XC | Laurentian Cross Country Teams Post Top-10 Finishes at OUA Championships
Laurentian University Women's and Men's Cross-Country Running Teams both notched Top 10 placings at the Ontario University (OUA) Championships this past weekend in London, ON. Competing over an eight kilometre course at the Thames Valley Golf Course, the Voyageur Women placed 9th and the Voyageur Men placed 10th.
The Laurentian Women continued their season-long progress which saw their average time over eight kilometres drop by over 2 minutes since their first competition in September. The team was again led by rookie nursing student, Kristen Mrozewski (Sudbury) who placed 48th in the 87 women field with a time of 33 minutes, 29 seconds. Second year Adventure Leadership student Sarah Booth (Peterborough) placed just behind Mrozewski in 49th place, running 33:32. Third-year Health Promotion and Concurrent Education student, Angela Mozzon (Sudbury) placed 56th in 34:15. Veteran Sarah Thackeray (Cavan) placed 60th in 34:30. Rounding out the scoring for Laurentian was Ashley Valentini (Oshawa) in 71st.
The Laurentian Men found themselves in a mid-pack battle against Lakehead, Ottawa and Laurier with only 22 points separating the four teams. The men were again led by third-year Criminology student Keon Wallingford (North Bay) who placed 21st in the 102 man field with a time of 26 minutes 7 seconds. Fifth-year athlete Paul Sagriff (Kingston) was the second Laurentian scorer, placing 35th in 26:55. Mechanical Engineering student Calum Passi (Sudbury) placed 60th in 28:15. Other scorers for Laurentian included Eric Gareau (61st in 28:21) and Justin Graenert (72nd in 28:49). Displacers for the Voyageurs included Nick Lambert (79th in 29:19) and Alexandre Fishbein-Ouimette (91st in 31:01).
"I'm really happy with my race" noted Mrozweski. "Our women's team definitely showed some solid progress this season and having some experienced teammates to train and race with has been extremely helpful. The transition from being more of a track athlete to a cross-country runner has been challenging but I really enjoy the training and I'm definitely excited for the indoor track season".
On the men's side, Wallingford commented, "The plan was to run with the lead group and put myself in a good position to be in the top 20. The lead group split up at the five kilometre mark but I was still feeling good as we headed in the final section of the course. That last kilometre was a mental battle and unfortunately I just didn't have the big kick I was hoping for and came up just short of being top 20. Our team had a good team battle today too and I'm proud of how we performed this season."
Laurentian Assistant Coach, Kait Toohey commented, "I'm extremely proud of how our squads ran today, with guts and grit. We have watched these athletes work hard and progress over the season and their hard work culminated in our women's team achieving their goal of top ten and our men's team gaining valuable racing experience at the championship level. The coaching staff looks forward to seeing how these young squads further develop in seasons to come."
OUA Cross-Country Running Championships Results
London, ON
Team Results
Women
1. Guelph – 19 points
2. Western – 60 points
3. McMaster – 73 points
4. Queens – 109 points
5. Toronto – 133 points
6. Waterloo – 166 points
7. Windsor – 181 points
8. Laurier – 273 points
9. Laurentian – 282 points
10. Ottawa – 312 points
11. Nipissing – 331 points
12. Brock – 356 points
Other Teams Competing: Algoma, Lakehead, Trent, York
Men
1. Guelph – 32 points
2. McMaster – 34 points
3. Western – 100 points
4. Queens – 113 points
5. Toronto – 117 points
6. Windsor – 156 points
7. Lakehead – 227 points
8. Ottawa – 245 points
9. Laurier – 248 points
10. Laurentian – 249 points
11. Brock – 305 points
12. Waterloo – 331 points
13. York – 352 points
14. Nipissing – 394 points
15. Trent – 488 points