McMaster 2012 Graduates - Part 1

Read Part 2, and Part 3

Exams are done. These are happy times as students are allowed outside for the first time in months to see sunlight. Sunscreen is important to those of you that have spent your time locked in basements studying. Most students are in that lovely time period between the end of school and the start of work, and of course preparations for the outdoor track season.

However, things are not all rosy, and now we must say tearful goodbyes to our graduates as they move on to the next stage in their lives. It is with heavy hearts that we say farewell to the following athletes that left lasting impacts on our cross country and track teams.

Graham Bowes 

Editors Comments: Graham tried out for the team in his first year, but missed the standard. Fast forward to his final year, Bowes lead the Marauders at the cross country OUA and CIS championships with a 19th and 21st place. Graham showed dominance on the track solidifying himself as one of Mac's all-time greats as the 3rd fastest Marauder ever over 1500m (3:52.69), and 2nd fastest over 3000m (8:22.93). That fast 3000m secured his spot at the 2012 CIS indoor championships (the first individual male qualifier since 2009). While there he kicked down Vikes distance standout Clifford Childs for 7th place. Safe to say Graham is no longer that mediocre first year who couldn't make the team standard. No, Graham Bowes is King. Lizard King.
Sport 
XC/Track
What are you graduating from?     
Commerce
What doing next year?     
Supply Chain Management - Maple Leaf Foods
Running plans next year?
TBD 
Favourite part of Mac experience
Chicago Trips, gentleman's nights, cross CI's 
Most memorable race 
1500m at the 2012 Hal Brown. Came up just short of CIS standard, but ran the most focused race of my life (props to Ticer for pacing)
Words of wisdom for rookie's or recruits? 
What you do in your off time has consequenses, eat well and get rested
How being a part of McMaster XC/Track has enhanced your university experience? 
Diversifies the stressors in life, adds perspective to the university experience. You always benefit from surrounding yourself with good people.
Thanks to:
Obviously coaches, for tirelessly digging for the full potential of every athlete

Tristan Sandhu

Editors Comments:  Tristan joined the team in his first year in 2008, and despite an unfortunate habit of entering triathlons, he's a pretty awesome person. In fact he is recognized as being one of the nicest people on the team. Knowing this and using it to his full advantage, Tristan has been known to enjoy pranking teammates, because Tristan wouldn't lie. Would he?
Sport 
XC/Track
What are you graduating from?     
Kinesiology
What doing next year?     
Two Options: Ottawa/York For Teachers College or York/MRU (in Calgary) for Athletic Therapy (still waiting to hear back if I am accepted into AT)
Running plans next year
TBD: Get Injury free first, Then use my last year of eligibility Fall 2013 hopefully, then slowly transitioning to traithlons 
Favourite part of Mac experience 
Long bus rides with the team. Trips to MTL, Chicago. Cranking out hard workouts and feeling great after
Most memorable race 
2011 OUAs 3000m, setting a PB while racing hard
Words of wisdom for rookie's or recruits? 
Take advantage of the facilities and trails (physio, pool etc)  
How being a part of McMaster XC/Track has enhanced your university experience? 
It was by far the best part of my university experience. Ill look back on these 4 years and wont remember a single thing I learned in class, but Ill always have the memories and comradery of being apart of a special group.
Thanks to 
Pete, Paula, Rory and everyone on the team. Also the entire McMaster Athletic department, I really value their (coaching included) vision to strive for excellance. 
Additional Comments
Sadly, Ill be racing in another teams singlet. Its going to kill me a little. 

Jill Wyman

Editors Comments: Jill graduates this year, but thankfully she's back next year to start her Masters and finish off her last year of eligibility. We'll praise her more next year after she completes her storied career in the Maroon and Grey.
Sport
XC/Track
What are you graduating from?     
H. Earth and Environmental Science
What doing next year?     
MSc in geochemistry at McMaster!
Running plans next year 
Triathlon, swim/xc/track
Favourite part of Mac experience 
Long runs with friends OR hard intervals with teammates to push :)
Most memorable race 
OUA 1000m 2009 (track), CIS Quebec City 2008 (xc)
Words of wisdom for rookie's or recruits? 
Appreciate and make use of the coaches' flexibility and empathy
How being a part of McMaster XC/Track has enhanced your university experience? 
Varsity teams provide a foundation for lasting friendships, adherence to a schedule, opportunity to discover yourself, continuous and varied challenges, and a chance to embrace your individuality. Mac xc and track undoubtedly added an entire dimension to my undegrad experience.
Thanks to 
Paula, Pete, Rory - this coaching team is unlike any other and each one offers something different and wholly valuable. Jeff Giles and Athletics Admin - for your support, belief, and motivation, all necessary to the team's success and evolution.
Additional comments 
I am excited to close out my varsity years the same way it started, as a McMaster Marauder!

