Midtown kids run to victory
As a warmup meet to the cross country city championships, Leaside High School reigned supreme on Oct. 9, placing victories in two of six events at Stan Wadlow Park.
In six long-distance events, Leaside’s Josh McGillivray won the junior boys’ 6,100-metre run, finishing in 17:27.81, two minutes better than second place finisher Jacob Dziecol of Humberside Collegiate.
In the midget boys’ 4,800-metre run, Leaside Lancers Duncan McKendrick and Anthony Sutton finished first and second respectively, with times of 14:49.97 and 16:36.91. The third place finisher, Northern Red Knight Wilson Brawn, finished just after Sutton at 16:50.41.
The top five finishers in the midget girls’ 3,300-metre run all came from Lawrence Park. Emily Cohen was the winner, followed by Natali Robinson, Kasha Mansour, Hunter Rynda and Julia Keogh.
Runners from Northern Secondary, Marc Garneau Collegiate and Forest Hill Collegiate placed in the Top 10 in those events.
The city championships, scheduled for Oct. 23 at Centennial Park, will feature squads from all four city regions. The OFSAA cross country championships are set for Nov. 2 at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
Norsewomen on torrid pace
North Toronto Norsewomen girls’ basketball team is in first place and scoring at will, and continued its dominance over Lawrence Park Panthers on Oct. 16 with a 45-38 win.
The victory was the result of a steady pace of offense and stingy defense. The Norsewomen, led by Grade 12 forwards Rebecca Daly and Sarah Knee, used size and athleticism to get easy baskets. Knee and Daly each top six feet.
The team fell short of city championship contention last year, losing to Northern Red Knights in the semifinals, but is undefeated so far this season, marching to 44-10, 47-8 and 59-51 wins against Oakwood Barons, Jarvis Bulldogs and Central Tech Blues, respectively.
The victory puts the Norsewomen in first place in senior Tier-1 hoops, a division dominated by Eastern Commerce Saints and the Red Knights in recent years.
Defending champion Eastern Commerce was 0–2 as of press date.
Surviving Danforth
Danforth Red Hawks, a venerable powerhouse in volleyball, had midtown schools in their crosshairs and escaped with two close victories.
They slammed to a 2–1 victory against Lawrence Park Panthers on Sept. 30, then handed North Toronto Norsemen a 2–1 loss on Oct. 2.
The ability to keep the ball up on defense and to set up offense with killer spikes and cheeky serves have become recognizable traits of Danforth’s play. The school has multiple city titles, in both boys and, girls’ play, in recent years.
However, teams in Senior Tier-1 boys’ volleyball East Division are playing at parity. The Panthers responded to their season-opening loss with 2–1 and 2–0 victories, over the Red Knights and Norsemen, respectively. The Norsemen have victories over the Red Knights and Marc Garneau Cougars.
The Panthers and Norsemen were within two points of Danforth in the division, as of press time.
