OFSAA bronze for Tomori and Bulldogs
Graham Tomori, shown in this file shot, won a bronze medal at the OFSAA cross country championships Monday in Ottawa.
Eden’s Graham Tomori and the Sir Winston Churchill junior boys cross country team returned from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations cross country meet in Ottawa Monday with bronze medals.
“I definitely did not have a good race and it was probably one of my worse races that I had ever had,” said Tomori, who placed fifth last year and was hoping to win gold in 2024. “I am happy with a medal because it is great to come away with something like that, especially at OFSAA, but there was a lot better that I could have done.”
A lot of factors played into his disappointing race.
“I don’t think I was mentally locked in during the race. I was kind of distracted, I didn’t feel great and it was a really, really hard course,” the 16-year-old said. “I slipped maybe twice or three times, there was mud everywhere, it was raining and the slipping around took me down a a notch mentally too. It threw me off falling around everywhere.”
The Grade 12 student can take solace in the fact that he persevered and earned a spot on the podium.
“Halfway through the race, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I knew I was not up to going 100 per cent and maybe catching the guy who was leading the race so honestly, at that point, I was just hoping to come away with a medal,” he said. “There is a lot better that I could have done. I could have even pushed myself harder but I still have provincials and nationals in these next two weeks. Both of those races will definitely be better and I am going to go for it at them.”
The Athletics Ontario cross country championships are in two weeks in Whitby and nationals are one week later in London.
Making up the bronze-medal winning team from Sir Winston Churchill were: Christin Sloetjes who placed 31st; Lucas Sacco who finished 41st; Keegan Clark who ended up 45th; Jack Miller who place 83rd; and, Aidan Nickolson who finished 161st.
SENIOR BOYS
In other senior boys individual results: Jackson McIntosh, of West Niagara was 56th; and, Oliver Crowe of Governor Simcoe was 101st.
In the team event: Sir Winston Churchill (32. Simon Dobrovolski; 51. Samuel Dellalian; 97. Jackson Mead; 120. Julian Cirasuolo; 169. Damien Bertrand) placed fifth; and, E.L. Crossley (81. Jackson Sider; 126. Griffin Eller; 132. Logan MacRae; 219. Adam Freure; 245. Jack Ryan) finished 19th.
NOVICE GIRLS
Sir Winston Churchill’s Mazie Quinn was 23rd in the novice girls race at OFSAA.
Other local results included: Aaliyah Henry of A.N. Myer who was 23rd; Violet MacDonald of Laura Secord who was 61st; and, Michaela Gugliemi of Notre Dame who was 75th.
The Blessed Trinity team (185. Ava Bays; 197. Giselle Karaban; 208. Quinn Wilson; 229. Brooklyn Bays; 239. Ashley De Silva Piques) finished 37th.
PARA GIRLS
Hunter Hornby of St. Catharines Collegiate was 13th in the intellectual girls para race.
JUNIOR GIRLS
Adele Kushner of Denis Morris placed 19th in the OFSAA junior girls race.
Other local results included: Sydney Ray of Notre Dame who was 23rd; Violet Crowe of Governor Simcoe who was 61st; and, Alivia Nickason of Eden who was 122nd.
In the team event: Denis Morris (19. Kushner; 37. Candelaria Gras; 210. Taylor Pirri; 237. Maggie Bell) was ninth; and, Sir Winston Churchill (66. Helena Lindley; 139. Meena Van Grieken; 143. Amara Van Grieke; 164. Ines De La Fuente; 219. Vivian Jiang) was 10th.
SENIOR GIRLS
Julia Tremeer of Notre Dame was the only local runner to finish the OFSAA senior girls race, placing 63rd.
NOVICE BOYS
Deagan Hallett of Sir Winston Churchill placed sixth in the novice boys race.
Other local results included Levi Sampaio of Notre Dame who placed 15th.
The Saint Paul team (101. Oscar Serravalle; 118. Finley Thornton; 189. Oskar Hamilton; 203. Ethan Cayouette) ended up 22nd.
PARA BOYS
Placing 11th in the intellectual boys para event was William Hussein-Costa of A.N. Myer.
JUNIOR BOYS
Jose Gras of Denis Morris was the top local runner across the finish line in the OFSAA junior boys race. He finished eighth.
Other local results included: Rocco Shuker of West Niagara who was 13th; Evan Blake of Saint Paul who was 17th; TJ Woods of Denis Morris who was 19th; and, Owen Corman of Denis Morris who was 120th.
