The Passing of a Friend of the McMaster XC Family

As a team, our successes are really just the culmination of the efforts of so many amazing individuals who support us throughout our seasons. One such person this fall season was our student field therapist Riley. She shared her extensive knowledge and experience, positive attitude and caring hands at all times. She has an incredible way of being two steps ahead of every problem, keeps an eye out for each person and was a key member in keeping our teammates healthy this Cross Country season.

Not only is she also busy in her fourth year of the Honours Kinesiology program at McMaster, she a tremendous athlete herself. She won two Gold medals in the 2015 OUA Figure Skating Championships, one in a pairs event and one in an individual event, awarding her OUA All-Star Status.

Here is a link to the Article in the Silhouette about Riley's fantastic accomplishments.
More than Just a Medal

On top of all this, her sister Carley was re-diagnosed with cancer this year, after having won a battle with the same disease years earlier.

We are sorry to say that Riley's sister Carley passed away yesterday morning after a valiant battle with clear-cell sarcoma. To show our support for Riley and her family we will be making a donation to Riley's fundraising for her Ride To Conquer Cancer.

Anyone else who is interested in donating, here is the link to Riley's Page. Any and all support is appreciated.
Riley Allison's Ride To Conquer Cancer Fundraising Page

Race Recap: CIS Championships

Last weekend marked the end of the indoor track season, as the CIS Championships were held at the St. Denis Centre at the University of Windsor. Jeff Tweedle was the lone Marauder competing, in the men's 1000m. Jeff finished 10th in a time of 2:30.50. Racing at CIS was the finale to Jeff's very impressive season which saw him break a 29 year old school record and run the 6th fastest time in the CIS at the Boston Valentine Invite.

CIS Results


Photo: Maxine Gravina

That weekend also saw the Forbes begin their tri seasons at the Sarasota American Cup Sprint Triathlon. Taylor finished 27th overall, and unfortunately Austen was still recovering from the flu and did not finish.

Full Results

Up next for the team is outdoor track, road racing season, and the summer triathlon season. Upcoming events that current and former Marauders will be competing in include Around the Bay in Hamilton this week, and the Jordan 5k and other Easter weekend road races.

Race Recap: OUA Championships

Last weekend marked the end of the indoor season for most of the Marauders as they ran at the OUA Championships, hosted by York University. The team had a successful meet, coming home with bronze medals in two events. Jeff Tweedle will continue his indoor season next Friday, racing the 1000m at the CIS Championships in Windsor.

Results:

Men's 60m:

Prelims

14 Arnold Kofia                McMaster Marauders        7.14q

22 Jacob Gareau                McMaster Marauders        7.36

Semis

12 Arnold Kofia                McMaster Marauders        7.15

Men's 300m:

15 Richard Noel                McMaster Marauders       37.26

Women's 600m:

15 Kylie Hopkins               McMaster Marauders     1:41.69

Men's 600m:

8 Brandon Huzevka              McMaster Marauders     1:22.77           
9 Jeff Mah                     McMaster Marauders     1:22.82  

15 Nick Bomers                 McMaster Marauders     1:24.37 

Women's 1000m:

8 Chelsea Mackinnon            McMaster Marauders     2:56.00

12 Kaitlyn Pansegrau           McMaster Marauders     3:04.14

Men's 1000m:

9 Jeff Tweedle                 McMaster Marauders     2:29.75

12 Matt Napier                 McMaster Marauders     2:30.75

18 Patrick Deane               McMaster Marauders     2:36.75

Women's 1500m:

12 Madeleine Benjamin          McMaster Marauders     4:42.32

20 Chelsea Mackinnon           McMaster Marauders     4:46.56

22 Emily Nowak                 McMaster Marauders     4:47.44

Men's 1500m:

8 Blair Morgan                 McMaster Marauders     3:57.34

12 Derek VanSchepen            McMaster Marauders     4:00.23

Women's 3000m:

4 Gabrielle Foran              McMaster Marauders    10:15.59

20 Kierstin Myers              McMaster Marauders    10:25.89

Men's 3000m:

3 Taylor Forbes                McMaster Marauders     8:20.95

7 Blair Morgan                 McMaster Marauders     8:27.22

11 Austen Forbes               McMaster Marauders     8:35.24

Women's 4x400m:

