On a challenging, hilly course, Point Grey TFC athletes placed in the top-10 individually at last Saturday's provincial cross country championships at Aldergrove Lake Park in Aldergrove. This marked the first time Point Grey TFC was represented at the race.

Martina Wan became the first club member to appear in the provincial cross country championships results. She ran the Senior Women's 6,000-meters, placing 10th overall in a time of 25:31. Malindi Elmore took the title in 22:02. It was remarkably Wan's first cross country race ever, as she comes from a triathlon background.

The men unfortunately didn't line up a full team as expected, however three runners still took part in the Senior Men's 10,000-meters race.

Sam Pawluk was in the lead pack early on, though was eventually forced to withdraw due to a recurring injury.

Close behind, Kerry Kazuta ran a little more conservatively, and hung with a chase pack of runners, eventually coming across the line in 9th place. His time of 34:21 was just a minute and a half off Steve Osaduik's winning time of 33:01. While fulfilling his goal of a top-10 placing, Kazuta commented after the race that he wished he had ran with more "guts".

In his first cross country outing of the season, Ben Thistlewood attempted to stick with Kazuta and the chase pack, however he was dropped early in the 2nd loop, and ended up running the majority of the race on his own, against the clock. He finished 10th in 35:15 with no one near him.

Results:

http://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=34258&do=news&year=2010&news_id=14135&folder_id=recent

Next up for Point Grey TFC

Stay tuned to this site to get the scoop on when Point Grey TFC will next be back in action.