Of the more than 70 participants in the Prince Rupert Cross Country Running Meet on September 30, 31 were students from Haida Gwaii. Runners from AL Mathers, Queen Charlotte Secondary and the Living and Learning schools sent students from Grades 1 to 11. Other participants came from Prince Rupert, Kitimat and Smithers.
Island runners did well and placed in the top three in almost all races. Competition was fierce on the wet and muddy course through Prince Rupert's wooded paths.
Twenty-five secondary school boys (Grades 9-12) lined up on the starting line for a 6 km run. Brionne Lavoie, Queen Charlotte SS, took first place for Grade 9-10 boys, with a time of 25.0 minutes, winning by 27 seconds over the second place opponent. He placed 6th overall in the senior secondary race. Sam Clark placed third in the 4.15 km race for Grade 11-12 girls.
In the elementary school races, four ALM students took first place. Farrah Falconbridge won the 2.3 km race for Grade 1-3 girls; Brody MacNeil won the 2.3 km Grade 1-3 boys' race; Kelsey Jacquard won the 2.3 km Grade 6-7 girls' race and Jesse Brady took first in the 2.3 km Grade 6-7 boys' race.
A strong performance and effort lead to island runners bringing home 17 ribbons from the meet.
The students had an "athletic week-end not for the faint of heart" according to Brionne Lavoie. On Saturday afternoon they swam, skateboarded or played football. On Sunday morning, they ran in a race, and then went skating, swimming and wall climbing until dinner. On Monday morning, swimming and skating were on their agenda before settling down to an afternoon of homework for the older students before catching the ferry back here.