BlackBerry CIS athletes of the week: OUA cross country champions honoured
Pearo, a fourth-year kinesiology student from Richmond Hill, Ont., became the first McMaster woman in history to win OUA gold last Saturday when she finished the five-kilometre championship race in a personal-best time of 17:00.04, a full 13 seconds ahead of her closest rival, Guelph all-Canadian Rachel Cliff. A three-time all-Canadian herself and the fifth-place finisher at last year’s CIS meet, Pearo lifted the Marauders to second place in the women’s team standings, trailing only seven-time conference champion Guelph.
Fellow cross country runners Caroline Schlosser of Dalhousie and Sarah McCuaig of McGill, as well as Calgary hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser were also nominated for the women’s award.
Genest, a fourth-year student from Lac-aux-Sables, Que., was dominant in his first career appearance in the 10-kilometre OUA championship race claiming individual gold in a time of 30:30.5, nine seconds ahead of Gryphon teammate Kyle Boorsma, the 2009 CIS silver medallist. Genest, who transferred to Guelph this year after competing for Sherbrooke in the Quebec conference for three seasons, helped the Gryphon men set the OUA record for lowest team score en route to their sixth straight Ontario banner. The 5-foot-9 senior was the CIS silver medallist and male rookie of the year in 2006 and the CIS individual champion in 2007 while at Sherbrooke.
Dalhousie’s Dan Gorman and Sherbrooke’s Olivier-Gabriel Lavoie, both cross country runners, and Saskatchewan soccer player Josh Northey were the other male nominees.
Female nominees:
AUS: Caroline Schlosser, cross country, Dalhousie
RSEQ: Sarah McCuaig, cross country, McGill
OUA: Jessica Pearo, cross country, McMaster (recipient)
CWUAA: Hayley Wickenheiser, hockey, Calgary
Male nominees:
AUS: Dan Gorman, cross country, Dalhousie
RSEQ: Olivier-Gabriel Lavoie, cross country, Sherbrooke
OUA: Alex Genest, cross country, Guelph (recipient)
CWUAA: Josh Northey, soccer, Saskatchewan