X-Men 4th and X-Women 7th at interlock meet

The X-Women and X-Men cross country teams travelled to Montreal Saturday for the RSEQ interlock meet, hosted in Montreal by UQAM.

The X-Women placed seventh overall amongst 13 teams, while the X-Men were fourth out of 13 teams.

On the women's side, Queen's University took home the team title with 42 points, followed by Dalhousie (77), McMaster (93), McGill (94) and Sherbrooke (117). The X-Women tallied 173 points.

The men's top five teams featured Laval with 37 points, Queen's (48), McMaster (60), StFX (122) and Dalhousie (149).

Melissa Hardy continued her dominance on the trails for the X-Women this season as she placed fourth overall with a time of 21:34. A total of 139 runners competed in the 6k event.

A pair of Queen's runners – Julie-Anne Staelhi (20:49) and Victoria Coates (20:51) finished first and second, while McMaster's Madeline McDonald (21:21) rounded out the top three.

Lynette Manuel (23:00) and Alexa Zarins (23:42) were the next X-Women to cross the finish line, placing 27th and 42nd, respectively.

Also competing for StFX were Liz O'Connell (42nd, 23:50), Ginny Anderson (56th, 24:37), Beth MacDonald (57th, 24:46), and Kendra MacNeil (58th, 24:51).

Kathyrn Tuck (25:05), Alyson Woods (25:05), Heidi MacDonald (26:06) and Ellen Burnett (26:11) rounded out the StFX field.

In the men's 8k race, Scott Donald was the top finisher for the X-Men, crossing the line in 12th place with a time of 25:14.

Winning the race was C. Philibert-Thiboutot from Laval at 24:08, and he was followed close behind by Saint Mary's Huskies runner John Kuto at 24:13. Finishing out the top three was Queen's runner Jeffrey Archer at 24:45.

Riley Johnston (25:36) and Bryden Tate (26:01) came in 22nd and 25th positions for the X-Men, while Alex Neuffer (26:41) and Ryan Hatchard (26:44) were 45th and 46th amidst the 146 competitors.

Completing the StFX field was Cal Dewolfe (27:22) in 58th and Gabe Quenneville (27:27 ) in 60th.

Veteran StFX head coach Bernie Chisholm commented, "I thought that both teams ran well this weekend and are showing steady improvement over the year."

"We had a few very strong performances, especially from Melissa Hardy, Scott Donald, Riley Johnston and Bryden Tate. Both teams are looking forward to the AUS championship in two weeks time in Moncton."

After four meets in the books for the AUS season, the X-Men and X-Women will have the upcoming weekend off in preparation for the Subway AUS championship, slated for October 26th in Moncton. 

The women's race is scheduled for 12:00 pm followed by the men's race at 12:45 pm. Both the X-Men and X-Women are the defending AUS champs.