Andrew Yorke

Editors Comments: Though not quite graduating yet (he'll get there don't rush him), Andrew Yorke has finished his eligibility and sadly will no longer dawn the Maroon and Grey. Instead he'll shift to the lighter colours of Red and White. Yorke has been a fixture at the top of the McMaster squad in his 5 years, despite his intensely competitive triathlon seasons. 21st at CIS cross in 2010, and 3rd Marauder all-time in the 3000m (8:31.84). He's also affectionately known as Dad amongst his teammates. And although the title may have been self-assigned, it is entirely adequate. Yorke frequently sits down with everyone of his teammates individually and has one of his typical Dad conversations. He'll hear out your problems and then offer you advice on things from race strategy to training, from beetroot intake to party limiting, from cooking to relationships. His leadership on the course will be sorely missed, but much more so will be his leadership off the course. Luckily he'll be hanging around for at least one more year.
Sport 
XC/Track
What are you graduating from?     
Honours History 2013 Fall Semester (I swear I won't take any longer!)
What doing next year?     
I will be taking a year off to compete as a professional triathlete while acting as assistant to the assistant coach of the Mac XC team.
Running plans next year 
Compete in Olympic Distance Triathlon as part of the Canadian National Team. Improve my 5k and run under 30 mins for 10k
Favourite part of Mac experience 
Watching my teammates succeed in sport, school and life. Knowing that I am a part of an genuinely amazing group of people!
Most memorable race 
9th OUA XC Champs 2011. Knowing that I got to run in Larry Abbott's final season made that my most memorable year.
Words of wisdom for rookie's or recruits? 
Buy in to the team philosophy and train hard year round! Listen and ask questions to teammates and coaches, don't be intimidated - we want to see you achieve your personal best!
How being a part of McMaster XC/Track has enhanced your university experience? 
Everything about my university experience is tied into the team. I couldn't imagine what my McMaster career would've been like without the guidance of my teammates and coaches. I'll never forget my experiences living in the track-shack with the boys and all of the trips to cities across North America. This team has challenged me to become a more accountable student and made me value hard work over material success.
Thanks to 
Coach Sneyd, Schnurr and Self - you are not just great coaches, you are amazing people! To all those I lived with over 4 years - The Lost Boys of the Castle, the Shitty Pines Crew, The Eagles Nest. Thanks to the women's team for putting up with Prankwars as well our bad taste in haircuts and facial hair. All the parents,cheerios and alumni that come out to make sure we feel at home even when we're hours away!
Additional comments
If you are contemplating running at McMaster - DO IT! R & P

Laval > McMaster

It's sad to say that we got beat on our own blog, but Laval's rattails take the cake, 78 votes for Laval to 28 for Mac.

CI's cross next year ... It's on!

#tw

Mac Vs. Laval - Photo Finish

Their was some well-grounded complaints that the tie-breaker for the Mac vs Laval post should not have been decided by football. So we gathered up 7 dirty hair and beard photos from each team and now we shall do a democratic vote to see which team can grow manly hair and then distort it in ways that forced our mothers to renounce us. 

As you scroll down you will see one Laval picture followed by McMaster picture. Take them all in, and then cast your vote on the poll on the right >.

WARNING: The following pictures may cause vomit. You've been warned.

The Teams

Action Shot

Jean-Samuel is a masked avenger at CIS and Emmanuel with a great beard

Bierma with great chops

Crossing the line?

Jean-Samuel with a bleached rat tail!

Greg Lariviere with a face painted beard and body

Bystanders

What are you wearing?

Rouge et Or lining up for a 1000m at the end of a pentathlon

Marauders chopping trees

Great (?) Hair

A lesson in contrast

Jean-Daniel bleached his hair, but not the part where J-S bleached his!

