XC | Gendron Breaks School Course Record, Wins Ramsey Tour 5km
The Laurentian Voyageurs Cross-Country Running team returned to Ontario University Athletics (OUA) competition this past weekend at the 44th Ramsey Tour 5km race hosted on the Laurentian campus. The Vees squared off against athletes from Nipissing and Algoma Universities in addition to runners from the community as part of this long-standing early Fall race hosted by the Sudbury Masters Running Club.
The LU women were led by fifth-year Education student, Pascale Gendron (Toronto), who broke a nineteen year old school course record and won the women's race in a time 18 minutes and 1 second. Former All-Canadian LU athlete, Leila Angrand set the school course record in 2003 with a time of 18 minutes and 13 seconds.
Following Gendron, the women's team were well represented in the top ten positions. Second year Nursing student, Kristen Mrozewski (Sudbury) placed 2nd in 19:35. Fourth year Health Promotion student, Angela Mozzon (Sudbury) placed 5th in 20:10. Third year Biomedical Biology student, Meredith Kusnierczyk (Sudbury) placed 6th in 20:54. Rounding out the scoring positions for the Voyageurs was third year ADVL student, Sarah Booth (Peterborough) who placed 7th in a time of 21:15. Ashley Valentini (Oshawa), placed 15th in a time of 22:46.
On the men's side, rookie SPAD student Seamus Doherty (Georgetown) was the top Laurentian scorer, placing second overall, in a time of 16 minutes and 53 seconds. Third year Mechanical Engineering student Tyler Rowles (Amherstburg) placed 6th in 17:41. Fourth year Nursing student, Nicholas Lambert (Elliot Lake) placed 9th in 17:59. Rounding out the scoring for Laurentian were Cameron Heinz (Huntsville), 11th place in 18:09 and Patrick Leroux (Wingham), 12th place in 18:10. Other Laurentian finishers included Brandon Radey, 13th in 18:11, Travis Annett, 15th in 18:27, Keegan Lockley, 23rd in 19:10, Kevin Yuan, 24th in 19:16 and Hayden Ring, 25th in 19:27.
The Laurentian Men won the team competition with a low score of 22 points. Nipissing University placed second with 39 points.
Gendron noted after her victory and record setting run, "It was quite exciting. I'm definitely very motivated to be back racing with the team. I surprised myself a bit as I had no idea what to expect but definitely did train hard this summer."
"Obviously we are very happy to see Pascale's result today", commented LU Head Coach, Darren Jermyn. "She ran aggressive from the gun and maintained her pace very well. Seamus also had an impressive run on the men's side. His time is the second fastest rookie time since we brought the men's team back in 2015."
The Cross-Country Vees will be back in OUA regular season action at the Western Invitational on September 24th in London.