The Walnut Grove Gators cleaned up at the high school cross-country Langley championships last Monday at Aldergrove Lake Park. The Brookswood Bobcats took home the junior boys category, but Walnut Grove won the other five of the six categories.

Walnut Grove cross-country coach Don Sparks said his team is in good form across a variety of categories heading into the Fraser Valley championships next week in Hope.

“Our senior boys team looks good and the junior girls do too,” he said “Our Grade 8 girls team is the strongest I’ve ever had.”

Sparks said a particular standout for his team was Dallas Tilley, a Grade 8 student who only joined the team two weeks ago.

“She kind of shocked the whole field,” he said. “She’s won the two races she’s been in.”

The Grade 8 race saw Walnut Grove students finish in the top six positions, with Tilley placing first, followed by Julie Matson, Katie Ussher, Tina Minnas, Emilie Sadler and Joelle Maisey. In the junior girls race, Walnut Grove students took the top five spots, with Ashley Windson winning and Danica Matson, Samantha Gillis, Andrea Robinson and Meg Harradine placing second through fifth.

The Gators’ domination was snapped in the senior girls’ race, though, where D.W. Poppy Grade 12 student Katie McKinnon finished her last cross-country race in Langley in style, blowing away the field in a time of 16 minutes and 19 seconds. She was followed by Walnut Grove’s Kirsten Notting, Keara Graham, Megan Notting and Taryn McMulloch.

On the boys’ side, D.W. Poppy’s Nick Van Der Goes won the Grade 8 race with H.D. Stafford’s Tyler de Jong placing second. Walnut Grove’s Lucas Hodgson, Chris Curran and James Lam placed third through fifth. In the junior boys’ race, Walnut Grove’s Sean Burnett placed first, followed by D.W. Poppy’s Del Muench, Walnut Grove’s Max Proske and Brookswood’s Stephen Kaita and Adam Marshall.

The senior boys’ race saw a strong performance from Langley Secondary’s Stuart Ellenwood, who finished first with a time of 22 minutes and seven seconds. He was followed by Brendan Donnelly, Brett Parker, Mike Lalusta and D.J. Manning, all of Walnut Grove.

The Langley teams are gearing up for the Fraser Valley Championships next week, and Sparks said Aldergrove Lake Park was an ideal facility to hold their last meet before the championships.

“It’s a spectacular venue for cross-country,” he said.

Sparks said there’s an effort underway to get provincial championships hosted at the park in the near future, a plan he heartily endorses.

“That would be really spectacular for Langley.”