Thursday, November 20, 2014

Race Recap: CIS Championships

The Marauders finished up the 2014 cross country season on November 9th at Pippy Park in St. John's, Newfoundland. Inclement weather was expected going in, but there was no way to prepare for the wind that gusted up to 100km/hr, rain, hail, snow, and rainbows that were all seen within about a four hour time period on race day. The woman's team was led by Gabrielle Foran, who finished 46th in her CIS debut. Maddy McDonald finished 53rd, Kierstin Myers 55th in her final collegiate XC race, Chelsea Mackinnon in 71st, and Erin Mawhinney rounded out the scoring in 106th. Maddie Benjamin finished in 108th as our first displacer, and Phoebe Cseresneyes unfortunately had to DNF due to a pulled hamstring. The women finished 12th as a team.

On the men's side, Luke Charbonneau had the race of the day (maybe season) finishing as the first man in 22nd, the same position as he was at OUAs. Who does that? Gabriel Ghiglione and Austen Forbes weren't far behind, finishing in 27th and 28th, Blair Morgan was 34th, and Taylor Forbes rounded out the top five in 42nd. Displacers Connor Darlington and Paul Rochus finished in 52nd and 82nd. The men once again ended up just off the podium in 4th place as a team, in a three way tie for 2nd best finish ever with the 2013 and 2000 teams. Both teams will be shooting for improved finishes when CIS rolls around next year in Guelph.

Full Results
Sil Article
Videos

This past weekend was also the AO Provincial Cross Country Champs and the Hannukah Hustle, where a few of the Marauders continued their fall seasons. Eric Barry finished 18th and Alex Green 28th in the seniors men's  AO race. Evan Ubene was 10th in the junior men's  AO race. Jordan Usher won the Hustle, Gabrielle Foran finished 7th overall and the 2nd female and Lauren Locco finished 8th overall and 3rd female.

AO's: Full Results
Hannukah Hustle: Full Results

Up next for the Marauders is the start of the indoor track season at Western next Saturday the 29th, as well as the Canadian National XC Championships in Vancouver the same day, where Alex Green, Blair Morgan, and Evan Ubene will be competing.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

OUA Recap and CIS Preview

Last weekend the Marauders once again found themselves preparing to race on the Fort Henry course in Kingston, this time for the OUA championships. Unusually for an OUA champs, the conditions were good, with only wind this year and no rain or freezing temperatures. The lady Marauders were led by Maddy McDonald, placing 17th and narrowly missing an OUA-All Star spot. Gabrielle Foran scored second in 37th, Kierstin Myers third in 39th, and Chelsea Mackinnon and Maddie Benjamin rounding out the scoring in 46th and 48th. Displacers Maxine Gravina and Erin Mawhinney finished 54th and 57th, and the women finished 8th overall.

On the men's side, Taylor Forbes showed his bronze-medal debut was no fluke, as he led the men with an OUA First Team All Star 7th place finish. The rest of the scorers finished within 19 seconds of each other, with Connor Darlington grabbing his 2nd consecutive OUA 2nd Team All Star placing in 14th, Gabe Ghiglione in 15th, Austen Forbes in 17th, and Blair Morgan in 18th. Displacers Luke Charbonneau and Paul Rochus were not far behind either, finishing in 22nd and 24th. The men finished 3rd overall; after tying the Windsor Lancers with 71 points through 5 men, OUA rules look at the 6th place man giving Windsor the victory (Alex Ullman finished 21st). However, CIS rules compare the 5th man, giving Mac the advantage.
Full OUA Results

Other Conference Results:
RSEQ
AUS
Stewart Cup (Calgary)

Tomorrow the Marauders leave for St. John's, Newfoundland, where they will be racing at Pippy Park this Saturday. The men will be looking to make it onto the podium for just the second time ever, while the women will be looking to redeem themselves after OUAs and improve on last years 6th place finish. The final coaches poll of the season has the men ranked 2nd, just edging out Windsor and Laval. A preview of the 2.5km loop can be found here, and there is some more information in this Trackie thread. The races will be live-streamed on Trackie Saturday morning, and I believe the start times will be 10:30am for the women (Eastern time) and 11:30am for the men (12pm and 1pm start times in Newfoundland).