Riverside’s cross-country team has been having yet another successful season. This year the the junior girls’ team consists of 7 athletes (Ella Masden, Brooke Kendall, Cassie Robinson, Gillian Lapierre, Kaitlyn Connelly, Beth Smith, Anna Kobalev,) while the senior girls’ team is made up of 4 (Olivia McDonell, Shelby Connelly, Maria Kim, Lucy Caldwell.)
The team recently competed at the Fraser North Zone Competition, and for the first time for Riverside, the Junior girls took home the championship banner. “These girls have been running extremely well this season and the banner was well deserved,” said Mr. Barrington.
Mr. Philip Barrington and Mrs. Tara Keating coach the team together, running practices and attending competitions.
Ella Masden, a grade nine at Riverside, won the Junior division at Fraser North and is the favourite to win at the BC High School Championships in the Junior Girls category. “My Riverside cross-country season has been really fun. I’ve got to meet a lot of new people and learn a bit more about Riverside. I have really enjoyed racing this season and can’t wait for the next,” said Masden. So far this year with Riverside, she has run at two mini meets, where she placed third overall, and Districts, placing fifth overall. Masden lives with diabetes, sometimes making competing difficult. “It can be a challenge especially before races because sometimes I have to drink a bunch of juices before I run. It never affects me during the race but after sometimes I feel sick,” said Masden. She has been running outside of school with the Coquitlam Cheetah’s for 4 years and competes at community club meets.
Olivia McDonell, a grade 12 Riverside student, won the Gail Sayers Award for top senior girl cross country runner in school district 43, receiving a plaque.
The team is looking forward to competing at the Provincial Cross-Country Championships in Abbotsford, on November 2.
