Competitors at the 2019 OFSAA Cross-Country Championships in Sudbury braved some of the worst weather ever witnessed for the event which gathers roughly 1600 or so top high-school distance runners in the province.

None of those who endured that most recent trek to the nickel city will be around for the 2026 OFSAA Cross-Country Championships at Kivi Park come November 9th. Those who were in town for the pre-OFSAA meet this past Monday at the same venue can only hope for more of the same, in terms of their experience, one month down the road.

“It’s my first time coming to Sudbury,” noted senior boys race winner T.J Woods representing Dennis Morris Catholic High School in St Catharines. “What a beautiful city, with all of the rocks and stuff on the way in. And the course, as well – super nice.”

“I had heard that it was going to be a rocky course and we had to wear shoes today instead of spikes, but I didn’t mind it,” said the 16 year-old who captured silver as a novice at OFSAA X-C 2023 and added an OFSAA bronze medal in the 1500m track event this past June.

“I got a bit of a lead off the start and then throughout the race, I just thought about holding that lead, not dying at the end and getting passed.”

As for the return visit that he expects to make next month, a podium to top-five finish would fall in line with expectations for the young man who first joined a track club at the end of grade eight. “There are some guys out there who are super strong runners on the cross-country side,” said Woods, who finished a little more than thirty seconds clear of second place finisher Deagan Hallett from Winston Churchill Secondary School - also in St Catharines.

“I’ve always lacked a little bit in that area, but in the last year or two, I’ve been working on that a lot and have seen some big improvements.”

Also showcasing a great deal of progress since he began representing Lasalle Secondary School in both para track and field and para cross-country meets four years ago, Dante Ricketts is far more aware than most out of town runners of what fall weather might bring for this part of Ontario.

On Monday, however, he was very much in his element.

“I like the nature, the breeze, the sun – it’s really nice,” said Ricketts, who will be making his fourth appearance at the X-C Championships. “The start I did today was really good. When I heard the horn, I was going – and I was able to keep up with the person right in front of me.”

Yet for as much as a four kilometre dash through the woods was nice and all that, it’s not truly the sweet spot for the 17 year-old grade 12 Lancer product. “The first sport I did was track and field,” he said. “That was my first thing. My first race was the 100m dash. The last time I raced, I broke the record.”

“It was super good; everyone was cheering me on.”

Following is a list of all top five finishers in each category - along with any SDSSAA competitors who finished between #6 and #10:

Senior Boys (6 km)
1st - T.J. Woods (Dennis Morris) - 19:19.86
2nd - Deagan Hallett (Winston Churchill) - 19:55.16
3rd - Lucas Sacco (Winston Churchill) - 20:11.94
4th - Aidan Nicholson (Winston Churchill) - 20:17.55
5th - Julian Luoma (Lo-Ellen Park) - 20:21.75
6th - Maxime Belzile (ESMC) - 20:25.23
10th - Gord Farrell (Lockerby) - 21:09.13

Senior Girls (6 km)
1st - Camila Rodriguez (St Marcellinus) - 22:39.21
2nd - Violet Crowe (Governor Simcoe) - 23:08.23
3rd - Isla Kittmer (Mackenzie - Deep River) - 23:15.01
4th - Senna Chan Carusone (Burlington Central) - 23:58.10
5th - Sydney Ray (Notre-Dame - Welland) - 24:04.44

Junior Boys (5 km)
1st - Ryder Savage (Winston Churchill) - 18:49.41
2nd - Jackson Pickering (Bearcreek - Barrie) - 18:56.64
3rd - Maylan Ambikaipathan (J Clarke Richardson - Ajax) - 18:58.31
4th - Ethan Valenzuela (Innisdale) - 19:06.81
5th - Kamil Klimek (RS McLaughlin - 19:11.88
8th - Dax Hester (Lo-Ellen Park) - 20:16.72
9th - Cyrus Hodak (College Notre-Dame) - 21:08.85

Junior Girls (5 km)
1st - Grier Taylor (St Joseph's - Barrie) - 20:35.93
2nd - Janya Urso (Burlington Central) - 20:52.50
3rd - Halle Scanlan (Scollard Hall - NB) - 21:06.24
4th - Isla Langevin (Holy Trinity - Cornwall) - 21:25.08
5th - Aliana Taubeneck (Winston Churchill) - 22:15.15

Novice Boys (4 km)
1st - Benjamin Bayne (Eden - St Catharines) - 14:41.50
2nd - Max Woods (Dennis Morris) - 15:25.57
3rd - Loic Collison (ES Horizon) - 16:14.04
4th - Ryan Pineau (Lo-Ellen Park) - 16:17.02
5th - Yuvraj Singh (Lo-Ellen Park) - 16:39.28
7th - Sam Higgins (Lockerby) - 16:47.92
8th - Callum Duncan (Lockerby) - 16:54.25

Novice Girls (4 km)
1st - Quinn Wessman (TH & VS - Timmins) - 18:04.41
2nd - Reagan Riva (Thériault - Timmins) - 18:46.02
3rd - Kaelynn Folkes (Winston Churchill) - 18:54.60
4th - Muriel Wray (Roland Michener - Porcupine) - 19:14.68
5th - Lily Grepe (RS McLaughlin - Oshawa) - 19:33.70
8th - Emilia Breckon (Lo-Ellen Park) - 20:07.74
9th - Aubree Slobodian (Marymount) - 20:15.30
10th - Adele Lamarche (Lo-Ellen Park) - 20:29.11

Para (4 km)
1st - Dante Ricketts (Lasalle) - 20:56.98
2nd - Sophia Carlson (Marymount) - 24:01.13
3rd - Ephraim Toko (College Notre-Dame) - 24:01.97
4th - Lucas Cundle (Valour - Petawawa) - 25:36.57
5th - Sawyer Boulanger (ES Algonquin) - 27:04.19
6th - Summer Boyer (Lasalle) - 34.58.42