BEHCHOKO/RAE EDZO - Runners from Fort Simpson proved it's the size of the effort that matters, not the size of the team.

"That was the smallest group I've been with, definitely, for the cross country," said Kristen Morrison, the gym teacher at Thomas Simpson School. She accompanied five racers to Behchoko last weekend for the 2009 Territorial Cross Country races.

Sadeedi Gargan, 9, left, follows Deh Gah School teammate Leah Baptiste, 9, during the girls 2 km peewee division run at the 2009 territorial cross country meet in Behchoko on Oct. 2. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

Only five students from the school competed in the event, three placed in their divisions.

Carson Mantla came in first place for the 6 km Senior (ages 18+) boys race, Charlene Deneyoua came in second for the Junior (ages 16 to 17) girls 6 km race, and Madison Pilling pulled into third place in the Midget (ages 12 to 14) girls race.

"We could get the aggregate banner because we had three out of five placing," said Morrison, though she is still waiting for the final results to confirm her prediction.

Morrison said there were a few reasons the school had low turnout, including a sign-off policy that requires students to have at least a 55 per cent mark in school subjects, and an 80 per cent attendance record.

"Some of the others didn't meet the sign-off policy, some decided not to go at the last minute," said Morrison.

There were also some racers from Bompas Elementary School that made the top three in their divisions - Sage Fabre-Dimsdale placed third in the Tyke (ages seven and under) girls race and Shanelle Arden placed third in the peewee girls (ages eight and nine) race.

Christopher Carson, a teacher at Deh Gah School in Fort Providence, also took 11 students to Behchoko for the race. There were a few winners on the board for Deh Gah School, and plenty of effort.

"In midget boys I had Samson Devves and Tookie McLeod - out of roughly 20 competitors Samson placed sixth and Tookie placed seventh," said Carson.

"The interesting thing is, for Tookie, at the start he was at the back, and he caught up to Samson who basically kept his position for the whole race."

"They did their 3 km in 13 minutes, roughly - 13:21 for Samson and 13:22 for Tookie."

- with files from Andrew Livingstone