GEORGE BROWN RUNNERS WIN FLEMING CROSS COUNTRY RACE

• Complete Results

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - In what was the final tune-up for the upcoming Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Cross Country Championships, George Brown's Erika Houde-Pearce and Sean Sweeney won their respective races last Saturday at the Fleming Invitational cross country meet.

Houde-Pearce won the women's 5 km in a time of 20:41, one minute and six seconds ahead of second place finisher Leah Kyte of St. Lawrence-Brockville. George Brown's Hannah Giesel finished in third place with a time of 21:56.

Houde-Pearce, the defending OCAA bronze medalist, placed third in her last OCAA meet at Fanshawe on Sept. 24.

Despite placing two athletes in the top three, George Brown did not have enough runners to qualify for the women's team title. This went to host Fleming-Peterborough, as Jenny Orbell, Rosanna Los and Victoria Hegedus all placed with times under 25 minutes. Georgian, led by Tina Drinkwalter's fifth-place time of 22:30, finished in second place, while Kyte's St. Lawrence-Brockville team placed third.

In the men's 8 km race, Sweeney had the top time of 27:57, sixteen seconds ahead of second place finisher Jamie Switzer of Fleming. Three Fanshawe runners finished third, fourth and fifth to secure the men's team title, including Clint Smith's third-best time of 28:27. Daniel Bright (28:42) and Josh Lumani (29:12) rounded out the Top 5.

It is the second straight podium finish for Sweeney, Switzer and Smith. Smith won the Fanshawe race by one second ahead of Sweeney, with Switzer placing third.

Switzer's Fleming team finished in second place in Peterborough ahead of Mohawk. Hassan Ishaq led all Mohawk runners with a time of 29:58.

The stakes are even higher on Oct. 29 when St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont. hosts the 2011 OCAA Cross Country Championships. Fanshawe is the defending OCAA men's, women's and overall champions.

- OCAA -

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