Cross-Country runners soar at ISEA Championships

November 7, 2019

Academics

GNS

Our GNS Gryphons did the school proud at the XC Running ISEA Championships!

On October 23 at Jericho Beach Park in Vancouver, our Cross-Country athletes ran hard and were rewarded for it. The Grade 3 Boys and Grade 3 and 4 Girls teams all placed second.

“We’re competing against 16 teams, and to come second for a small school like this is absolutely brilliant,” said Mr. Gavin Bowers, cross-country coach.

In the championships, officials use the team aggregate score to calculate a total. The team with the lowest score is the winner.

“If they come in first they get one point; if they come in 27th the get 27 plus one. So we have to score the lowest of that. Our numbers are really quite amazing when you think about that, because we don’t have a lot of kids to choose from,” said Bowers.

Throughout September and October, the Gryphons compete in multiple Vancouver Island Secondary Schools Athletic Association cross-country meets that are focused on competing as individuals. The ISEA Championships, however, are about team collaboration.

“Students understand it’s about the team,” Bowers said. “Even the slowest of runners have a huge impact in terms of the team’s result, and I love that whole team concept that they are working together to try and get the best score possible.”

The runners on the team also enjoyed the team aspect of the race.

“It was good. We did a lot of team skills together,” said Kiki Webb, Grade 4. “The team did good, and they came in really close places.”

“It was really fun. I liked the race a lot,” added Jane Serowka, Grade 4. “I liked it because we got to run far. In the races here we never get to run that far.”

The GNS squad went up against teams from York House School, Crofton House School, West Point Grey Academy, St. George’s School and more.

“They are big schools, and we did really well,” Bowers said.

At GNS there is a Cross-Country program and a track program that students can be involved in, training twice a week.

“When cross-country season is finished there is a Trail Blazers running club. So, the Trail Blazers is a running club that anyone can join and any time,” said Bowers. “We run to the ‘whale’ and back, which is about 1.6 Kilometers.”

Congratulations to all the cross-country runners!