X-Men run to StFX Invtnl title

Sep 14, 2008 - The X-Men cross country team opened the AUS season with a win at home as they claimed first place honors in the StFX invitational cross country meet Saturday afternoon in Antigonish. The blue and white had six runners in the top ten and finished with 20 points to win the team title. The Dalhousie Tigers were second with 63 points while the Saint Mary's Huskies came third.

Defending AUS champion David Gerych was the first X-Man to cross the 7.5 km finish line as he placed second overall with a time of 24:24, just nine seconds off the pace of first place finisher Russell Christie from Dalhousie. Gerych's X teammates followed him through spots third to sixth as Petr Doubravsky was next to cross the line in third place at 24:53, followed by Lee McCarron in fourth (25:23), Brent Addison in fifth (25:53) and Ivan Lewis in sixth (25:55). Rounding out the top ten for StFX was Robert Winslow in ninth place at 26:10.

Fourteen more X-Men ran the familar course on the StFX campus including a group of five runners who placed 13th through 17th:
• Dan McNeil, 13th, 26:32
• Andrew Harris, 14th, 26:32
• Sam Mason, 15th, 26:40
• Taylor Doucette, 16th, 27:19
• Matt MacDonald, 17th, 27:26

Rounding out the times and finishes for the remaining X-Men team were:
• Kyle Tramble, 19th, 27:31
• Robert Lavers, 20th, 27:31
• Andrew Freme, 26th, 28:28
• Justin Paturel, 27th, 28:30
• Robert Benison, 29th, 28:48
• Chris Brayley, 30th, 28:53
• Stewart MacNeil, 34th, 29:49
• Kris Wignes, 35th, 30:10
• Nathaniel Minichiello, 37th, 32:12

The X runners next see action on Saturday, Sept. 20 when they travel to Fredericton for the UNB Invitational meet.