Yorke with his own bleach contrast

Thanks to Emmanuel Boisvert for the Laval photos.

#tw

MacTrack vs. Laval

So I have found myself comparing the McMaster Track and Cross Country team with the Laval team a lot lately and I thought I would summarize my findings. 

Blogs

Let's start with a little social media. Mactrackvids.blogspot.com versus ULavaltrack.blogspot.ca. Mactrack posts are more frequent and informative, but Laval posts include more videos and montages, including actual workouts. 

Laval reached 20000 views in a year, but Mactrack has only be live 7 months and is already at 20000 views. Although I personally have a serious mancrush for Charles P-T, I'm going to give this one to MacTrack.

Mac 1 - Laval 0

Team Bands
Here's a fun one. Who has the better team band. Mac has "Chemical Valley" a Sarnia native trio consisting of Larry Abbott, Andrew Douglas, and Bronwen Douglas (all alumni). The band formed in early 2010 while they were all on the the cross-country team at McMaster. Since then, they have released their debut self-titled EP (download the EP here).

Laval on the other hand, formed an impromptu band they are calling "Short Shorts" for Laval's athletic banquet. On drums and lead vocals, John Simon Dufour-Fournier, on guitar Jean-Sameul Lapoint, and on bass Charles Philibert-Thiboutot.

Laval scores points for singing songs not in their native tongue, for being sharply dressed, and for picking a running name. However, we are going to give Mac the win in this category.


Mac 2 - Laval 0

CIS Results
On to one of the more important, and easier to judge categories. Let's compare the two teams at the CIS championships this year.

Cross

- Individual

Laval Women, 1 1st team all-star

- Team

Laval Men - 5th 176 points

Mac Men - 6th in 204 points

Laval Women - 8th 236 points

Mac Women - 3rd 134 points

Total Laval Points CIS Cross = 412

Total Mac Points CIS Cross = 338

Advantage Mac

(Full Results)

Track
- Individual Medals
Laval Men - 2nd and 3rd in 1000m, 2nd in 1500
Laval Women - 1st Pole Vaults
McMaster Women - 2nd 1000m, 2nd 1500m, 1st in 3000m,
Laval Medals = 3men+1women = 4 medals
Mac Medals = 3women = 3medals
- Team Points
Laval Men - 7th with 38 points
Mac Men - 20th with 2 points
Laval Women - 18th with 11 points
Mac Women - 9th with 33 points
Total Laval points at CIS track = 49
Total Mac points at CIS track = 35
Advantage Laval
 (Full Results)

Mac takes the cake in cross, but Laval has the edge in track. It's a close one, but due to individual performances we're going to give this one to the Laval crew.

Mac 2 - Laval 1

Out of season Youtube videos
Wouldn't be much of a competition if we didn't compare the each of the blogs forte (so bilingual). For the Laval entry we selected their "Last to go" video.

The Mac entry is a little different. It has a lot more ... puking

Because I get to vote, I'm going to give this one to the Laval video by a nose because I think it is an awesome idea, though their is something to be said about puking eggnog

Mac 2 - Laval 2

Football Teams
A tie you say. How should we settle this one. Maybe with the biggest CIS Championship meeting of these schools this year. How did that end up again? Too soon?

Mac 3 - Laval 2

Votes

Category	Winner
Blog	Mac
Team Bands	Mac
CIS Results	Laval
Youtube Videos	Laval
Football	Mac
Total	Mac 3, Laval 2

Are our votes bias? Absolutely! If you think differently leave your votes in the comments below and let's see if we can get a consensus opinion

Harbour Track

Harbour Track is the club associated with the McMaster Marauders Track team. Check out their website here.

If your interested contact Greg Lariviere and he'll get you hooked up.

Here is the unofficial song of the club:

Katie Anderson - Year in Review

Katie Anderson, who didn't even break 20min for 5k in the summer, roared to life this year for a near-perfect final year as a Marauder. As captain she lead the cross country team to a bronze medal at the CIS championships on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec. This was the start of the medal haul. After cross season she prepared for her bread-and-butter. Track.

She left off her career as a Marauder with a stronghold on the McMaster All-Time list. She currently sits 7th in the 600m with a 1:36.30 (from her first year), 2nd in the 1000m with a 2:46.30, and 3rd in the 1500m with a 4:26.66. See full women's all-time list here.

