With some 2000 athletes on hand representing all four local school boards, there were clearly some young runners who would be making a name for themselves at the 2023 CSPGNL Cross-Country Championships in early October.

Sadie Frantz (Lo-Ellen) doubled down on her victory at the Rainbow Championships, Ella Sabourin (Jean-Paul II) established herself as a two-sport threat and the Gieselman Family (Hélène Gravel) enjoyed a day to remember.

With Lo-Ellen Elementary School occupying the top six slots in the Grade 8 Girls 3.3km race, it was Sadie Frantz who would show the way, edging teammate Lia Paille by just over 15 seconds.

One of several very accomplished hockey players in the field of 12 races, Ella Sabourin clipped Alyssa Bryant (St Charles College) at the finish line, 15:00 vs 15:03, capturing the Grade 7 Girls 3.3km event.

In the younger categories, siblings Tejada Gieselman (Grade 5 Boys - 2.3km) and Marguerite Gieselman (Grade 4 Girls - 2.3km) came home with matching gold medals as seven different schools would send youngsters to the very top of the podium.

Following are the top five finishers in each of the 12 different grades & gender brackets:

Grade 8 Boys - 3.3km
1st - Sam Lazure (Lo-Ellen) - 13:58
2nd - Maxime Belzile (Macdonald-Cartier) - 14:15
3rd - Peter Pagnutti (Ste-Thérèse) - 14:30
4th - Logan Gilbert (Notre-Dame - Hanmer) - 14:30
5th - Yasir Arije (Lasalle) - 14:38

Grade 8 Girls - 3.3km
1st - Sadie Frantz (Lo-Ellen) - 15:31
2nd - Lia Paille (Lo-Ellen) - 16:25
3rd - Ewa Breckon (Lo-Ellen) - 16:56
4th - Ellie Sauve (Lo-Ellen) - 17:44
5th - Mattia Mullen (Lo-Ellen) - 18:01

Grade 7 Boys - 3.3km
1st - Max Barrows (St Charles College) - 14:58
2nd - Padraig Courtney (St Charles College) - 15:10
3rd - Noah McGregor (Sudbury Christian Academy) - 16:09
4th - Ewan Huang (Lo-Ellen) - 16:16
5th - Benjamin Barriault (Macdonald-Cartier) - 16:17

Grade 7 Girls - 3.3km
1st - Ella Sabourin (Jean-Paul II) - 15:00
2nd - Alyssa Bryant (St Charles College) - 15:03
3rd - Julia D'Angelo (St Benedict) - 16:12
4th - Kallie Smith (St Benedict) - 16:48
5th - Kloe Rienguette (St Charles College) - 17:19

Grade 6 Boys - 2.3km
1st - Chidube Elendu (R.L. Beattie) - 8:45
2nd - Loic Collison (Ste-Thérèse) - 8:47
3rd - Austin McNabb (Ste-Thérèse) - 8:59
4th - Patrick Reichle (St-Denis) - 9:00
5th - Austin Carrier (Foyer-Jeunesse) - 9:11

Grade 6 Girls - 2.3km
1st - Aubree Slobodian (Holy Trinity) - 9:40
2nd - Madison Houle (Foyer-Jeunesse) - 10:05
3rd - Désirée Malmiste (Foyer-Jeunesse) - 10:15
4th - Alice May (St-Denis) - 10:39
5th - Reese Doherty (Holy Trinity) - 10:59

Grade 5 Boys - 2.3km
1st - Tejada Gieselman (Helene Gravel) - 8:38
2nd - Jeremie Neale (St Dominique) - 9:13
3rd - Clark Montgomery (St James) - 9:18
4th - Coen Larochelle (Foyer-Jeunesse) - 9:24
5th - Caleb Séguin (Alliance St-Joseph) - 9:40

Grade 5 Girls - 2.3km
1st - Eloize Charette (St Denis) - 9:31
2nd - Taylor Poirier (St Denis) - 9:43
3rd - Blake Lyle (Lasalle) - 10:11
4th - Ally Hebert (Holy Trinity) - 10:14
5th - Léa Atoui (Hélène Gravel) - 10:15

Grade 4 Boys - 2.3km
1st - Sammy Karza (R.L. Beattie) - 9:37
2nd - Stephane-Auguste Louis-Jean (St Denis) - 9:43
3rd - Nico Brujic (Holy Trinity) - 9:54
4th - Xavier Paquette (St Dominique) - 9:56
5th - Arlo Angus (Holy Trinity) - 9:58

Grade 4 Girls - 2.3km
1st - Marguerite Gieselman (Hélène Gravel) - 10:19
2nd - Bria Recoskie (St Paul) - 10:25
3rd - Arianne Salem (Jean-Paul II) - 10:25
4th - Ayla Madore-Ugurgel (Hélène-Gravel) - 10:28
5th - Ciara Hanley (R.L. Beattie) - 11:19

Grade 3 Boys - 2.3km
1st - Bryson Chaudry (R.L. Beattie) - 10:01
2nd - Zavier Gervais (Hélène Gravel) - 10:02
3rd - Paxton Ricketts (St Denis) - 10:15
4th - Graham Spadafore (Félex-Ricard) - 10:24
5th - Dax Knight (St Anne) - 10:31

Grade 3 Girls - 2.3km
1st - Tessa Hoag (Foyer-Jeunesse) - 11:07
2nd - Charlie Fortin (St Denis) - 11:09
3rd - Anna Ranelli (Jeanne-Sauvé) - 11:42
4th - Grace Roy (St Joseph) - 11:44
5th - Calla Parsons (Lasalle) - 11:45