Dalhousie Tigers women’s cross country head coach Rich Lehman is pleased to announce the commitment of Caitlin Gormley and Maisyn Battams for the 2023-24 season.
Hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, Gormley races for Glebe Collegiate Institute. In fall of 2022, Gormley finished in third at the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association (NCSSAA) East Conference race and sixth at the NCSSAA championship, helping her team to the overall title. At the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) race in November, Gormley crossed the line in 41st place, this time helping her team to a second-place finish.
Gormley earned back-to-back Coaches awards for Leadership and Dedication for her school’s cross country team, following up on earning the rookie of the year award for the team in 2019.
“I am beyond excited to continue my academic and athletic journey at Dalhousie,” says Gormley. “I am so thankful to my family, friends, coaches, and team for supporting and encouraging me throughout this process. The cross country program at Dalhousie seems very focused on developing athletes in a positive way, taking into consideration individual training needs, injury prevention and school commitments. Coach Rich was super positive and demonstrated an incredibly holistic approach to training and athlete development.”
A four-year member of the honour roll, Gormley also earned the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) Silver Medal for an average above 90% in each year of high school. Gormley will be entering the Dalhousie Integrated Science Program in September.
Fellow Ontarian Maisyn Battams will be joining Gormley at Dalhousie. Battams hails from Tottenham, Ontario and races for Huron Heights Secondary School and the Newmarket Huskies Track and Cross Country Club. She crossed the line in 45th at the OFSAA cross country championship this past fall and in 16th in the 2021 edition.
Battams ran to a 19th place finish at the Athletics Ontario cross country championship and at the U20 race of the Canadian Cross Country Championship in 2021. At the 2022 Canadian Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships, Battams finished in ninth in the 2000m steeplechase.
A multi-year cross country team MVP at Huron Heights, Battams also earned the Outstanding Athlete Award in 2021-22.
“I am excited to run for the Tigers and to be a part of such an amazing team,” says Battams. “I chose Dal for it’s excellent engineering program and because Coach Rich seems to really care about his athletes’ health. The team was also so kind and welcoming on my visit. I feel that I will have lots of support at Dal and this made me want to join the Tigers.”
A multi-year member of the honour roll, Battams will be studying engineering while at Dalhousie.
“We're excited to add Maisyn and Caitlin,” says Lehman. “They both had great results last fall at the OFSAA cross country championship, and I expect both of them to add to our success at the conference level immediately.”
The Tigers women’s cross country team finished second at the 2022 AUS championship this past fall.