Victoria, BC – Angus Rawling raced to a tenth place showing at the U SPORTS national cross country championship at Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, B.C. Sunday afternoon.
The third year runner from Calgary, Alta. stayed with the lead pack throughout the 10k race, at times flirting with third place. He finished with a time of 31.46, only five seconds out of sixth place amidst a close top ten finishers. The 2017 AUS individual champion, Rawling was the top finisher from the Atlantic conference in the national race and earned U SPORTS second team All-Canadian honours.
Alex Neuffer, a third year runner from Stratford, P.E.I. held pace with Rawling for the first couple laps in the field of 138 racers. He placed 28th overall with a time of 32:09. Teammate Paul MacLellan (Antigonish, NS), also in his third year, ran a time of 32:55 in 63rd position for the X-Men.
The race winner was Yves Sikubwabo from Laval who finished with a time of 31:14. Guelph's Connor Black (31:18) was second followed by Western's Ben Carson (31:32) in third place.
The Guelph Gryphons won the team title and U SPORTS banner, followed by Calgary and Laval.
The women's banner went to Toronto, while Queen's and Laval placed second and third, respectively.
Toronto's Sasha Gollish was the overall race winner, completing the 8k course in a time of 27:36. A pair of Queen's runner came second and third - Claire Sumner (27:45) and Branna MacDougall (27:50).
The field of 148 racers featured two X-Women competitors. Liz MacDonald, in her fifth year from Bedford, N.S. placed 75th with a time of 31:21, while teammate Rachel MacDougall, a fourth year student in her third year of eligibility from Antigonish, N.S. was right behind her in 76th with a 31:27 showing.
StFX head coach Bernie Chisholm was very pleased with the results of all five of the StFX runners and commented that "they ran very well."
Note: X-Men alumnus Cal DeWolfe, the 2016 AUS champion who competed with StFX last season, ran for Dalhousie this fall, where he now attends graduate school. DeWolfe placed 31st overall in the U SPORTS race with a 32:12 finish. Likewise, Lee Wesselius, also an X-Men alumnus now studying at UPEI, placed 39th with a 32:18 result.
Complete individual and team results can be found by clicking here.
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WOMEN
U SPORTS Major Award Winners
Athlete of the Year: Sasha Gollish, Toronto
Rookie of the Year: Savanna Jordan, Dalhousie
Coach of the Year: Ross Ristuccia, Toronto
Student-Athlete Community Service: Christiana Agustin, Toronto
U SPORTS First Team All-Canadians
1. Sasha Gollish, Toronto (27:37)
2. Claire Sumner, Queen's, (27:46)
3. Branna MacDougall, Queen's (27:51)
4. Regan Yee, Trinity Western (27:55)
5. Kristina Popadich, Western (27:56)
6. Lucia Stafford, Toronto (28:18)
7. Aurélie Dubé-Lavoie, Laval (28:22)
U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadians
8. Melissa Jones, Calgary (28:25)
9. Stef Smith, Windsor (28:28)
10. Danielle Jossinet, Guelph (28:48)
11. Courtney Hufsmith, Saskatchewan (28:53)
12. Savanna Jordan, Dalhousie (28:55)
13. Meggie Dargis, McGill (28:59)
14. Alison Hooper, Victoria (29:03)
MEN
U SPORTS Major Award Winners
Athlete of the Year: Yves Sikubwabo, Laval
Rookie of the Year: Jean-Simon Desgagnés, Laval
Coach of the Year: Dave Scott-Thomas, Guelph
Student-Athlete Community Service: Ben Carson, Western
U SPORTS First Team All-Canadians
1. Yves Skubwabo, Laval (31:15)
2. Connor Black, Guelph (31:19)
3. Ben Carson, Western (31:33)
4. Russell Pennock, Calgary (31:37)
5. Alexander James, Calgary (31:38)
6. Dany Racine, Laval (31:41)
7. Eric Wynands, Queen's (31:43)
U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadians
8. Sergio Raez Villanueva, McMaster (31:44)
9. Mark Patton, Guelph (31:45)
10. Angus Rawling, StFX (31:46)
11. Shawn Master, Windsor (31:49)
12. Declan White, Trinity Western (31:51)
13. Andrew Nebel, Windsor (31:51)
14. Stefan Daniel, Calgary (31:52)