8 McMaster Marauders                                  4:08.22   1   1         
     1) Kara McPherson                  2) Kaitlyn Pansegrau                    
     3) Kylie Hopkins                   4) Chelsea Mackinnon 

Men's 4x400m:

6 McMaster Marauders                                  3:25.23   1   3         
     1) Richard Noel                    2) Jeff Mah                             
     3) Nick Bomers                     4) Brandon Huzevka

Men's 4x800m:

3 McMaster Marauders                                  7:50.02    6         
     1) Connor Darlington               2) Luke Charbonneau                  
     3) Nick Kondrat                    4) Jeff Tweedle 

Full Results

The start lists for the CIS Championships can be found here. Jeff races Friday evening. Up next for the team is road racing and outdoor track, after some down time. Some of the team will also be making the trip to Kingston for the annual Highway 2 McDonald's Challenge.  

OUA Preview

This weekend marks the beginning of the end of the indoor season for the Marauders at the OUA Championships at York University. Races begin Friday February 27th with the 1000m, 3000m, and 4x800m, and continue on the Saturday. Going into the meet, Jeffrey Tweedle is ranked 6th in the CIS in the 1000m after his race in Boston and is looking good for a spot at the CIS championships in two weeks time. Below is a list of Marauders competing at the OUA Champs:

Women:
600m - Kylie Hopkins
1000m - Chelsea Mackinnon, Kaitlyn Pansegrau
1500m - Chelsea Mackinnon, Maddie Benjamin, Emily Nowak
3000 - Kirsten Myers, Gabrielle Foran
4x400 Relay - Chelsea Mackinnon, Kaitlyn Pansegrau, Kara McPherson, Kylie Hopkins

Men:
60m - Arnold Kofia, Jacob Gareau
300m - Richard Noel
600m - Nick Bowmers, Brandon Huzevka, Jeff Mah
1000m - Jeff Tweedle, Matt Napier, Patrick Deane
1500m - Blair Morgan, Derek Van Schepen, Luke Charbonneau
3000m - Blair Morgan, Taylor Forbes
4x800 Relay - Jeff Tweedle, Connor Darlington, Luke Charbonneau, Nick Kondrat

Unfortunately Austen Forbes came down with the flu and will not be competing this weekend. Trackie has put up links to live streams, live results, schedules, and entries for all the conference championships happening this weekend, which can be found here. The MacTrack twitter account will also be live tweeting, keeping you up to date will all the Marauder results from the meet.

Race Recap: Hal Brown Last Chance, and Marauders in the News

This past weekend, the team went to Toronto for the last track meet before OUAs. Hal Brown Last Chance marked the end to a successful season for some of our Marauders.For others is was a final chance to tune up before the OUA Championships next weekend at York University.

Unfortunately, due to a minor car collision on the way, a few athletes were delayed and missed their races. Thankfully, noone was injured. The UofT race staff were kind enough to run another heat of Men's 60m just so our sprinters could compete.

The UofT race staff seemed to be have trouble with the bell for the last lap; the Women's 1500m had the bell rung one lap too late, and the Men's 1500m had the bell one lap too early!

Here are some of the highlights:



Hal Brown Last Chance
University of Toronto
Feb 20, 2015

Men's 300m
10. Nick Bomers                     1:24.60      PB!

Women's 1000m

2. Maxine Gravina                  3:07.10       PB!

Men's 1000m

2. Patrick Deane                     2:37.90

4. Rhys Thomas                      2:39.61

Men's 3000m

10. Frank Sorbara                   8:54.43    PB!



Find the rest of the results HERE



This week, our own Maxine Gravina published a video she has been working on "Chat with MacTrack". It is compiled from footage from a workout, and interviews with athletes.







Jeff Tweedle was also featured in an article on Marauders.ca following his record-breaking run in Boston. "RECORD-SETTER TWEEDLE EMERGES AS MARAUDER STANDOUT!"

Read the article HERE

Race Recap: BU Valentine Invite, Windsor Team Challenge & 11 PBs!

