X-Men cross country win AUS banner

The StFX X-Men are the 2013 AUS cross country champions.  The X-Men placed first overall at the Subway AUS championship meet in Moncton, N.B. Saturday afternoon, winning their third consecutive AUS conference banner and sixth in team history.

The X-Men were led by individual bronze medalist Riley Johnston who finished with a time of 33:17.14. Saint Mary's Huskies runner John Kuto was first at 32:42.62 and Matt MacNeil from Dalhousie was second at 33:07.67.

Three more X-Men joined Johnston in the top ten including Scott Donald in fourth place with a time of 33:36.06 on the 10km course. Lee Wesselius (33:57.46) and Bryden Tate (34:01.41) placed sixth and seventh and joined Johnston and Donald on the AUS all-star team.

AUS rookie of the year Alex Neuffer ran in 35:05.08 in 12th place for the X-Men and teammate Ryan Hatchard (35:11.14) was 13th. Rounding out the StFX squad was Cal DeWolfe in 17th place at 35:38.99.

A total of 49 competitors ran the race from seven AUS teams.

With 32 points, the X-Men claimed the conference banner over the Dalhousie Tigers with 40 points. Memorial were third with 102.

The team results finished with UNB (115), Saint Mary's (131), Moncton (145) and St. Thomas (187).

StFX head coach Bernie Chisholm was honored as the AUS men's coach of the year, while Gabe Quenneville received the AUS male student-athlete community service award.

The CIS national championship is scheduled for Nov. 9th in London, Ont. as Western University will play host to the top runners in the nation.