On Friday September 20th, the University of Guelph Athletics Department will introduce its Hall of Fame Class for 2008. This year’s team inductee will be the 1997 Women’s Cross Country Team, which captured Guelph’s first ever women’s CIS title in any sport. It is a fitting tribute to that team that this fall, the University of Guelph Women’s Cross Country squad will be looking to make history of their own by equalling the CIS record for most consecutive titles, by winning their fourth in a row.
Last year, Gryphon Head Coach Dave Scott-Thomas appeared to have a rebuilding project on his hands. Gone to graduation was the back bone of the 2005 and 2006 National title teams, in the form of All-Canadians Laura Moulton, Erin Sask and Julia Benisus. However, Scott-Thomas and the Gryphons did not rebuild, they simply reloaded. In came Lindsay Carson (Cambridge, Ontario), arguably the most highly touted recruit in Gryphon cross country history, and the strongest and deepest recruiting class in recent CIS memory.
The class did not disappoint as Carson captured Rookie of the Year and MVP honours in leading the Gryphons to their third straight national title as they dismantled the field winning by nearly forty points. Joining Carson as first team All-Canadian was 2006 CIS Rookie of The Year Rachel Cliff (Vancouver, British Columbia), while third year runner Shantelle Novak (Regina, Saskatchewan) and surprise rookie sensation Jess Vanhie (Alisa Craig, Ontario) both garnered second team honours. Fellow rookie Lindsay Furtado (Brampton, Ontario) added OUA all-star honours to an incredible season for the Gryphons as the they had five rookies among their top eight runners.
“The 2007 season really was magical,” Scott-Thomas says, “You could feel the energy brewing up through the winter as each of the recruits committed. We knew we had a physically gifted team, but they’re even more strong emotionally and as friends.”
If last year could have been considering a reloading year, this season the Gryphons will be a team that might be fully stocked. The team did not graduate a single athlete and remarkably does not have a single impact runner in their final year of eligibility. Despite the depth of the team, Scott-Thomas has not reseted on his laurels, adding to the mix another strong recruiting class headlined by Caitlyn Rennie (Mississauga, Ontario). Rennie, was an outstanding 11th at last year’s AGSI Canadian Junior Cross Country Championships, narrowly missing a spot on the Canadian Junior National Team. Joining Rennie will be New Brunswick bronze medalist Nadine Frost (St. Andrews, New Brunswick) and her twin sister Lydia, who was fifth at the New Brunswick Championships as well as Ontario athletes Gabrielle Foran (Woodstock, Ontario), Samantha Beattie (Hamilton, Ontario) and Robyn Mildren (Hamilton, Ontario) all of whom have top 20 performances at the Ontario High School Championships to their credit.
Scott-Thomas will also look for improvement from within. Courtney Laurie (Toronto, Ontario) is expected to build on an exceptional summer, while 2004 Olympic Trials Steeplechase Champion Haley Digel (Calgary, Alberta) has fully adjusted since joining the Gryphons last fall after transferring from University of Calgary. Second year athletes Karoline Hoy (Thunder Bay, Ontario), Laura McIvor (Burnaby, British Columbia) and Steph Muise (London, Ontario) are also all expected to play larger roles this fall.
“We’re deeper, stronger, more experienced, and in better shape this year than last” says Scott-Thomas. “Our vets have all grown and we’ve had another great recruiting year. This is saying something, but overall this the most focused and disciplined group we’ve had. My concern might have been that we’d become too serious, but there’s a great deal of playfulness and simple love of running amongst the women. I’m tremendously impressed with the character of this team.”
The Gryphons will open their season Saturday in their only home meet of the season, the New Balance Gryphon Open at the University of Guelph Arboretum. They will then head to Western next weekend for the annual Western International, an important measuring stick against OUA and CIS competitors. Following an off week, the Gryphons will wrap up their regular season with two competitions against top NCAA teams first at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania on October 4th and then at Penn State on October 17th. The OUA Championships will be held October 24th at Fort Henry in Kingston where the Gryphon women will be looking for their record fifth consecutive OUA title, while the CIS Championships will be held two weeks later November 9th at the Plaines D'abraham in Quebec City, with the team shooting for that record setting fourth consecutive title.
Tune in tomorrow for a preview of Saturday's New Balance Gryphon Open.
Lindsay Carsonn
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