October 9, 2014

Mustang women take first place at Mustang Open

LONDON, Ont. - The women's team claimed first place as the Mustangs cross country team competed in the 23rd Annual 2014 Mustang Open, held at Gibbons Park on Thursday, October 9.

LONDON, Ont. - The women's team claimed first place as the Mustangs cross country team competed in the 23^rd Annual 2014 Mustang Open, held at Gibbons Park on Thursday, October 9.

Eight teams competed in the Women's 4km event for a total of 114 runners, while six teams competed in the Men's 6km event for a total of 80 runners.

Western women's team placed first overall with a total of 27 points. Augustana College took second place with a total of 41 points, while Humber finished in third with a total of 54 points.

Amanda Truelove captured first place for the second year in a row with a 4km personal best time of 13:44 and the second fastest time ever run on this course. Truelove's time set a new Western record for this meet and course, beating Shannon Gerrie's previous record of 13:51 in 2009. Katherine Lampard finished in fourth place with a 4km personal best time of 15:02, Katie Bell took fifth place (15:02), Brittany Hambleton finished in 12^th place (15:38), and Mariel Fluttert finished in 14^th place (15:44).

Number two through seven women's runners Bridget Pyke, Stephanie MacNeil, Melissa Caruso, Jessica White, Ainsley Nantes, and Sarah Emilio caught up on some rest during this meet.

On the men's side, co-captain Phil Parrot-Migas led the Mustangs with a fourth place finish (19:21), while close behind rookie Lim Lees finished in fifth place (19:45) with Robbie Timmermans taking the sixth place spot (20:04). Although the Western men's team runners placed very well individually, there were not enough runners to place as a team.

The men's team also had quite a few players catching up on rest this meet, with number one through three runners Kevin Blackney, Shane Roberts, and Triphon Moodie, as well as number five and seven runners Donovan Hacking and Ben Carson not participating in the event.

The Mustangs will have some time off to prepare for the upcoming OUA Championships, which will be hosted on Saturday, October 25 by Queen's University.