CIS XC Report Week 1
CIS report, week #1
The plan is to give a recap of all the CIS XC schools in action each week. It won’t be a re-ranking (rankings will be done again the last week of September, then pre-conference, then post-conference), just an overview, with links to results. Results can be found all together at Trackie.ca. Rankings are according to the Race Merchandise TNF North Poll.
AUS
Moncton hosted the AUS opener meet, on a course that has some tough hills. The women ran 4625m and the men ran 7315m, so note that when you see the times. Add about 1:20-30sec for the women to get a 5k time, and about 2min for the men to get an 8k time when you look at the results.
Freida Aspnaes of UNB was the runaway winner, beating Melissa Hardy of St. FX by over 20sec. St. FX easily took the team title, though, running 2-3-4-6-10 for 25pts over Dalhousie’s 5-8-9-12-14 for 48. UNB took third with 79 points. That’s the first time UNB has had a dominant woman since the days of Olympic Pentathlete Kara Grant in 2000-2001, and the team seems the best it’s been since then as well. But it looks like Bernie Chisholm is doing his usual job at X, and rookie coach Rich Lehman has some work to do to catch up. Beware crafty old Tim Randall at UNB. With a low-stick in his pocket, who knows what might happen.
On the men’s side Conor McGuire took the win over teammates Lee Wesselius and Scott Donald, as X swept the podium. Jérémie Pellerin from Moncton and Jake Moore from Dalhousie were next across the line. The top three teams were the same, as St. FX scored 20 points, Dal 59 and UNB 95. St. Mary’s and Moncton were not far behind, however, so it’s a tight battle mid-pack.
Lavinia Carreau and Jean-Marc Doiron were the two open winners as they prepare for their respective club xc seasons.
RSEQ
The McGill Open XC featured all the Quebec University teams, plus Ottawa and Western from the OUA, a visit from the Southern Maine ladies team, and some solid club runners.
Ryan Noel-Hodge became the first ever Concordia Stinger to win the McGill Open, as he pulled away from McGill rookie Ben Raymond (19:04) and unattatched club runner Phillipe Viau-Dupuis (19:08) on lap two of the three-lap, 6k race. Noel-Hodge’s time of 18:55 was just shy of the course record set by Neal Holtshulte of Williams College in 2005.
Western did not have a runner on the podium, but the packed the top ten and took the team title with 28 points. A renewed McGill men’s squad was second with 78, and the Laval Rouge et Or, despite missing their top 6 runners, had a strong crop of rookies finish third with 82 points.
The McGill Martlets, ranked 5th in the season opening poll, upset 4th ranked Western Mustangs on the ladies side 32-42 on the strength of a great opener by Jessica Porfilio (14:15). She finished second behind Amanda Truelove (14:09) of Western, and just ahead of rookie teammate Caroline Pfister (14:23). A month ago Pfister out-lasted Porfilio in the Quebec 5000m championships, so it is great to see the two neck and neck in the cross country season, especially with Porfilio dealing with some nagging injuries. Also of note was Ottawa GeeGees rookie Julia Nikonorova, a relative unknown, who finished 4th.
Upstart Montreal club Montreal Endurance finished third in the team standings, lead by Concordia graduate Dominique Roy, McGill alum Melanie Myrand, and super moms Katrina Driver and Leslie Gold. The top club runner on the women’s side was Joannie Roy of Coureur Nordique who finished 5th overall.
OUA
A slow start to the OUA season as only host Queens, local RMC, D2 York and a pared down Guelph Gryphons squad showed up at Fort Henry. It seems a shame to waste such a great course on only four teams. Not sure why the other Ontario schools did not take advantage. Perhaps they were afraid of the 10k distance too early in the season. I suppose we can wait for the Guelph men to burn out as a result? Not likely.
The hosts were the surprising victors on both sides (though not so surprising as you realise the #1 ranked Gryphs did not race their full teams). Julie-Anne Staelhi (18:11.4) was third and her teammates packed up in spots 5-10 to secure a 29-34 win for the host Gaels (#8) over Guelph (#1) on the ladies side. The Gryphon women were lead by a 1-2 finish from Caries Thompson (17:43.9) and Nadine Frost (17:56.0).
Guelph also went 1-2 on the men’s side, with a photo finish giving the win to Ross Proudfoot (31:45.8) over top recruit Yves Sikubwabo (31:46.1). Then came the Queen’s brigade again, as Jeff Archer (31:53.6) lead 4 teammates across the line. The final tally was Queens (#7) 27, Guelph (#1) 28.
Canada West
Trinity Western travelled to the Sundoger Meet in Seattle, where Blair Johnston was 3rd in the Open 8k in a time of 25:07.73. Trinity Western finished 8th out of 22 teams with 220 points (UBC (NAIA) was 1st with 48). Teammate Fiona Benson finished in 4th place in the women’s 6k in a time of 22:16.13, while her team was well back in 17th out of 19 American teams.
Next week the big meet will be in London, Ontario, as most of the OUA, as well as McGill, Concordia and Laval from the RESQ will take part. Out west will be the Cougar Trot, and St. FX will host a meet in the AUS.