Antigonish, NS – AUS runners hit the trail for the first time this season at the STFX Invitational on a sunny but windy Saturday afternoon on the campus of St. Francis Xavier University.
X-Men runner Jacob Benoit was the overall winner of the men's race, while his sister Eileen Benoit and X-Women teammate Allie Sandluck crossed the finish line at the same time in the women's race, with Benoit earning a fractional edge on the clock for top spot.
In the men's race, Benoit finished with a time of 26:12 and noted that, "I wanted to work out the first half then the goal was to pick up the pace for the second half, increasing my pace every two kilometers."
"Luckily I found a few guys to work with for most of the race so that was really helpful having those bodies next to me and kept me motivated."
One of those runners was Dalhousie's Will Cox who came in second place overall, clocking in at 26:16.
Also in the front of the pack all afternoon were a pair of Saint Mary's Huskies runners as reigning AUS champion Andrew Peverill helped pace his teammate Rory McGarvey who came in third at 26:18. Peverill was fourth at 26:18.
Rounding out the top ten were Hudson Grimshaw-Surette (DAL), Luc Gallant (STFX), Ben Good (STFX), Daniel Rosen (DAL), Aidan Goslett (DAL) and Nick Robetson (DAL).
The Dalhousie Tigers topped the field in team standings with 34 points, followed by the STFX X-Men with 39, Saint Mary's (63), UPEI (118) and Moncton (119).
In the women's 8km race, STFX placed eight of the top ten racers to claim the team title with 18 points. Dalhousie was second with 58 points, followed by Moncton (83) and UPEI (85).
Heading into the race, the strategy for the X-Women was to "stay patient through the first half of the race," noted Allie Sandluck. "We tried to progress for the last half and then just finish strong together."
Eileen Benoit noted, "yes we stayed patient the first half, worked with the team and just tried to pick it up each lap and finish strong and feeling good."
Both Benoit and Sandluck crossed the line together with a time of 31:36. Dalhousie's Lauren Lowther was third, crossing at 31:46.
The X-Women placed runners in fourth through eighth places respectively with Breanna Sandluck, Caroline Ash, Caden Lee, Mairin Canning and Julia Cameron. Moncton's Sophie Black was ninth and Taylor Rasmussen of STFX rounded out the top ten.
When the top STFX duo of Benoit and Sandluck was asked if there's any added pressure heading into this season as defending AUS champions, Benoit commented, "I don't think so. We still have a strong team who really want to work together and finish strong as a team, we don't feel any different."
The X-Women are without the services of defending AUS individual champion Siona Chisholm who transferred to Notre Dame University this season.
Veteran X-Men fourth year runner and race winner Jacob Benoit noted after the race, "I was super proud of all my teammates today. Next weekend there's a group of five X-Men going to Western and for a meet and four of the spots are already taken. There was another pack group who were working together for most of the race to try and determine who was going to fill that last spot to go to Western and everyone executed today, and also had fun, so it was amazing to see."
The X-Men will be heading to the Western Invitational in London, Ont. on September 24th, while the X-Women will compete at the Lehigh Invitational in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on September 30th.
The AUS meet circuit resumes on October 1st at the Moncton Invitational.
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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information
We've got our top 3 runners from today's men's 8km race!
— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) September 17, 2022
1) Jacob Benoit (STFX): 26:12
2) Will Cox (DAL): 26:16
3) Rory McGarvey (SMU): 26:18
Congrats to all runners! @AUS_SUA pic.twitter.com/La1u5Bqv0y
We've got our top 3 AUS runners from today's women's 8km race!
— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) September 17, 2022
1) Eileen Benoit (STFX): 31:36
2) Allie Sandluck (STFX): 31:36
3) Lauren Lawther (DAL): 31:46
Congrats to all runners! @AUS_SUA pic.twitter.com/F9Bwdu8c9y