Caroline McIlroy (MUN) and John Kato (SMU) raced to cross country victories at the StFX Invitational Saturday in Antigonish.

In the women's 6k, McIlroy broke the tape in 21:58.11, followed by StFX's Melissa Hardy (22:20.53) and Dal's Ellen Chappell (22:44.31), in second and third, respectively.

Fifty-two runners competed on the revamped course on the StFX campus.

With Chappell leading the way, the Tigers (38 points) edged the X-Women (44) for the team victory.

The UNB Varsity Reds (94) rounded out the top-three finishers.

For the X-Women, Lynette Manuel (23:48.87) and Alexa Zarins (23:53.59) cracked the top-10, in seventh and eighth, respectively.

X-Women Liz O'Connell (24:35.34), Beth MacDonald (24:41.97) and Ginny Anderson (24:42.97) finished 13th through 15th in the race.

Alyson Woods (25:02.03) finished 18th for the X-Women. Kendra MacNeil (25th, 25:59.21), Kathryn Tuck (26th, 26:06.22) and Heidi MacDonald (28th, 26:20.91) also competed for the home team.

On the men's side, Kato (25:45.65) cruised to a first-place finish, his second consecutive individual victory in as many weeks.

In a battle for second, Dal's Matt McNeil (25:57.72) edged StFX's Scott Donald (25:54.96), who finished third.

Fifty-three runners competed.

With Donald leading the way, the X-Men took first place with 33 points, followed by Dalhousie (47) and Memorial (86), in the top-three team positions.

For the X-Men, Riley Johnston (26:07.14) and Lee Wessilius (26:19.28) finished top-five, in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Bryden Tate (26:45.84) raced to seventh place.

X-Men Stephen Deering (27:18.96) and Cal DeWolfe (27:20.43) finished 14th and 15th, with Ryan Hatchard (27:50.09) and Gabe Quenneville (28:01.68) in the 17th and 18th positions.

Alex Neuffer (20th, 28:10.15), Stuart MacPherson (23rd, 28:33.86), Brandon MacDonald (24th, 28:38.15), Warren Ferguson (32nd, 29:42.81), Matt Elliot (33rd, 30:00.68), Ryan O'Regan (40th, 30:49.34) and Nathan Jeffs (44th, 31:25.75) also competed for the X-Men.

The X-Women and X-Men return action Saturday, Oct. 5, when they compete in the SMU-DAL Invitational in Halifax. Race time is 12 p.m. for the women's race followed by the men's race at 12:45 p.m.