GRYPHON WOMEN WIN CONVINCINGLY, ALUMNI NIP MEN AT NEW BALANCE VIC MATTHEWS X-C OPEN
A total of 12 races were run throughout the day in what was dubbed a "cross-country carnival". Young and old came out and ran, cheered and had lots of fun under near perfect conditions. The marquee events of the day were the Vic Matthews races, named after the Gryphon Hall of Fame Coach who passed away in 2004.
The women's race was won by last year's CIS rookie-of-the-year Tamara Jewett of the Toronto Varsity Blues who ran away from the field to win in 13 minutes and 35 seconds. Behind Jewett was a wall of Gryphons led by third year runner Laura McIvor (Burnaby, B.C.). McIvor was quickly followed across the line by Karoline Hoy (Thunder Bay, Ont.), Lindsay Furtado (Brampton, Ont.) and Robyn Mildren (Dundas, Ont.) as the Gryphs took four of the top five placings. Local high school star Emily Dreidger, who trains with the Speed River club was next with Jess Vanhie (Alisa Craig, Ont.) following her in as the Gryphons' fifth and final scorer finishing seventh overall. The Gryphons easily won the team competition with a score of 21, last year's CIS runner-up Toronto was second with 101, with the South Simcoe Dufferin Track Club placing third with a score of 214.
Annually one of the highlights of the New Balance Vic Matthews Open and it is predecessor the Gryphon Open is the Alumni versus Varsity challenge. Over the past several years the men's Alumni team has inched its way closer to dethroning the Varsity. Heading into this year's race the chatter between the two squads had reached a new level as the Alumni squad was loaded up. No less than six former all-Canadians suited up for the team and with a varsity team missing all-Canadian Allan Brett and OUA all-star John Parrott, the table was set for an Alumni win.
The Varsity team did not give up their throne easily. Defending CIS champion Matt Brunsting (Stirling, Ont.) showed he is poised to defend his title with a strong early season performance in capturing the overall victory. Spencer Morrison of the University of Toronto Track Club was next across the line followed by eight varsity and alumni finishers. Reid Coolsaet was the Alumni team's first scorer as he held off a late charging Kyle Boorsma (Guelph, Ont.) to capture the bronze. Through each team's first three runners the varsity held a four-point lead on the Alumni but Taylor Murphy and Mark Vollmer, stalwarts on the Gryphons run of four consecutive titles from 1999-2002, closed the door on the varsity team finishing eighth and ninth respectively to give the Alumni team the 32 to 36 win.
The Gryphons will next be in action next Saturday at the Western International in London, Ont.
WOMEN'S TOP 10 RESULTS
Place* Name Team Bib No Age Time
1 Tamara Jewett University of Toron 296 0 13:35.6
2 Laura McIvor University of Guelp 233 0 14:25.8
3 Karoline Hoy University of Guelp 232 0 14:29.2
4 Lindsay Furtado University of Guelp 231 0 14:33.2
5 Robyn Mildren University of Guelp 238 0 14:39.2
6 Emily Dreidger Speed River TFC 280 0 14:40.4
7 Jessica Vanhie University of Guelp 239 0 14:41.5
8 Carise Thompson 283 0 14:41.8
9 Samantha Beattie University of Guelp 236 0 14:46.5
10 Erin Fox 159 14:48.9
TOP 5 TEAMS
Place Team Places 1 2 3 4 5 6* 7* 8* 9*
1 University of Guelph 21 2 3 4 5 7 9 11 15 19
Top 5 Times: 1:12:49.1
Average Time: 14:33.8
2 University of Toronto 101 1 12 22 31 35 39 42
Top 5 Times: 1:16:25.4
Average Time: 15:17.1
3 South Simcoe Dufferin 214 21 25 41 60 67
Top 5 Times: 1:24:32.1
Average Time: 16:54.4
4 University of Windsor 216 26 30 46 53 61 66
Top 5 Times: 1:23:39.9
Average Time: 16:44.0
5 Humber College 217 27 38 40 50 62 63 64
Top 5 Times: 1:23:42.7
Average Time: 16:44.5
MEN'S TOP 10
Place Name Team Bib No Age Time
1 Matt Brunsting University of Guelp 241 0 23:48.9
2 Spencer Morrison UTTC 309 0 23:56.6
3 Reid Coolsaet Guelph Alumni 275 0 24:12.6
4 Kyle Boorsma University of Guelp 240 0 24:13.8
5 Cleve Thorson Guelph Alumni 271 0 24:15.5
6 Rob Jackson University of Guelp 242 0 24:22.2
7 Derek Snider Guelph Alumni 272 0 24:22.4
8 Taylor Murphy Guelph Alumni 276 0 24:25.6
9 Mark Vollmer Guelph Alumni 277 0 24:29.2
10 Rob Koziarski University of Guelp 243 0 24:33.6
TOP 5 TEAMS
Place Team Places 1 2 3 4 5 6* 7* 8* 9*
1 Guelph Alumni 32 3 5 7 8 9 39 54
Top 5 Times: 2:01:45.5
Average Time: 24:21.1
2 University of Guelph 36 1 4 6 10 15 28 33 35 36
Top 5 Times: 2:01:55.0
Average Time: 24:23.0
3 University of Toronto 98 11 17 18 22 30 53 67 83
Top 5 Times: 2:05:26.6
Average Time: 25:05.3
4 University of Windsor 108 12 14 23 27 32 34 38 49 60
Top 5 Times: 2:06:08.9
Average Time: 25:13.7
5 Wilfrid Laurier University 177 21 31 37 40 48 56 59 63 92
Top 5 Times: 2:09:13.1
Average Time: 25:50.6
Full results at http://guelphrunning.ca/news.php?id=269
Source: Guelph Gryphons