TCS Runners Race to Historic OFSAA Finish

This story was published in the news section at tcs.on.ca

By Vikki Armstrong

Trinity College School’s cross country team had a stellar performance at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) Championships held at Lakefield College School on Saturday, November 6th. With 13 runners qualifying to represent the School, the Novice girls team led the way with a fourth place finish!

“Lakefield put on a first-class event and TCS athletes distinguished themselves by racing with determination and grit,” says Coach Steve Patterson. “The fields were a little smaller than other years, due to COVID, but there were still over 1,100 athletes from over 200 schools from across the province competing. From an overall and historical perspective, this was certainly a tremendous performance by TCS at the ‘O-show.’”

The first event of the meet saw the Novice girls team of Charlotte Belanger (21st), Charlotte Patterson (23rd), Hannah Thompson (64th) and Ruby Campbell (77th) run to a fourth place finish overall, the best team result that TCS has achieved at the provincial cross country championships in at least 21 years. The previous best team showing was a 10th place finish for the Junior boys in 2013.

The Senior girls team of Claire Marcotte (131st), TianTian Dong (143rd), Dagna Jezioro (158th), Xenia Blankenburg (164th) and Veronika Kawnik (165th), supported by alternate Vici Nix, kept the pace to finish 22nd overall.

Individual results were also very strong, with five runners placing in the top 50 in their events. Congratulations to:

• Charlotte Belanger (21st, Novice girls)

• Charlotte Patterson (23rd, Novice girls)

• Liam Gibson (34th, Senior boys)

• James Hassard (38th, Junior boys)

• Andrew Richards (40th, Junior boys)

Special shout-out to James, who was 65th at the halfway point in his race and turned on the jets to pass 27 runners on his second loop!

A note of congratulations also goes to Coach Patterson, recipient of the 2021 OFSAA Leadership in School Sport Award, presented annually at the provincial championships to a current teacher with at least 10 years of experience who has demonstrated leadership in school sports and “exemplifies the values of fair play and good sportsmanship while promoting enjoyment, personal growth and educational achievement through school sport.”