Race Recap: Windsor Open

Both the men's and the women's teams continued their successful seasons this past weekend at Malden Park in Windsor. This was the first university cross country meet held in Windsor since the 1998 OUA championships. The course was challenging and the summer temperatures did not help, with the heat affecting all the athletes, some severely. This did not stop the Marauders though, as the women improved on their bronze medal from Western with a second place finish. Maddy McDonald ran well again placing 2nd. Rookie Erin Mawhinney had a great race finishing in 7th, and Marauders Maddie Benjamin (8th) and Gabrielle Foran (9th) also finished in the top ten. Phoebe Cseresnyes finished 11th (in her first race as a Marauder) to round out the scorers.

The men's team once again found themselves atop the podium, also with four top ten finishes. Blair Morgan led the scoring in 2nd, Paul Rochus finished 6th, Paul Kolb 8th, Derek Van Schepen 9th, and Nick Kondrat 13th. The men's team is looking very strong, as they won despite missing four of the potential top seven (two Forbes, Darlington, and Ghiglione). You can read the Marauders.ca recap of the meet here, and the Sil has also posted Laura Sinclair's recap of the Western race.

Full Results
Women's Video
Men's Video

Next weekend a few Marauders will be travelling to Waterloo for the Don Mills open, but most of the team will continue their season on Thanksgiving weekend at the Queen's Open in Kingston.

Other Race Results:
Roy Griak Invitational (Minnesota)
Stanford Invitational (California)
Vert et Or Invitational (Sherbrooke)

Race Recap: Western International

This past weekend, the Marauders opened the 2014 cross country season as per usual, competing at the 40th Annual Western International meet at the Thames Valley Golf Course in London. The conditions this year were much more favorable than last years, with a few people even complaining that the weather was too warm, though this didn't seem to affect McMaster's results. The lady Marauders were led by Madeline McDonald and her 4th place finish, followed by Kierstin Myers in 25th, Maddy Benjamin in 26th, Erin Mawhinney in 29th, and Gabrille Foran in 31st. After removing the open athletes, the Marauders finished with a total of 111 points, good enough to put them back on the podium this year with a bronze.

The Marauder men started their season with a bang, placing all five scorers in the top 15 (last year the top scorer was 17th). The first Marauder across the line was Blair Morgan in 4th, then Austen Forbes in 8th, Gabe Ghiglione in 10th, Paul Rochus in 11th, and Paul Kolb in 15th. The final team total was 44 points, which put the Marauders on top of the podium for the first time ever at Western, and in recent memory. This also marked the first time ever that both teams finished on the podium at Western. As you may notice in the pictures below, the team went barefoot for part of their warmdown and the awards ceremony as part of McMaster's 'Go Barefoot' campaign in support of Right to Play. You can find the Marauders.ca write up here.




Photos by Clive Morgan

The Marauders continue their season next weekend at the University of Windsor Lancer Open.

Full Results
Women's Race Video
Men's Race Video
Women's All - Time (2014)
Men's All - Time (2014)

The Sil Cross Country Preview

Other race results:
UNB/STU Invite (New Brunswick)
NB Vic Matthews Open (Guelph)
Sundodger Invite (Oregon)