 1.50 seconds.
Frontenac’s other scoring runners were Konnor Weston, who finished 12th, and Brendan Kissick, who was 18th.
Besides Taylor, two other Kingston-area competitors qualified as individuals: Hunter Leonard of KC, who was fourth (20:40.66), and Carter Free of Napanee, who finished sixth (20:56.53).
Led by Danielle Adam and Jane Smallman, who finished ninth and 10th, KC’s junior girls were second in team standings to Valour of Petawawa. Adrienne Scott, who finished 20th, and Yollie Watungwa, who was 26th, were the other scoring runners for KC. Sophie Warren of Valour won the 4.0-kilometre race in 14 minutes, 47.97 seconds, 32 seconds ahead of runner-up Lily Meek of Thousand Islands.
Miles Brackenbury of KC won the 5.0-kilometre midget boys race in 17 minutes 36.44 seconds, almost nine seconds ahead of Jack Smith of Regi. Chet Moran of Loyalist is also heading to OFSAA, after he finished eighth.
Claire Cushing of Thousand Islands won the 3.0-kilometre midget girls race, from where two Kingston-area athletes qualified as individuals: Megan Jefferies of Holy Cross, who finished fifth (11 minutes 35.18 seconds) and Hana Amari of KC, who was seventh (11:55.09).
Valour, the leading school among single-A schools, was the top team overall, with 46 points. KC, the top double-A school, was second overall with 43 points, while Regi, fourth overall, won the AAA team title. In all, 651 competitors took part.