McIlroy, Kato earn cross country wins at StFX Invitational

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.