Wild ride, in more ways than one, for the Bombers cross country squad
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The L.V. Rogers Bombers boys overcame winter-like conditions and bus problems to finish 14th overall at the B.C. High School Cross Country Championships held Saturday in snowy conditions in Prince George.
The boy’s race, run after a dump of snow in the Central Interior City, attracted more than 250 runners from throughout the province and was open to all grades.
“The boys team placed a very impressive 14th out of 30 teams,” said a team spokesperson.
Grade 9 Micah May led the Bombers who finished 36th overall in the senior boy’s division.
Levi Smith was the second best LVR in 135th followed by Digby Benner, who finished 160 overall.
The girl’s team placed well down the pack in the team standings, but should be applauded just for competing after the team bus broke down, stranding the entire LVR team until 15 minutes from the start of the race.
The trip began to sour en route when the bus experience mechanical difficulties.
Bomber runners and coaches spent three hours on the side of the highway before additional transportation could be found.
The trip would have been a total disaster had it not been for the generosity of the Quesnel and Salmon Arm teams who helped transport the LVR runners to the race.
Unfortunately, the girl’s running gear was locked in the bus forcing the competitors to locate alternate equipment.
Adding to the woes was the fact that one of the coaches succumbed to food poisoning.
As for the bus, the vehicle needed additional parts before being road worthy forcing coaches to book transportation from a Prince George shuttle company to get the competitors back to Nelson.
The driver was a former Nelsonite who came to the rescue of the Bomber team.
