AROUND OUA: Western Invitational
McDonald Leads Mac to Gold at Western International
Maddy McDonald made a triumphant return to the trails on Saturday, leading the McMaster women to team gold and narrowly missing the individual podium at the Western International in London.
The fourth-year runner was held out of competition in the team's opening meet in Buffalo two weeks ago, but returned on Saturday to score first for the Marauders, crossing the finish line of the 5km course in 17:42 — just a second behind the meet's bronze medallist from McGill, Melanie Myrand.
McMaster's men also enjoyed a strong day, and were denied the team title as the tiebreaker fell the way of the Windsor Lancers after both teams finished with 58 points through five racers.
Following McDonald, Mac veteran Chelsea Mackinnon provided the Marauders second score in 10th, with Gabrielle Foran (17th), Maddie Benjamin (19th) and Emily Nowak (25th) rounding out the top five.
With the Forbes brothers absent, it was the veteran duo of Blair Morgan and Connor Darlington who led the way for the Mac men on Saturday, scoring third and fourth respectively to provide the team's low posts. Gabe Ghiglione (12th), Jeff Tweedle (18th) and Derek Van Schepen (21st) completed the top five.
The Marauders will now spend a few weeks away from competition, before traveling to Queen's on October 17 to take part in their final preparatory meet before Halloween's OUA Championship in Waterloo.
Source: McMaster Marauders
Smith, Lancers win Western Invitational
A strong overall performance gave the Lancer men's cross country team the 2015 Western Invitational team title Saturday morning in London.
The Lancers finished the race tied for first with the McMaster Marauders with 58 points, but Windsor was given the win as their top two displacers finished higher than McMaster's next to runners.
Windsor also saw strong individual performances with fifth year runner Paul Janikowski placing second overall. Janikowski captured the silver medal finishing the 8km run in a time of 24:45. Joe Kagumba also finished in the top ten in eighth place in a time of 25:24.
The Lancers then saw consecutive finishes from Michael Pesce (25:49), Shawn Master (25:50), and Jordan Collison (25:52) who finished fifteenth through seventeenth.
Displacers Matt Hall and Taylor McArthur finished the race in 20th and 22nd with times of 25:53 and 25:54, respectively.
On the women's side, Stefanie Smith captured the meet individual title en route to the Lancers sixth place team finish. Smith claimed gold in the 5km race in a time of 17:26.
Transfer Allie Parks placed eighth overall in a time of 18:15 while Chelsea Viselli placed 16th in 18:49. Other Lancer scorers included Sydney Hawkins (19:59) and Lauren Fisico (20:43).
The Lancers will next run in the Don Mills Invitational on Saturday October 3rd in Waterloo, ON.
Source: Windsor Lancers
Wilkie wins Western Invitational
LONDON, Ont. (September 26, 2015) - The Queen's Gaels cross country teams were in London on Saturday for the Western Mustangs Invitational. Alex Wilkie of the men's team had the top result in the men's race finishing in 1st place.
The men's team finished with a fifth place overall team standing at 146 points. Alex Wilkie took home first place overall finishing in a time of 24:35 as he beat out Paul Janikowski from the Windsor Lancers by ten seconds. Other notable finishes for the Gaels were a 29th place finish from Adam Paquette who clocked in at 26:17 and a 35th place finish from Joey Stel who ran a time of 26:39.
On the women's side the Gaels were led by a ninth place finish from Charlotte Dunlap who finished the 5km run in a time of 18:23. Close behind her was Lindsay Kary who finished 18th in a time of 18:53 and the next best Gael was Erin O'Higgins who checked in at a time of 19:11 for 31st.
The Gaels will now set their sights on the Lehigh University Invitational on October 2.
Source: Queen's Gaels
Mustangs race to third-place finishes at Western International
LONDON, Ont. – Week two of the intercollegiate cross country schedule had the Mustangs seeing threes, as both the men's and women's teams ran to third place finishes at the Western International.
The event, held at the Thames Valley Golf and Country Club, was won by McMaster on the women's side and Windsor on the men's side. Laurentian and McMaster rounded out the top three in the women's and men's races, respectively.
Erin Snelgrove led the Western women, finishing with a time of 18 minutes and 40 seconds to place eleventh. Two other Mustangs, Katherine Lampard and Kristina Popadich, also picked up top-20 finishes. Lampard, who missed last week's Vic Matthews Invitational, ran a time of 18 minutes and 43 seconds to finish 13th while Popadich followed up last week's 23rd–place finish with a nine-spot improvement.
Jessica White and Ainsley Nantes were Western's fourth and fifth finishers, respectively. Seeing her first intercollegiate competition of the season, White came across the line in 22nd with a time of 18 minutes and 59 seconds. Nantes, Western's second-best finisher in week one, was just behind, placing 29th with a time of 19 minutes and 10 seconds.
Other finishers for the Mustangs on the day were Michelle Moakler (19:22), Stephanie Nevison (19:26), Mariel Fluttert (19:33), Lauren Negrazis (20:12), and Sarah Emilio (20:26).
In the men's race, veteran Chris Balestrini (25:19) and sophomore Ben Carson (25:22) led the way for the Mustangs, finishing in sixth and seventh, respectively. Not far behind was freshman Matt Sheeler (25:40), who bounced back from a disappointing showing last week to finish 11th.