Times are great, but Katie has always been a racer with her tremendous finishing kick. She started the season with a kick for the 3rd, behind teammate Lindsay Carson, in a strong field 1500m in Windsor.

At McGill she brought home two silvers, anchoring the 4x800m and then a silver in the 1500m. At Boston she added another silver to the collection in the 1000m. Then, the first night of the OUA championships she anchored the 4x8 team to a bronze medal. The following day she was in the 1500m and followed a hot pace set by Toronto's Tamara Jewett. With 400m to go Katie made a strong move by Jewett and went on to win the OUA title with nearly a 3 second gap to second place.

At the CIS Track and Field Championships the Marauder Captain had a tough triple to pull off. The 1000m and 4x800m on Friday, and 1500m on Saturday. In the 1000m she spent the majority of the race in lanes 2 and 3. In the home stretch she battled for room and finished 2nd while the top-6 athletes finished in a less than 1 second spread. After 2 hours rest she took to the track again, anchoring the 4x800m team to 8th place. Then on Saturday, she picked up her second silver of the meet in the 1500m after yet another strong kick. Katie help contribute to 17 points (2x8 points, plus 1 point for 8th in the relay) to help the Marauder women to 9th place on the weekend with 33 points.

Oh and she was a Marauder Scholar last year.

For all of this and more, Katie Anderson was awarded the McMaster Female Athlete of the Year for the 2011-2012 school year. She follows the footsteps of Jess Pearo for the past two years, and Jill Wymann 3 years ago, when Katie was just a first year. The prestigious award has had 4 straight years of cross country/track athletes on it, displaying female running domination at Mac reminiscent of the Paula Schnurr days.

This is a chronology of Katie's impressive year.

Chronology of a Champion:

July 16, 2011 - Preseason

The Spec: McMaster runners pursue dream of national title

October 1, 2011 - Loyola Lakefront

39

Anderson, Katie

18:34

Full Results

October 15, 2011 - Vic Matthews

35

Anderson, Katie

19:30

Full Results

November 12, 2011 - CIS Cross Country Championship

59 103 Katie Anderson F   U.McMaster 59/137 19:51.3

Full Results

January 13 - 14, 2012 - Windsor Can-Am - 1500m 4:34.99 for 3rd

 

3 Anderson, Katie McMaster University 4:34.99

Full Results


January 17, 2012 - Maruader Scholar for 2010-11

MacTrack Write-Up


January 27, 2012 - McGill Team Challenge
Anchor team to 2nd in the 4x800m - 9:07.00
2nd in the 1500m - 4:30.91

Full Results


February 10, 2012 - BU Valentine - 1000m 2:46.30 for 2nd

Full Results


Feb 17 2012 - The Spec Write-Up

The Spec: Katie Anderson may be the one to crack Paula Schnurr’s record

February 24, 2012 - OUA - 4x800m Anchor for Bronze

3 McMaster University 9:07.00 9:03.90!
Full Results
Bronze Medal Friday on Marauders.ca

February 25, 2012 - OUA - 1500m Champion


1 Katie Anderson McMaster University 4:30.91 4:26.66! 10
Full Results
Anderson's 15 Win - Saturday Marauders.ca
The Spec's Write-Up on Katie endangering Coach Schnurr's CIS record in the 1000m.

March 2, 2012  - Pre CIS

The spec: OUA medallists pumped for CIS indoor track finals

March 11, 2012 - CIS

2 Katie Anderson               McMaster University    2:49.00 

Later that evening Katie anchored the 4x800m team to 8th place.

8 McMaster University 9:09.90 1

1) Chelsea Mackinnon 2) Jill Wyman
3) Lindsay Carson 4) Katie Anderson
On Saturday, Katie picked up her 2nd CIS silver medal of the meet in the 1500m.

2 Katie Anderson McMaster University 4:29.24

The Spec: Mac’s Carson wins 3,000-metre race at CIS championships - Anderson Silver

Full Results


March 26, 2012 - Athlete of the Year
Marauders.ca writeup 
Awards Recap video including part of Katie's speech:

The Spec: Quinlan, Anderson Mac’s top athletes

All Photos Courtesy of Pete Self