North Lambton grad Connor Black finally won his elusive first national title taking the men’s 10K race by 11 seconds over a competitor from BC Northern alumni Andrew Davies was sixth.

Black, from Forest, and his London-Western Track and Field teammate also won the team gold. Davies and his mates from the Harbour Track Club in Hamilton were second in the team standings.

With his victory, Black will represent Canada at the World Cross Country Championships in Australia next year and he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“Yeah, I’m very excited,” he said in post-race comments. “I’m stoked,”

Charlie Shaw of LCCVI and Ryan Davies of Northern were 37th and 58th respectively in the boys’ U18 race featuring 262 runners.

And

Gabby Jones used a late race kick to pass the defending champion from B.C. and win the women’s U18 title at the Canadian Cross Country Championships in Ottawa on the weekend.

Jones, from Northern, won the 4K race by two seconds.

“I just tried to keep a good mental attitude throughout the race, keep that positive mindset I think is the biggest thing,” said Jones in a post-race interview with Athletics Canada. She is coming off a provincial high school cross country crown last month for the Vikings.