by Sjaan Scully
This Saturday, September 19, 2015, Dalhousie’s cross country team will be travelling to Guelph, O.N. to compete in the New Balance Vic Matthews Open.
Four out of the top five women’s cross country teams in the country will be in attendance at this year’s meet including Guelph, Toronto, Laval, and the Dalhousie Tigers who are currently ranked fourth. The women’s cross country team will be tested not only against the top five, but also against the Queen’s Golden Gaels who have beaten the Tigers for the past three years.
In last year’s Vic Matthew’s Invitational, Dalhousie’s Ellen Chappell finished in the top 10 with a time of 22:45, good for ninth in the 6km race. Teammate Colleen Wilson quickly followed in 12th place, with a time of 22:53.
Last weekend, Wilson finished first in the women’s 5km with a time of 18:31. Joining her in the top 10 running for Dalhousie was Michelle Reddy (19:21), Emily Ferguson (19:33), Kayte Kowal (19:39), Jenna MacDonald (19:43), and Emily Clarke (19:56). As a team, the Tigers came out in first place with a score of 18 points.
The Vic Matthews Open will be a big test to the men’s cross country team as well. In last year’s competition, Matt McNeil and Will Russell finished in the top 20 in the 10km race with times of 33:34 (McNeil) and 34:01 (Russell).
McNeil finished first place in the 6km race last weekend at Point Pleasant Park in a time of 19:22 followed by Will Russell (19:55) and Brendan Gemmell (20:15) who joined him in the top 10. These top three finishers secured second place for the men’s cross country team with a score of 37, only 15 points behind StFX who finished first with a score of 22.
Best of luck to the Tigers in their competition this weekend!