The provincial champion West Point Grey Academy girls cross-country team will not be running in the Athletics Canada national meet his week.
The schools senior cross-country coach Sean Dawson said the program is strong following a team victory at provincials Nov. 5 in Kelowna. However, the ideal category doesnt exist for a high school team at the elite Canadian national event, he said.
There is no high school event. Its a true national championship with the best in the country, he said.
Categories include two non-championship community races, one for all runners and a second for nine- to 15-year-old racers. Competitive events include junior, senior and master categories.
We have a lot of great young talent on the team so the ultimate goal is to defend the B.C. high school championship. We may be able to do a decent team result [at the national meet] but the girls would be racing against women. Its a pretty tough field to crack.
Athletics Canada hosts the Nov. 26 meet at Jericho Park and will do so through next four years.
Dawson said the decision to enter the team next year would depend on the Point Grey racers themselves.
For me, it would be have to be something that the girls would be moderately successful at and come out having a good experience, he said.
For the past two years at provincials, West Point Grey Academy has come second to Victorias Oak Bay secondary in the team category. This year, they defeated their rivals for the championship.
The private independent school entered seven runners and the top five score team points. Sophie Dodd and Audrey Warner, both in Grade 10, finished 13th and 14th respectively. All seven finished in the top 75 out of 280 competitors from Grades 8 to 12.
Theyre very, very dedicated to the program and I think theyre more so dedicated to the team goal of doing well at the B.C.s. Theres a real sense theyre part of a team, much like youd see on a basketball team or soccer team. Theyre really there to make sure that the team goal comes before any king of personal goals.
Theres a lot of pressure on those seven girls to perform well against the other teams that are running on that day.
Twitter: @MHStewart
