Tomori, Dobrovolski and Shuker NRHSAA’s best
Graham Tomori was in his happy place at Wednesday’s Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Zone 3 and 4 cross country meet in Niagara Falls.
“I felt really good, I had a good day and I love this course. Firemen’s Park is my favourite,” the Grade 11 Eden student said, after being the first runner to cross the finish line in the senior boys division.
The 15-year-old St. Catharines resident loves most everything about the course.
“I love the forest part. The one part where you run through the forest there is no cheering and you can just focus on your own race and get in the zone.”
The Edge Triathlon member was anything but overconfident heading into the race.
“I was hoping I could win and I felt like I had the ability to but there’s a lot of fast guys and it is a fast group of people. There were no guarantees.”
He grabbed an early lead and didn’t let go of it.
“I am a big front runner and it keeps me motivated seeing all the people cheering and happy for me. I enjoy winning and setting a good time. I am motivated to stay in first place and I keep pushing the pace.”
Coming off a season where he won a silver medal in the junior boys division at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships, Tomori knows it will be a tough feat to replicate in his first season at the senior level.
“I definitely want to go for top 10 at OFSAA. I think it is possible with a lot of hard work and dedication.”
Getting to OFSAA will be a challenge as next week’s Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association race boasts a number of topflight competitors.
“It is one of the fastest regions if not the fastest region and there are a lot of fast guys.”
He took a little motivation from last year’s provincial silver medal but most of is coming from another source.
“Most of my motivation came from a poor track season. I worked super hard over the summer and going into the season and now I am pushing myself every race to perform.”
Cross country is clearly his favourite discipline.
“I ran track but I am not a big track guy. I love cross country and track feels really repetitive for me. I feel like I am doing something new and I like an interesting course. I like the hills, the forests and the challenge of cross country. Track just feels like a circle.”
In the boys team events, Sir Winston Churchill (30) was the Zone 4 boys champion followed by Eden (22) and West Niagara (20). Churchill (58) also topped the overall points race followed by Eden (40) and West Niagara (34)
In Zone 3 boys, E.L. Crossley (30) was first followed by Centennial (8), Stamford (8) and Greater Fort Erie (8). Crossley (40) was also the overall champion followed Saint-Jean-de-Brebeuf (10) and Centennial (8), Stamford (8) and Greater Fort Erie (8).
JUNIOR BOYS
Simon Dobrovolski and the rest of the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs junior boys cross country team are on a mission.
“Hopefully it is to build on last season and improve my placements and improve my times,” the Grade 10 student said.
The 15-year-old St. Catharines resident placed 10th in the novice boys race at OFSAA last year and helped his team win the bronze medal. His excellent result gave him motivation for 2023.
“I had a good race but I felt with more training I could improve even more and do better. Over the summer, I did lots of mileage and consistent training with my teams at Runners’ Edge and Sir Winston around Glenridge.”
He is focused on one thing this fall season.
“The team title for Sir Winston at OFSAA is my main goal. Last year we didn’t get our goal of winning OFSAA and we keep telling each other we are going to do it this year.”
It is all about the team for Dobrovolski.
“Cross county is a team sport and these guys help me and I help them. It is a team effort.”
It was certainly a team effort Wednesday as Churchill’s runners were the first four across the finish line to record the perfect score of 10 for a cross country squad.
“That was the goal, to keep it easy, try and get the perfect score but not die out at zone.”
NOVICE BOYS
Rocco Shuker cruised to a comfortable won in the novice boys race at the NRHSAA Zone 3 and 4 cross country meet.
“It felt really good. I was just pacing with the second-place guy for the first three K and then had a good kick,” the Grade 9 student at West Niagara said.
The 14-year-old Grimsby resident expected to do well Wednesday and he is gunning to be the best in the province this fall.
“My goal is to win OFSAA,” he said. “I don’t want to be happy to just be there. I want to win it,” he said.
The Thorold Elite Track Club member feels that is an important attitude to have.
“It helps you to do better and you want to try your hardest to win everything that you can.”
Running with Thorold Elite, he won 3K and 5K invitational races in the summer after joining the club about four months ago.
“Thorold has really helped me and I feel stronger when I am running.”
His best finish at the NRHSAA elementary school level was second at the board meet.
