X-Men finish 1-2-3 to take home X Invitational title

Veteran fourth year runner Connor McGuire won his second consecutive AUS race Saturday afternoon on his home StFX course, leading his X-Men to a team victory in slick and rainy conditions in Antigonish, NS.

McGuire finished the 8k race in a time of 26:26. His StFX teammates Lee Wesselius and Scott Donald finished right behind him in second and third with times of 26:30 and 26:38. The same three X-Men runners also placed 1-2-3 at the Moncton Invitational last weekend. Both Wesselius and Donald are in their first season with the X-Men and have made an immediate impact on the AUS men’s circuit.

The remaining StFX runners also ran a strong race on their home course, as many blue and white singlets were amongst the lead pack for all three loops of the course. Bryden Tate (27:12) placed seventh overall for the X-Men, followed by teammates Riley Johnston (27:21), Dennis Kayumba (27:22), Ryan Hatchard (27:24), Stephen Deering (27:32) and Zach MacDonald (27:36) who were 8th through 12th, respectively.

Also competing for the blue and white were Aaron Doucette (27:53) who came 17th, Brandon MacDonald (28:19) in 22nd, Stuart MacPherson (28:21) in 23rd and Gabe Quenneville (28:28) in 25th. Will Forsey (29th, 28:37), Patrick Marlow (35th, 29:50) and Dean Simon (50th, 32:40) rounded out the StFX runners in the field of 62.

The X-Men easily earned the first place team showing with a score of 21. Dalhousie followed in second place with 70 points and Memorial was third at 81. UNB (117), Saint Mary’s (128), Moncton (141) and St. Thomas (177) completed the team standings.

With two consecutive wins under their belts, the X-Men will attempt to maintain their winning ways on October 6th when they travel to Wolfville, NS for the next meet on the AUS circuit at Acadia University.