None of Western's top-five finishers on the men's side were outside of the top-30, as Jack Sheffar (26:02) and Phil Parrot-Migas (26:18) rounded out the group in 25th and 30th, respectively. Two more racers, Shane Roberts (26:24) and Hunter Andrin (26:56) finished in the top-40. Andrew McColl (27:04), Lewis Kent (27:11), and Rajan Brar (27:41) rounded out Western's runners.
The men's third-place finish was an improvement on last year's showing at the event, when they ran to a fifth-place finish on their home soil. Both teams improved on their showings at last week's Vic Matthews Invitational, which saw the women finish fifth and the men sixth.
Source: Western Mustangs
Varsity Blues Women 5th, Men 6th at Western Invitational
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues cross country team headed to London for the 2015 Western International Invitational on Saturday, September 26.
Toronto's women placed fifth overall, while the Blues men were sixth.
Madeleine Kelly was the first Varsity Blue to cross the women's 5km finish line, placing fifth in a time of 17:50. Honor Walmsley was not far behind in seventh in 18:11. Lia Codrington (18:56), Christiana Agustin (19:16) and Arden Burrows (19:36) also ran for the Blues.
Simon Egzaw led Toronto's men, placing 28th in a time of 26:12, while Robert Lawand was 31st in 26:23. Craig Klomp finished the 10km race in 26:42, while Ben Divito (27:06) and Sam Kinahan (27:28) rounded out the Blues top-five finishes.
The Varsity Blues return to action next Saturday, October 3 as they compete at the Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational and the Don Mills Open.
Next up for both teams is the Louisville Classic, as the Mustangs will travel to Kentucky for the annual event. Last year, the women's team impressed with a 9th place finish while the men's team finished in 27th. The event is set for Saturday, October 3.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Warrior men place 7th, women 8th at Western International meet
The Waterloo Warriors cross-country teams kicked off their 2015 season at the Western International on Saturday afternoon in London with the men's squad finishing 7th in the field of 14 teams while the women finished 8th out of 12.
Leading the way for the men's team was Adam Richardson (Ottawa) who ran the 8km course in a time of 25:53 good for 21st place. Chris Moore was the next best Warrior with a time of 26:25 while Eric Barry rounded out the top three with a time of 27:08. Overall the men's team averaged a time of 26:54 with their top 5 runners.
On the women's side Erin Merkely was the top Waterloo runner with her time of 19:07, good for 31st overall in the 5km race. Samantha McGuinness was only two seconds behind (19:09) to grab 32nd spot while Alexandra McGowan (Carp) rounded out the top three Warrior finishers with her time of 19:15 to finish 37th overall.
The Warriors will now prepare for their annual Don Mills meet held next Saturday at the CIF fields. The women will run a 6km race starting at 10am followed by the men running a 10km race at 10:45pm.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
2 Golden Hawk runners finish Top 10 at Western Invit.
LONDON, Ont. (September 27, 2015) – Two members of the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's cross country team had impressive performances at one of the top events of the season on Saturday afternoon at the Western Invitational.
Fifth year runners Adam Cornwall of St. Mary's, Ont., and Elliot De Lange of London, Ont., both finished in the Top 10, making it the first time two Golden Hawks have accomplished the feat at the event.
Cornwall, who finished fifth on Saturday at the Thames Valley Golf Course, also set a team record for the highest-ever finish by a Hawk at the Western Invitational as he completed the 8km course in a time of 25 minutes and 16 seconds. He breaks his own record when he finished 10th at the event two years ago.
As for De Lange, he crossed the line in 10th place thanks to a time of 25:37.
The two results helped Laurier earn an eighth place finish in the team standings.
Meanwhile, the Laurier women finished 10th out of 12 teams on Saturday with Sarah Cranmer-Byng of Mississauga, Ont., finishing as Laurier's top racer in 53rd place. She completed the 5km course in a time of 19:46.
The Hawks will be back in action next Saturday, October 3, at the Don Mills Open, hosted by the University of Waterloo.
Source: Laurier Golden Hawks
Lions open strong at Western Invitational
The York University Lions men's and women's cross country teams finished ninth and 12th, respectively, at the Western International Invitational in London, Ont., on Saturday (Sept. 26).
Suraj Sharma (Brampton, Ont.) led the way for the Lions on the men's side, crossing the finish line of the 8km race with a time of 26:59, which placed him 40th overall. Just over a minute after Sharma ended his day, Brandon Belan (Espanola, Ont.) finished with a time of 27:09 placing him 45th overall, and Chris Pallotta (Toronto) ended in 27:54, landing him in the 57th spot.
The other Lions in the race weren't far behind as Harishan Karunenthiran (Brampton, Ont.), Jamie Tarling (Caledon, Ont.) and Sam Agnew (Renfrew, Ont.) crossed the line with times of 28:14, 28:24 and 28:26, respectively.
The first to cross the finish line for the women's team was Vaishnavy Yogarajah (Brampton, Ont.), who finished the race with a time of 20:54, good for 82nd overall. Shortly after Yogarajah crossed the finish line, teammate Vanesa Ereqi (Mississauga, Ont.) sprinted through with a time of 21:06. Other notable Lions running in Saturday's race were Shae Turner (Toronto) in a time of 21:46, Anna Prouzou (Toronto) in 22:06 and Darya Chenskikh (North York, Ont.) in 22:47.
Both cross country teams are back in action next weekend (Oct. 3) when they participate in the Don Mills Open in Waterloo, Ont.
Source: York Lions
