The number one ranked University of Guelph men’s and women’s cross country teams made their first ever trip to the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The race which is in its 35th year, boast one of the strongest fields in North America and this year featured traditional NCAA powers Wisconsin, Baylor, Iona, Syracuse, Cornell, West Virginia and Villanova, all of whom received votes in the most recent NCAA coaches poll.
In a reversal of normal racing order the Gryphon men were up first. The race was highly anticipated for the Gryphons, as it marked the seasonal debut of last year’s OUA MVP Kyle Boorsma. Boorsma did not disappoint. Sam Chelanga of Liberty and Andrew Ledwith of Iona pushed to the front and built a 10 second lead by the mile mark and ultimately would go on to finish first and second respectively. Boormsa positioned himself in the chase pack early in the race, passing the mile in 4:42. Moving confidently throughout the race Boorsma would move up to the front of the pack for much of the first half of the race. As the race wore on, Boorsma’s lack of sharpness, from being in his first race of the season caught up with him and as the pack splintered he was unable to cover the move. Ultimately, he finished an outstanding 13th in the loaded field. His time of 24:09 is one of the fastest times in Gryphon history over the 8 kilometer distance.
The race also marked a coming out party of sorts for second year transfer Allan Brett. Brett who debuted for the Gryphons two weeks ago at the Western International, battled illness during that race and finished a disappointing 14th. Now fully healthy and with two more strong weeks of training under his belt, Brett showed that he will be a major factor at the upcoming OUA and CIS Championships with his 26th place finish in 24:24.
Continuing the trend of impressive improvements since Western was returning first team All-Canadian Matt Brunsting. Brunsting was a strong seventh place at Western but took another step forward running a life time best time of 24:47 to finish 57th. Next across the line for the Gryphons was team captain Josh Roundell who narrowly missed breaking the 25 minute barrier with a 25:03 clocking. Roundell was closely followed by the team’s fifth and final scoring member freshman Rob Jackson who had a 25:15 clocking. Jackson ran an impressive last mile to gain several dozen places, in his first major competition for the Gryphons. A scant three seconds behind Jackson was Derek Snider who continued the series of life time best runs for the Gryphons as he ran 25:17. Overall the first six finishers for the Gryphons as well as all runners in the junior varsity race, John Parrott (25:40), Rob Koziarski (25:40), Cody Murray (26:07), Andy Cliff (26:10) and Jordan Cote (26:42) recorded lifetime bests for the 8 kilometer distance. The Gryphons placed eighth overall defeating many strong NCAA programs in the 45 team field.
Like the men the Gryphon women were also lead by one of the strongest individual performances in Gryphon history. Over the past ten years the Gryphons have had a number of outstanding female athletes including a CIS individual medalist in each of the last four seasons, but in that time no Gryphon women has run at the level of Lindsay Carson. On Friday, Carson took her running to a new level breaking the 20 minute barrier for six kilometers. As the gun went off, West Virginia’s Marie Louise Asselin quickly built an early lead which grew to 20 meters by the mile mark. A returning All-American Asselin would never relent her lead crossing the finish line in a course record 19:38.
By the mile mark the race was clearly on for second and over the next four kilometers the lead of the chase pack changed hands numerous times with Carson steadily holding her place. As the race moved into the final 600 meter stretch, the pack had been whittled down to two Carson and Nelly Spence of Shippensburg. Carson made a push coming off the downhill at 400 meters to go but Spence quickly responded and her finished proved to strong as Carson had to settle for the bronze. Carson’s consolation prize was an outstanding time of 19:59, which matched the previous course record set last year by seven time NCAA Champion Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech.
Carson was not the only Gryphon to take her running to new heights, as junior Courtney Laurie took another major step forward building on her outstanding run at the Western International. Laurie move strong off the line with Carson before positioning herself at the front of the second pack. As the race progress she maintained her place well, and finished in 29th place overall in 21:10. Not far back of Laurie was teammate Rachel Cliff who placed 46th overall with a 21:32 clocking. Rounding out the scoring for the Gryphons were Karoline Hoy and Laura McIvor both of whom nipped under the 22 minute barrier in 21:58 and 21:59 respectively.
The Gryphon women were a strong seventh falling to six teams who are all among the top 40 in the NCAA.
One of the underlying stories of this year’s women’s team is its incredible depth. Head Coach Dave Scott-Thomas will be in an enviable but challenging position in selecting the seven athletes who will run for the Gryphons at the OUA and CIS Championships. Like the OUA and CIS Championships the Gryphons were only allowed to run seven in the feature Brown race with a further 11 girls ran in the Junior Varsity race. Incredibly when combining the results of the two sections the Gryphons' four through ten girls were a mere 30 seconds apart with their six through ten girls an even narrower 12 seconds apart, all of whom were under 22:30 (18:40 5k pace).
The Gryphons will be off next weekend for Thanksgiving before heading back to Pennsylvania in two weeks for their annual trip to the Penn State National Invite. This will mark their final tune up race before the OUA Championships which will be held in three weeks time at Fort Henry in Kingston.
Men's Brown Results
Women's Brown Results
Men's Junior Varsity Results
Women's Junior Varsity Results
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