High School Cross Country vying for OFSAA
A unique ending to the WECSSAA Cross Country Championships this fall. The team title was shared this season by Villanova and Sandwich, a rarity. "We tied with them four years ago and they won on the tie break. This year we had two teams finish first (sr. boys and jr. girls for Villanova and sr. girls and novice boys for Sandwich) meaning the tie-breaker was null and void." said Wildcats assistant coach Mike Baran. "We train together. We travel together. We're supposed to be rivals but it's kind of cool that LaSalle won. It's fun to share a win with your biggest competitor and biggest cheerleader."
Individual winners from the WECSSAA XC Championships, Oct. 21, 2026, at Malden Park:
Novice
Boys 4,000m: Liam Lessard, St. Thomas of Villanova — 12:47.2
Girls 4,000m: Ella Hahn, Sandwich Secondary — 13:34.0
Junior
Boys 5,000m: Ben O’Neil, North Star — 17:13.9
Girls 5,000m: Finley Mills, St. Anne High School — 21:18.3
Senior
Boys 6,000m: Gianfranco Rauti, St. Thomas of Villanova — 18:51.9
Girls 6,000m: Anieu Chan, Vincent Massey Secondary — 21:52.5
Para
Boys 4,000m: Ahmad Al Khaled, Westview Freedom Academy — 15:27.0
Villanova swept the boys’ novice and senior titles.
Above is Aniu Chan, Ella Hahn and Ben O'Neil. Pictures courtesy of Andromeda Dean.
Windsor-Essex athletes head to Sarnia for SWOSSA Thursday. We wish them all the best.