Cross Top Honours

Cross (far left) shown with other top Toronto high school athletes
There was a time, back when she started high school, that Jenn Cross was self-conscious about her height.
Now, at 6-foot-4, she calls it “a blessing” and something that has helped her accomplish more than she had ever expected.
Just about 6 feet tall back in Grade 9 at Toronto’s Birchmount Park Collegiate, Cross remembers being a topic of discussion because she was the tallest girl in the school.
Now 18, Cross still chuckles when people think she is a basketball player. Better still, Cross likes to watch the strange reactions when she tells them about the days she played hockey — something that got her accepted to the Birchmount exceptional athlete program.
Forget about hoops and hockey — Cross has become one of the top teenage volleyball players in Canada.
“I’m so bad at basketball and when volleyball took over my life, everything else stopped,” said Cross. “My height has really been a blessing. I have embraced it and accomplished so much.”
Cross has been in the spotlight for many reasons.
She has been on the Birchmount Park academic honor roll the past four years, and she has also been the top female athlete in each grade. This year, she got the nod from coaches as the top athlete in the school.
As a middle blocker on the school volleyball team, Cross helped the Panthers win their fourth straight city championship and claim a provincial silver medal for the second consecutive year. She was chosen team MVP and capped a four-year run with a 51-5 record.
“I was embarrassed when they called my name,” she said of being named Birchmount’s top athlete. “There are so many great athletes at our school. The only regret I have, even though we came close twice, is not winning a provincial championship.”
Her career interest is in the medical field, but Cross hasn’t ruled out playing pro volleyball in Europe. She’s now training with Canada’s National Beach Volleyball program and going to the world U19 championships in Portugal from July 27 to Aug. 1.
David Grossman, thestar.com
Follow Cross and partner Humana-Paredes in U19 World Beach Championships




