The defending CIS champions University of Guelph Gryphons men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the defense of their titles in style capturing Saturday's New Balance Gryphon Open. The Gryphon women dominated the race with five of the top seven finishers, paced by second year women Laura McIvor (Vancouver, BC) and Lindsay Furtado (Brampton, ON). The Gryphon men also captured the title with five of the top twelve finishers led by freshman Rob Jackson (Guelph, ON).
The New Balance Gryphon Open was part of a busy day of racing in the Guelph Arboretum, that also included the annual Falling Leaves Community Trail Run and over fifty kids competing in the Speed River XTREME Team Kids Race.
The Gryphon women put on an impressive show of depth, with McIvor and Furtado leading the way finishing second and third respectively. 2000 CIS Champion Debroah Buhlers won the race as she and fourth place finished Donna Mae Robins were the only runners able to break up the Gryphons top five runners. Returning second team All-Canadian Jess Vanhie (Alisa Craig, ON) was fifth overall for the Gryphons with teammate Karoline Hoy (Thunder Bay, ON) in sixth. Lydia Frost of St. Andrew's, New Brunswick, was the Gryphons fifth and final scorer as she led the impressive Gryphon recruiting class with her seventh overall finish. Fellow Gryphon rookies Robyn Mildren (Hamilton, ON) and Gabrielle Foran (Woodstock, ON) also finished among the top 15 finishers.
Making the Gryphons performance more impressive was the fact that they rested last year's CIS MVP Lindsay Carson (Cambridge, ON), returning All-Canadians Rachel Cliff (Vancouver, BC) and Shantelle Novak (Regina, SK) and third year woman Courtney Laurie (Toronto, ON).
The Guelph Track Club team finished second overall with the University of Waterloo Warriors capturing the team bronze.
The men's race was highlighted by an impressive debut in the red and gold by freshman Rob Jackson. The Centennial graduate finished fourth overall, behind race winner Derek Nakluski, former Gryphon All-Canadian Steve Koziarski and Ryan Finn of York. Jackson ran a patient race starting out around mid pack and moving up through out the race.
Close behind Jackson were teammates Rob Koziarski (Mississauga, ON) and John Parrott (Newmarket, ON) who finished sixth and seventh respectively. Rounding out the scoring for the Gryphons was Jordan Cote (Sarnia, ON) and Cody Murray (Sydenham, ON) who were eleventh and twelfth respectively. Like the Gryphon women, the men also rested a number of their top athletes including defending OUA MVP Kyle Boorsma (Guelph, ON) and All-Canadians Matt and Joe Brunsting (Stirling, ON).
In the annual alumni challenge, the Gryphon varsity emerged victorious despite strong runs by alumni runners Steve Koziarski and Greg Hutchinson, who both finished in the top five. The Gryphon alumni did manage to finish second in the team race with a vastly improved York squad capturing the bronze.
The Gryphons will next be in action next weekend at the Western International in London, Ontario, this race will mark an important measuring stick against many of the top OUA and CIS schools.
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