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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, October 24, 2013 | 22 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Friendly rivalry renewed in GHAC cross-country final by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff Sports "Connected to your Community" MILTON -- They first met as preschoolers, and through the years they played hockey together. For the past four years, though, Evelyne Guay and Bridget O'Neill have been team leaders at rival high schools. Tuesday, they waged battle again on the muddy hills of Kelso Conservation Area at the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference cross-country championships. About four kilometres into the five-kilometre course, Abbey Park's Guay had a three-metre lead on her Loyola counterpart when they began to ascend one of Kelso's ski hills. Step-by-step, O'Neill reeled her in until three-quarters of the way into the climb, when they were dead even. They stayed that way as they disappeared from sight. Spectators gathered along the long straightaway that led to the finish, waiting for the runners to reappear. When they did, Guay and O'Neill were running shoulder to shoulder. With their supporters cheering them on, they ran side by side for 300 metres before Guay got the step in front she needed to give her an advantage and pulled away over the final 50 metres. Having won the toughest of her four consecutive GHAC titles, Guay turned and hugged O'Neill, runner-up for the second straight year, as she crossed the finish line. "Our schools go to most of the same meets so we see each other all the time," said Guay, a Grade 12 student. "We're friends as well, so that makes it fun." "We're always together every time we run," O'Neill said. "She's fast and she can always find another gear and she kicked it around that last corner." Though Guay and O'Neill have finished one-two each of the last two years, Loyola's Alex Ratcliffe and Notre Dame's Erin Mawhinney join them to form a group that has dominated GHAC throughout its entire tenure. The runners were the top four finishers in both Grade 9 and Grade 12. Over the course of four years, the foursome has swept the medals in various combinations at GHAC. All four are now headed to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations meet in Sudbury next week. Earlier this year, Guay wondered if her GHAC streak might be in jeopardy, though. Her training was hampered, first by a stress fracture in her tibia in the spring and then by monosee Loyola on p.23 Loyola's Bridget O'Neill (left) and Abbey Park's Evelyne Guay near the finish line of Tuesday's Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference senior girls' cross-country race at Milton's Kelso Conservation Area. Guay edged out her long-time friend with a strong surge in the final 50 metres. | photo by Eric Riehl -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Garth Webb Chargers win first-ever team championship The Garth Webb Chargers didn't go to the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference cross-country meet intending to make history. Not even having enough runners to fill out a junior boys' team, it could hardly be expected that the Chargers would bring home the division championship. But that's exactly what they did Tuesday at the Kelso Conservation Area in Milton. Moving midget runners up to the junior ranks to fill out their team, the Chargers edged Loyola 45-48 to claim the GHAC title, the first team championship in school history. "It takes a lot of work (to build a program)," said coach Greg Dailey. "We qualified two individuals (for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships) last year, but a team win, that happened a little quicker than expected." Dailey and Steve Moran came to Garth Webb when it opened last year. Together, they had previously helped Abbey Park to a long and successful run in cross-country and track. There, they built a healthy rivalry with their see Midget on p.23