Young X-Women hungry for back-to-back banners

X-Men focused on return to top of conference podium

By Corey LeBlanc

Antigonish, NS - The STFX cross country program will toe the line for the first time in their quest for 2022 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championships on home turf this weekend.

The White and Blue will host the STFX Invitational on the Antigonish campus course on Saturday, Sept. 17.

The men's race (noon) will be followed by the women's at 1 p.m.

"It has turned into a tradition for us to host the first AUS meet" STFX head coach Eric Gillis says.

He adds, "It's a great way to kick-off our season, at home."

Gillis – a former X-Men cross-country standout – notes the fan support is always strong for the meet. "There is a high energy atmosphere on campus."

As always, he expects both races to be "strong and competitive."

High expectations

On the women's side, STFX comes into 2022 as the defending conference champions.

"We have a great young team, and we are really excited about this season," Gillis says.

When it comes to newcomers, the Antigonish native is high on a pair of Ontario runners: Caden Lee (Richmond Hill) and Caroline Ash (Newmarket).

"They both had breakthrough summers and they are ready to go for cross country," Gillis says.

Lee set personal best marks – in both the 800 and 1,500-metre classifications – at the junior nationals earlier this summer in B.C. "She performed really well," he adds.

Noting her "great training" in the lead-up, Gillis says that Ash will "make an impact on our program" this season.

Depth will be a key for the X-Women, considering they will not have the 2021 individual gold medalist, conference rookie and athlete of the year on the roster. Antigonish product Siona Chisholm is now running with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish of the NCAA.

"Siona was a significant member of our team," Gillis says, noting that it is a challenge to lose an All-Canadian and athlete of her calibre. He adds, "She will be missed."

As for the student-athletes returning from the top women's team in 2021, Gillis informs that – collectively – their improvement has been "quite significant," including several personal best times established in a variety of distances over the track summer.

"We are going to translate those summer gains into strong cross-country times," he explains.

A two-sport varsity athlete in her freshman season (cross country and soccer), Mairin Canning (Antigonish, NS) has decided to focus solely on running in 2022.

"She had a great performance," Gillis notes of her sixth-place result in the steeplechase at the 2022 Canada Summer Games.

As for Allie Sandluck (Thorburn, NS), he expects her to play a "significant role," building on establishing personal best times in the 3,000 and 1,500-metre distances, along with the 5K, during the summer season.

"We also expect significant things from her," Gillis adds of Eileen Benoit (Windsor, NS), who raced to personal bests in the 1,500 and 5,000 metres.

Other than Chisholm, the remaining top X-Women runners from the 2021 championship unit are back. "I think we are going to be a deeper team," Gillis offers.

Like every other year, the three-time Canadian Olympian says the goal is to win an AUS banner.

"We believe we have the team to do it," Gillis says, noting the championship meet will be hosted by the UPEI Panthers for the first time.

A strong showing at the conference level will serve, hopefully, as a springboard to improving on the X-Women's seventh place finish at nationals last season.

"We were pleased, but now we know we're capable of more," Gillis adds.

He notes the focus is on his student-athletes racing to strong cross-country times as part of a jump into the top-six U SPORTS programs in 2022.

Strong recruiting class

As for the X-Men – AUS silver-medal winners last season – they are focussed on making a move up the podium.

"It is our strongest recruiting class since I started coaching here," Gillis says.

That group includes a trio of freshmen from the Toronto: Liam McCullagh, Liam Patterson and Jack O'Connell, along with Luke MacDonald (Pictou, NS) and Owen Flemming (Halifax, NS).

Leading the way for these newcomers – and their other teammates – will be veterans Luc Gallant (Wellington, PE) and Jacob Benoit (Windsor, NS), who won AUS individual silver in 2021.

"We are going to lean on them," Gillis says, particularly in a leadership role – "showing the ropes" – to the recruiting class.

Gillis concedes that capturing the conference crown in 2022 will "definitely be a tall order," considering the defending champion Dalhousie Tigers are returning their top runners from last season.

"We are the underdog, so it is going to be a great challenge for us," he says.

Gillis notes that the X-Men are closer to toppling the Tigers than they were last season. "We have a fighting chance," he adds.

After opening on their home course, the X-Men will take a team of five to Western University in London, ON, for a meet on Saturday, Sept. 24, while the X-Women will do the same on Friday, Sept. 30, at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania – an event that includes 135 teams. The remaining X-Women and X-Men runners will compete at the Université de Moncton Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Both teams will travel to Quebec City on Saturday, Oct 8, for an interlock meet at Laval University, before turning their attention to running for conference supremacy at the 2022 Subway Atlantic University Sport Cross Country Championships, which will be hosted by the UPEI Panthers.

Anticipating a return to nationals – for both the X-Women and X-Men – Gillis points out that his male squad will be "looking for redemption" as part of shooting for a spot in the U SPORTS top-10 for 2022. He notes that, last season, illness struck a couple of runners in the lead-up to the championship meet at Laval, which upended their chance of reaching that same goal.

Nationals later this fall – co-hosted by Dalhousie and Saint Mary's – will take centre stage at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax.

"It is nice to have both [teams] strong," Gillis offers of his X-Women and X-Men.

He explains that the goal for the program – more broadly – is to establish STFX as one of the top-5 in U SPORTS.

"And, we continue to make great progress towards getting there," Gillis says.

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