MOUNTAINEERS TAKE TEAM BRONZE TWICE AT CROSS COUNTRY NATIONALS

The 2024 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Cross-Country National Championships hosted by St. Clair College were run on an ideal Saturday afternoon at Windsor's Malden Park which saw 38 schools represented from four conferences including 198 starters compete. Mild temperatures with little wind made for some outstanding performances for men's and women's team bragging rights and for the first time a mixed team competition.

Cégep Garneau of Quebec City won their third consecutive national women's team title placing their four scoring runners in the top 15 finishers led by individual gold medallist Léane Baril (Rouyn-Noranda, Que.) who topped the field of 96 runners in a time of 22:08 across the six kilometre course. She was followed closely by teammate Gabrielle Hamel (Stoneham-Et-Tewkesbury, Que.) with a silver medal just eight seconds later. Clarisse Mathieu-Prédal (L'Ancienne-Lorette, Que.) and Marianne Rochette (St-Isidore, Que.) were fifth and 15th respectively for Garneau.

Fellow Quebec City school Cégep de Sainte-Foy took the women's team silver medal with team members Stéphania Gilbert, Camille Martel, Lily-Rose Dion and Elsa Yaccarini while Mohawk College (Hamilton) ran to a podium finish with a bronze medal for Annie Sterenberg, Tori Hendriks, Zoe Thibault and Raina Hartnell. Maëlly Lamontagne (Carignan, Que.) of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu completed an all RSEQ conference sweep of the individual medals with a bronze in a time of 22:25.

The men's title was dominated by Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Polytechnic with four All-Canadian top-10 finishes led by Nathan Woyessa (Calgary, Alta.) who sprinted to a 24:25 time over the eight kilometre trail. Max Thiessen (4th Place, 24:52), Moktar Said (9th Place, 25:26) and Yahye Jama (10th Place, 25:19) were the other counting runners for the Trojans who last won team gold in 2022.

Elliot Bélanger (6th), Edouard Lehoux (15th), Mathis Turcotte (18th) and Samuel Beaulieu (21st) helped Garneau to a team silver medal while Sainte-Foy earned a podium finish in bronze by Francis Bouffard (8th), Gabriel Bussière (14th), Guillaume Tremblay (23rd) and Loic St-Cyr (30th) in a field of 96 pacers.

In the inaugural mixed team competition Garneau took their second team title of the meet in the gold position ahead of silver medalists Sainte-Foy who finished their meet with an identical three team medals. Mohawk picked up their second team podium with a mixed bronze.

Source: St. Clair Saints/CCAA Communications