AROUND OUA: Laurentian Open

Lakers impress to kick of 2016 season

On Sunday, the Nipissing Lakers Cross Country Team opened their 2016 competitive season with a strong showing in the Laurentien Open in Sudbury.  

In this unique OUA event, the men and women runners compete together and cover a 5km course made up of primarily roads and crushed gravel trails. The event provided an excellent opportunity for teams to measure their early season fitness and to see how they stack up against their northern Ontario rivals. 

Although the Laurentian Voyageurs were victorious over the Nipissing Lakers in both the men's and the women's races, the Lakers showed excellent early season fitness. 

The top Laker on the women's side was second year student Katie Gibson who completed the 5 km course in 20 minutes and 15 seconds. This placed her 4th overall in the women's race. 15 seconds behind Gibson was Laker rookie, Stephanie Knowles who placed 7th overall. The rest of the Lakers team all finished in the top 15 and demonstrated that the team has improved their depth since the 2015 season. 

In the men's race, Travis Mann showed that he is ready to build on his strong rookie season last year by crossing the finish line in 8th place overall in 17 minutes and 5 seconds. Second year athlete Teagan Retty (17:02) and rookie Justin Leale (18:03) rounded out the top 10 for the Lakers. 

Next weekend, the Nipissing Lakers Cross Country Team compete in their intersquad race in preparation to take on a large and highly competitive field at the Western Invitational on September 23rd.

Source: Nipissing Lakers