On Saturday, members of McGill men’s and women’s cross country teams participated in the 2012 national championships at Western University. The event featured 17 female and 18 male teams from across the country. When the dust settled, the Martlets had finished seventh overall in their 5km race, while the Redmen, who ran 10km, finished 17th.
Guelph University’s Andrea Seccafien took home the gold and the women’s Athlete-of-the-Year award with a blistering time of 17:23. The Martlets’ top finisher was Jessica Porfilio, who capped off a strong campaign, and placed 24th with a time of 18:16. She was followed shortly thereafter by teammate Sarah McGuaig at 18:45, good for 39th place. Julien Flynn rounded out the top fifty performances for McGill, crossing the line at 18:51 in 44th place.
The seventh-place finish may come as a slight disappointment for the Martlets, who entered the tournament as the fifth-ranked team. However, the real story of the championships was the Guelph Gryphons, who claimed the top two spots, as well as an additional three in the top eight, en route to their record eighth-straight banner in women’s cross country. Joining Guelph in the top three were the McMaster Marauders and the Western Mustangs.
Over their season, the Martlets won three meets. The first came at the McGill Open, and the others at the Vert-et-Or, and University of New Brunswick Invitational, respectively. In addition, they claimed fourth at the Western International.
Guelph runners stole the show once again, this time on the men’s side. They claimed second, third, and fourth place. This performance ensures them another national banner, to add another to their previously established CIS record total of seven straight national championships. Individually, University of Regina star Kelly Wiebe dominated, claiming first place in a course record time of 30:21, beating the previous record set in 1997 by 36 seconds. Unsurprisingly, he claimed the men’s Athlete-of-the-Year nod.
For the Redmen, rookie Benjamin Raymond from Laval ran to a team best 56th place finish, coming across the line at 33:27. Rookie Charles Litwin joined Raymond in the top 100, finishing 91st.
The Redmen put forth strong performances all year. They finished second at the McGill Open, and recorded a pair of fifths in the Sherbrooke and New Brunswick meets. The exciting, young speed of Raymond and Litwin bodes well for the future of the team, as they will be back next year for their sophomore campaigns.
