Chios and Mete win NCAA cross country crowns

Jack Chios of St. Francis was the senior boys winner at Wednesday’s Niagara Catholic Athletic Association meet held at Firemen’s Park. 

Jack Chios was tired of being an also-ran on the high school cross country scene.

“In cross country, I wasn’t very good and I didn’t even make OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) last year. I got 12th at SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association) and I missed the wildcard by one,” said Chios Wednesday, after winning the senior boys division at the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association meet held at Firemen’s Park in Niagara Falls.

Starting this past February, the Athletics Niagara member ramped up his training to five or six days a week. It is about double the training he did last year.

“My volume has gone so much higher and I am training so much more,” said the Grade 11 student at St. Francis.

His motivation came from those around him.

“Seeing a lot of my teammates and other kids I run against kind of starting to grow and get a lot better, I felt like I was staying around the same spot,” he said. “It was ‘OK.’ They are clearly doing something and I have to do something to keep up with them.

“It pushed me to go with them.”

Chios pushed his way through rainy and sloppy conditions to win Wednesday at Firemen’s Park.

“It feels good,” he said. “This is the first time I have ever won a cross country race and I was happy I was finally able to get it now.”

He has set high goals for his first year as a senior runner.

“I definitely want to get OFSAA and get in the top 30 because that is like a significant placement.”

Other boys winners Wednesday were Joseph Zachery of Blessed Trinity in the midget division and Evan Beach of Blessed Trinity in the junior boys division.

Blessed Trinity captured the overall team trophy.

CROSS COUNTRY METE

A familiar face crossed the finish line first Wednesday in the senior girls division of the NCAA cross country meet.

As expected, Notre Dame’s Alissa Mete comfortably won the race. The 15-year-old has finished second at the SOSSA championships the past two years and last year, she placed 10th at OFSAA in the junior girls division.

In her first year of senior, Mete isn’t sure what to expect.

“I know the Grade 12 girls will be fast but I still want to make it to OFSAA and place in the top 10 or 20,” she said. “I would be really happy with that.”

To get there, she has been training more for running with the Edge Triathlon club and is no longer playing travel basketball. This past spring, she was a member of a Pelham Panthers under-19 team that was second in Ontario.

“I decided to stop playing (travel) basketball because if I want to try and go farther with running, I had to pick one or the other,” she said. “It was getting too complicated to do both.”

It wasn’t an easy decision to walk away from travel hoops.

“It was a really hard decision and I am pretty sure it’s the right one, but I still don’t know,” she said.

Mete can still pursue her basketball passion with the Notre Dame senior girls and focus more on her first love.

“i really enjoy the team that I have been training with and that has got me to love it more,” Mete said. “Even on my own, I am training more and loving it more.”

Other girls winners Wednesday were Sarah Sweitzer of St. Francis in the midget division and Macy Hellwig of Denis Morris in the junior division.

The top three teams and top 10 individuals not on advancing teams moved on to next Thursday’s SOSSA championships at Firemen’s Park.

Following are top five individual and top three team results (where applicable) from the NCAA meet:

Midget girls: 1. Sarah Sweitzer, St. Francis (19.17.3); 2. Laura Pagoda, Blessed Trinity; 3. Henlee Mahoney, Saint Michael; 4. Madisyn Madejski-Rapso, Blessed Trinity; 5. Taurie Cunningham, Holy Cross.

Midget girls team: 1. Blessed Trinity (Pagoda, Madejski-Rapso, Sarah Haynes and Adia Binfield).

Midget boys: 1. Joseph Zachery, Blessed Trinity (16:49.06); 2. Owen Cooper, Denis Morris; 3. Max Morrow, Blessed Trinity; 4. Lucas Henson, Notre Dame; 5. Nathan Joseph, Blessed Trinity.

Midget boys team: 1. Blessed Trinity (Zachery, Morrow, Joseph and Nathan Alvarado).

Junior girls: 1. Macy Hellwig, Denis Morris (21:49.37); 2. Ella Duguay, Holy Cross; 3. Faith Huber, Lakeshore Catholic; 4. Stella Pesut, Blessed Trinity; 5. Emma Bagozzi, Denis Morris.

Junior boys: 1. Evan Beach, Blessed Trinity (17:31.43); 2. Reese Arnold, Blessed Trinity; 3. Mason Petrucci, St. Francis; 4. Jake Bagozzi, Denis Morris; 5. Ethan Mason, St. Francis.

Junior boys teams: 1. Blessed Trinity (Beach, Arnold, James Lawson and Matthew D’Onofrio); 2. St. Francis (Petrucci, Mason, Benjamin Molnar and Christian Hordijk); 3. Denis Morris (Bagozzi, Evan Freeman, Kohen Serravalle and Logan McKimm).

Senior girls: 1. Alissa Mete, Notre Dame; 2. Lauren Macsai, Lakeshore Catholic; 3. Nicole Beach, Blessed Trinity; 4. Cori Macsai, Lakeshore Catholic; 5. Ella Whalen, Saint Michael.

Senior girls teams: 1, Lakeshore Catholic (Lauren and Cori Macsai, Melissa Mott and Susan Santillan); 2. Blessed Trinity (Beach, Krysten Schuster, Madeline DeBoer and Bianca Faraci); 3. St. Francis (Megan Johnson, Serena Kelly, Lily Watt and Marisa Hagopian).

Senior boys: 1. Jack Chios, St. Francis; 2. Samuel Nolan, St. Francis; 3. David Picard, St. Francis; 4. Dylan Dumas, Saint Paul; 5. Matthew Roda, Notre Dame.

Senior boys teams: 1. St. Francis (Chios, Nolan, Picard and Maceo Tripodi); 2. Notre Dame (Roda, Graeme Staples, Young Mo Lee and Erik Williston); 3. Blessed Trinity (Michael Huber, Cole Arnold, Justin Felker and Damian Erzar).