RESULTS
Novice boys Zone 3 individual (4K): 1. Aydan Smith, Port Colborne (15:31.1); 2. Jackson Tonnies, Port Colborne; 3. Christian Piovesana, Westlane; 4. Alex Lee, Centennial; 5. Quinn Tischler, Centennial.
Novice boys Zone 4 individual (4K): 1. Rocco Shuker, West Niagara (13:36.2); 2. Keegan Clark, Churchill; 3. Lucas Sacco, Churchill; 4. Christian Sloetjes, Churchill; 5. James Smith, West Niagara.
Novice boys Zone 3 team: 1. E.L. Crossley (6. Cameron Jackson; 8, Matthew Ryan; 9. Matthew Kotsis; 19. William Davis); 2. Centennial (4. Lee; 5. Tischler; 14. Joshua Kryger; 21. Johnny Chen)
Novice boys Zone 4 team: 1. Churchill (2. Clark; 3. Sacco; 4. Sloetjes; 10. Ahmed Fadlalla; 26. Mark Abban-Desbouvrie); 2. West Niagara (1. Shuker; 5. Smith; 6. Chase Larson; 8. Trent Clarke; 14. Elias Alas; 23. Jesse Li); 3. Eden (7. Callum McKie; 11. Joshua Bayne; 13. Matthew Durliat; 15. Seth Dueck; 18. Alistair Tomori).
Junior boys Zone 3 individual (5K): 1 Logan MacRae, Crossley (17:42.9); 2. Griffin Eller, Crossley; 3. Adam Freure, Crossley; 4. Jackson Reles, Brebeuf; 5. Grant Letford, Crossley.
Junior boys Zone 4 individual (5K): 1. Simon Dobrovolski, Churchill (17:05.2); 2. Barron Walker, Churchill; 3. Julian Cirasuoio, Churchill; 4. Jackson Mead, Churchill; 5. Andrew Bayne. Eden.
Junior boys Zone 3 team: 1. E.L. Crossley (1. MacRae; 2. Eller; 3. Freure; 5. Letford; 8. Jack Ryan); 2. Greater Fort Erie (6. Anderson Kenna; 11. Tyler Leggett; 14. Nicholas McCoy; 15. John Li).
Junior boys Zone 4 team: 1. Churchill (1. Dobrovolski; 2. Walker; 3. Cirasuoio; 4. Mead; 7. Carson Walker); 2. Eden (5. Andrew Bayne; 10. Steven Necakov-Waller; 11. Joshua Johnson; 12. Levi Payne); 3. West Niagara (9. Tiago Malcolm; 15. Jack Hanna; 16 Matthew McBlain; 17. Hayden Baranick; 18. Caelan Gunn).
Senior boys Zone 3 individual (6K): 1. Kaden Shaw, Myer (19:59); 2. Matt Kleinsmith, Crossley; 3. Jackson Sider. Crossley; 4. Sam Tonnies, Port Colborne; 5. Nick Deschamps, Franco Niagara.
Senior boys Zone 4 individual (6K): 1. Graham Tomori, Eden (19:03.8); 2. Elijah Bayne, Eden; 3. Fenway Breckels, Simcoe; 4. Sebastian Glaser, Simcoe; 5. Rian Wilson, Churchill.
Senior boys Zone 3 team: 1. E.L. Crossley (2. Kleinsmith; 3. Sider; 6. Keagan Alexander; 11. Simon Bolhous; 13. Merek Triano); 2. Stamford (9. Shilo Jeyarajasing; 14. Jason Erikson; 15. Levi Miller; 31. Nicholas O’Donnell); 3. Robert Land Academy (16. Stephan Paterson; 17. Emanuel Kopatsis; 20. Munachimso Assams; 21. Andrew Kelly; 22. David Cheung).
Senior boys Zone 4 team: 1. Churchill (5. Wilson; 6. Samuel Dellalian; 8.Owen Lewis; 11. Owen Masterson; 12. Tristan Mallysh); 2. Eden (1. Tomori; 2. Bayne; 15. Chad Thorpe; 16. William Rigby; 23. Hudson Dyck); 3. West Niagara (7. Evan Fletcher; 9. Jackson McIntosh; 10. Zachary Houston; 14. Hazem Jebran; 17. Holden Goar).
