Page 65 - 2018

The C.CJ. Cross Country Running team put together one of their best team efforts- ever - this past season. 2017 saw the launch of a new race series- The Georgian Bay Race Series - and the Owls emerged as the Series Champions by winning four of the five meets and placing second in the other. As a result, the coveted Golden Boot will once again reside in "The Wood" - for the 15th time in the last 17 years!
In addition, 2017 saw the introduction of new race distances to have race parity between males and females in the same age categories. In a year of changes one constant remained- Black and Gold would dominate the trails!
During the season, Sage Fry in the Midget Boys' division and Anna Carruthers amongst the Senior Girls were Series Champions individually while Sofie Ohrling was tied for second amongst the Junior Girls. On the team side, when all five races were combined, the Midget Girls posted a 2nd place finish, the Midget Boys grabbed 1st, the Junior Girls snagged 4th, the Junior Boys took 2nd, while the SeniorGirlsandSeniorBoysearned 1stplacehonours.
The Owls then went on to be very inhospitable hosts at the GBSSA Championships at Highlands Nordic in Duntroon. On their "home course" Collingwood Collegiate went on to take the Overall Combined Championship for the second year in a row. In the Highlands mud, the Midget Boys were crowned GBSSA Champions while the Senior Girls matched those efforts dominating their race to become GBSSA Champions by placing 4 runners in the top 10! The Junior Girls and Junior Boys both finished 2nd as teams with the Senior Boys 3rd and the Midget Girls 4th. In the end, all of this was good for 1st overall for the Girls' Combined Championship, 1st overall in the Boys' Combined and, of course, the GBSSA Overall title!
These results meant C.C.I. would send 23 athletes to OFSAA in Petawawa with four teams qualifying along with one individual, Erik Ohrling, in the Senior Boys' race. On what was to become a snowy November Saturday, the Junior Girls including -Sofie Ohrling, Ali McMullin, Sarah Foster, Sanna Huyssen and Anna Limoges - led the Owls' performances grabbing lOth place in all of Ontario. The Senior Girls were close behind as the team of Anna Carruthers, Zoe MacCulloch, Olivia Westbrooke, Katelyn Walcroft and Caura ling took 12th in Ontario. The Midget Boys team of Sage Fry, Cole Mitchell, Jaeden French, James MacCulloch and Oliver Czerny were 14th in the province while the Junior Boys team of Will Butwell, Jack Czerny, Will Hurley, Cole Sturge and Owen Bell were 24th. Erik then ran a solid race to finish in the top 20% of all the Senior Boy runners in Ontario.
In all it was a great season! Coaches Hammond, Geier, Haag and Coukell could not be more proud. Good luck to all the graduating seniors and see everyone else on the trails next September! 63