Hannah Bennison appears serious about winning a third straight provincial cross country title.
The VSS Panther shattered her own course record by nine seconds Wednesday while ruling the North Zone Championships at Kalamalka Provincial Park.
Bennison covered the four-kilometre course in 14 minutes and 15 seconds, earning a t-shirt from The Starting Block. Hannah finished ahead of her sister, Mia (15:52) and Seaton’s Annika Ariano (16:22).
The Bennison sisters sparked the Panthers to the team pennant ahead of the Revelstoke Avalanche. Kelsey Carriere of VSS was eighth in 17:35.
“What a glorious day we had, between rainy ones, for our North Zone Cross Country Running Championships,” said race director Mark Bendall. “The track was damp, and brutally hilly as always, but all 92 runners survived.”
Seaton Sonics’ Braden Kersey, a junior boys runner, was the fastest male over 5.8-k and also pocketed some Starting Block clothing, clocking a 22:25. Kersey led Seaton to junior boys team glory, a dozen points in front of Revelstoke.
Matthew Nesdoly of Kings Christian Kings in Salmon Arm was 18 seconds behind Kersey while taking the senior boys title, while James Huntington of the Kings was third in 23:16.
Ian Oliphant of Seaton placed sixth in 23:59, followed by teammate Aidan Andrews at 24:02. Gage Stoll of the Sonics cracked the top-10 in 25:14 for 10th spot. Dayton Bryan of the Fulton Maroons was 14th in 25:45.
The Kings won the senior boys crown with the Salmon Arm Golds beating VSS by sevenpoints to take second.
The Valley race goes Tuesday in West Kelowna.