The Marauder track team started Reading Week off with meets in both Boston and Windsor. Most of the team went to compete at the Windsor Team Challenge, while Blair Morgan, Jeff Tweedle and Chelsea Mackinnon traveled to Boston for the Valentine Invitational at Boston University.

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend, with 11 personal bests and 1 new school record!

Here are some highlights:

BU Invitational
Boston, MA
Feb 13-14th, 2015

Women's 1000m
6. Chelsea Mackinnon          2:50.20     PB!
Watch it Here

Men's 1000m
3. Jeff Tweedle                     2:23.66      PB! and New McMaster School Record!
Watch it Here

Men's 3000m
35. Blair Morgan                  8:18.70      PB!
Watch it Here


Windsor Team Challenge
Windsor, ON
Feb 14th, 2015

Men's 60m
11. Jacob Gareau                      7.27          PB!

Men's 300m
16. Richard Noel                      37.41

Women's 600m
3. Kylie Hopkins                     1:39.86      PB!
8. Kara McPherson                  1:42.58      PB!

Men's 600m
2. Jeff Mah                               1:23.38
5. Nick Bomers                        1:25.50      PB!
6. Brandon Huzevka                1:25.50

Women's 1000m
2. Kaitlyn Pansegrau                3:04.44

Men's 1000m
8. Matt Napier                           2:34.91

Women's 1500m
3.  Madeleine Benjamin           4:43.82      PB!
4.  Emily Nowak                      4:51.90
5.  Lizz Hodgson                      4:56.47
6.  Lauren Locco                      4:56.70      PB!

Men's 1500m
1. Connor Darlington               4:01.69
3. Luke Charbonneau               4:03.90
4. Nick Kondrat                       4:04.80
6. Patrick Deane                      4:08.56
7. Jeremy Lai                           4:10.05       PB!

Women's 3000m
1. Kierstin Myers                    10:26.68
2. Gabrielle Foran                   10:31.48

Men's 3000m
5. Derek VanSchepen               8:40.67
7. Frank Sorbara                       8:55.82       PB!
8. Ivan Meizinger                     8:56.51

Women's 4x400 Relay
3. McMaster Marauders 'A'     4:15.69

Race Recap: York Invitational

The Marauders finished the month of January at the York Invitational the weekend before last. Both the women and the men came away with golds in the 4x800, with the women also taking home a silver in the 1000m and the men a bronze in the 3000m.

Men 300m:

19 Mah, Jeff                    McMaster                 37.21

Women 600m:

10 Hopkins, Kylie               McMaster               1:40.57

15 McPherson, Kara              McMaster               1:43.10

Women 1000m:

2 Pansegrau, Kaitlyn            McMaster               3:02.49

Men 1000m:

5 Deane, Patrick               McMaster               2:33.90

Women 1500m:

9 Nowak, Emily                 McMaster               4:51.71   
12 Foran, Gabrielle            McMaster               4:54.38    
17 Gravina, Maxine             McMaster               5:01.60    
20 Hodgson, Lizz               McMaster               5:06.30   

23 Kelly, Alannah              McMaster               5:20.19

Men 1500m:

10 Lai, Jeremy                  McMaster               4:14.37

13 Wilson, Peter                McMaster               4:19.22

Women 3000m:

5 Morgan, Adrienne             McMaster              11:29.35

Men 3000m:

3 VanSchepen, Derek            McMaster               8:44.54

6 Sorbara, Frank               McMaster               8:57.27

Women 4x800m:

 1 McMaster Marauders  'A'                             9:27.13  
     1) Benjamin, Madeleine             2) Pansegrau, Kaitlyn             
     3) Hopkins, Kylie                  4) Mackinnon, Chelsea

Men 4x800m:

1 McMaster Marauders  'A'                             7:59.46  
     1) Kondrat, Nick                   2) Darlington, Connor             
     3) Napier, Matt                    4) Deane, Patrick

Full Results

Marauders in the CIS Top 12:
Taylor Forbes, 11th, Men's 3000m
Women's 4x800m, 12th
Full Rankings

Up next for most of the team is the Windsor Team Challenge this weekend, while Chelsea, Jeff Tweedle, and Blair travel to Boston for the BU Valentine Invite.