XC - Women place 9th, Men 10th at OUA Championships

On Saturday, the Voyageurs cross-country team traveled south to take part in the OUA Championships hosted by the University of Waterloo. Seventeen other Ontario universities competed in the eight-kilometre event, that took place on the Waterloo campus. The women finished 9^th and the men finished in 10^th.

The women were led by fifth year student education student, Angela Mozzon who placed 35^th with a time of 31:19. Meredith Kusnierczyk finished 50^th, in a time of 32:15, which was the fastest race of her varsity career. Kristen Mrozewski finished in 53^rd, right behind Kusnierczyk, with a time of 32:24. Also contributing to the Voyageurs score were Sarah Booth in 66^th with a time of 33:46 and Charlotte Grenier in 72^nd in 34:26.

The men were led once again by fifth year psychology student Keon Wallingford, placing 21^st in 25:17, a season's best. Brandon Radey placed 57^th with a time of 27:17. Also contributing to the Voyageurs score were Seamus Doherty in 63^rd in 27:29, Cameron Date in 70^th with a time of 27:55, and Patrick Leroux, 78^th in 28:11.

"It's almost hard to put into words what Keon was able to accomplish today," commented head coach Darren Jermyn. "He had been injured for a full year dealing with an ongoing shin issue, so he didn't have the typical summer mileage build and training base coming into the season. He has worked extremely hard to be physically ready to race at the elite level again, but perhaps what is more impressive is his mental toughness on race day."

Jermyn also noted, "Angela's performance was also exceptional today. Her eight-kilometer time has improved by over five minutes since she came to Laurentian and she really is a prime example of what we can achieve with our program and the support we have from the university. We are definitely headed in the right direction with both the men and women, so that is another positive sign for the program."

The Voyageurs will send five runners to compete at the U Sports National Cross Country Championships, hosted by Western University in London on November 12^th. Angela Mozzon, Kristen Mrozewski and Meredith Kusnierczyk will represent the women's side and Keon Wallingford and Brandon Radey will compete in the men's race.

-Madison Boileau