The X-Men cross country team ran to a ninth place showing at the CIS championship race this past weekend in Laval, QC in snowy, miserable conditions.

StFX earned 224 points in the race which was won by the six-time defending champion Guelph Gryphons who posted 20 points and had five runners in the top seven including race winner Andrew Dixon who crossed the finish line at 31:42.

Windsor placed second overall with 49 points while Victoria was third at 82. StFX was the only Atlantic University Sport school to field an entire team in the 17-team competition.

The 10k race featured 134 runners as the X-Men had seven competitors take part. Connor McGuire was the top X-Men finisher as he placed 31st overall with a time of 33:45. McGuire actually made a gutsy comeback in the race after he lost ground when he had to stop and put on his shoe which had fallen off.

Freshman runner Riley Johnston was the next X-Men to cross the finish line as he placed 38th overall in a time of 33:51. Bryden Tate (34:37), Dennis Kayumba (34:38) and Steven Deering (34:41) placed 61st, 62nd and 63rd as they finished out the race together, while Aaron Doucette (34:47) wasn’t far behind in 66th place. Zach MacDonald rounded out the StFX finishers in 104th place in a time of 36:08.

The ninth place showing was an improvement upon their 14th place finish in last year’s championship.