Neil McNeil runners win overall boys’ team championship at OFSAA cross country meet

Cross country runners from Neil McNeil Catholic High School are continuing to make history this season.

Last weekend, Neil McNeil won the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) overall boys’ team championship crown, a first in the history of the southwest Scarborough school.

Also, Neil’s Senior boys’ team won the championship at the OFSAA meet held on Nov. 6 at Lakefield College near Peterborough.

In the Senior boys race at OFSAA, 22 teams and 185 runners competed.  The Neil runners brought their “A Game” for the race, led by  Gaetano Pocchi (who finished fourth); Irvin Omere (who finished 15th);  Liam McCullagh (who finished 16^th);  Liam Patterson (who finished 32^nd); and Fitz Williams (who finished 39^th). The combined effort of the Neil McNeil Senior boys won their team the gold medal.

In the Junior boys’ race, Neil McNeil placed fourth as a team. A total of 22 teams and 165 runners took part in the race. Top Junior runners for Neil in the race were James Parkin (22nd); Jesse Miller (37th); Dylan Welch (43rd); Luigi Mele (51st): and Andrew Watson (94^th).

In the Novice boys’ race, 22 teams and 185 runners participated. Neil finished sixth in the team title competition. Top Neil runners in the race were Xavier Gordon with a Top Ten finish with a placing of seventh; followed by Ellery Alexander (72nd); Harrison Clarke (96^th); and Marshall Devlin (129th).

The icing on the cake for the Neil McNeil team at the OFSAA cross country championships was seeing one of their coaches, Ashley Masterson, recognized by her coaching peers with OFSAA Leadership in Sports Award.

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