By: Nathan Cooper
This week’s Flashback Friday features the 1993-94 women’s cross-country team.
Back Row (L-R): Al Yarr (Head Coach), Alan Wright (Assistant coach), Derek Estabrook (Assistant coach)
Front Row (L-R): Shari Boyle, Jessica Fraser, Margie Jenkins, Melina Murray, Benita Sabean, Ashley Evans, Rayleen Hill
Missing: Anne-Marie Farnell
The Dalhousie Women’s cross-country team has been a juggernaut in the AUS. In the last 32 years, the Tigers have taken the AUS Championship an incredible 24 times.
From 1980 to 1985, the women’s AUS Championship belonged to UNB. It was not until 1986, when the Tigers women’s team won their first AUS title. After winning in ’86, the Tigers went on to win a consecutive 14 titles in a row.
The 1993-94 season was just another example of the dominance the Tigers program has had in women’s cross country. It was the eighth consecutive year that the Tigers had gone undefeated in competition.
The competition began on September 18th, with the UdeM Open. The Tigers clearly out-paced the field, as athletes from Dalhousie took the top seven spots! Anne-Marie Farnell took the top spot, with Rayleen Hill as the runner-up and Shari Boyle took third place. This brilliant outing scored Dalhousie a perfect 15 points in the first race.
The next race was at the StFX Open, at which the Tigers yet again showed their strength in numbers. Rayleen Hill took the top spot, with her teammate Anne-Marie Farnell close behind in second. Benita Sabean and Melina Murray also had strong outings, Sabean finishing the race in third, and Melina finishing fifth.
The DAL Open was next up on the schedule. The Tigers did not quite show their overwhelming superiority in the third event. Nevertheless, a final score of 19 still earned the Tigers a first-place finish. Anne-Marie Farnell once again crossed the finish line first, with teammates Rayleen Hill and Shari Boyle close behind.
The Tigers had now finished their regular season, and they were set to head to StFX for the AUS Championships. The Tigers team ran extremely well, taking 7 of the top 8 spots in the race. Rayleen Hill took back the first spot, with her teammate Farnell finishing in second.
Dalhousie was set to host the CIAU’s for the first time since 1966. The team was very optimistic going in to the competition. This optimism was most warranted, as the Tigers had a strong fourth place finish in the meet. Calgary won the event, with UBC second, and the University of Toronto third.
An eighth-place finish at National’s, earned Anne-Marie Farnell a second team All-Canadian status for the third time in her career at Dalhousie. Rayleen Hill, Heather Ostic, Melina Murray, Benita Sabean and Jessica Fraser were all named AUAA All-Stars. Coach Al Yarr was also named AUAA Coach of the Year.