Records, of course, are meant to be broken.

A pair of Revelstoke Secondary Avalanche runners obliterated a mark set only a year ago in the opening high school cross-country running meet of the Fall 2024 season, held Wednesday, Sept. 25, at Coldstream's Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park.

Maya Royle won the senior girls 5-kilometre race in 20 minutes 27 seconds, finishing 31 seconds ahead of teammate Zoey Crosby. Both girls shattered the course record of 21:57 set in 2023 by Mishka Parilak of Vernon's W.L. Seaton Secondary.

Willow Brown nearly made it a Revy sweep of the top-three. She placed fourth in 23:23. Salmon Arm Secondary's Madeleine Wilkie was third in 22:56. Isla Jolly of Vernon Secondary rounded out the top-five, placing fifth in 24:43.

The senior boys 5-km race was won by Enderby's Brady Cormier of A.L. Fortune Secondary, who crossed the finish line in 20:22, nearly a minute faster than Liam Reid of Coldstream's Kalamalka Secondary (21:11). The course record is 18:26, set in 2021 by Ashton Takhar of Clarence Fulton Secondary in Vernon.

Seaton runners took the next four placings, led by Jack MacWilliams in 21:58, and followed by Alex Matthies (22:11), Aiden Canabe (22:52), and Dylan Green (24:49). 

Ashlyn Funston of Kalamalka Secondary had a good time winning the junior girls four-km race in 17:23. Funston finished ahead of a trio of Seaton runners, led by Sarah Mitchell (17:56), Emily Lane (18:04), and Linnaea Heidt (18:18). Brooklynn Kelly of Salmon Arm's Jackson Campus was fifth in 18:45.

The course record is 14:15, set by Vernon Secondary's Hannah Bennison in 2016.

Salmon Arm runners took three of the first five spots in the junior boys four-km run, led by Jared Peterson of Jackson in 16:06. He was 14 seconds faster than Oliver Van Nostrand of Shuswap Middle School. Kaydn Dunbar of VSS was third in 16:24.

Arlo Heckrodt of Shuswap Middle School placed fourth in 16:34, and Lucien Aprile of Fulton was fifth in 16:41. Simon Heidt of Seaton set the course record of 14:16 in 2023.

"It was fun watching all of the fine young athletes that we had racing in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park," said race director Mark Bendall of Vernon Secondary. "We had 110 runners, from 13 schools, competing. Luckily the weather was great, compared to the predictions."

The next races are slated for Revelstoke on Oct. 2.