The University of Toronto Varsity Blues cross country team will look to dethrown the Guelph Gryphons at 2009 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) cross country championships on Saturday, October 31 in St. Catharines, Ont.
The Blues women’s team looks to improve on their silver-medal finish last season and will be led by 2008 OUA and CIS most valuable runner Megan Brown (Toronto). A two-time winner of the OUA individual title (2006, 2008), Brown finished last year’s race in 17:26, 34 seconds ahead of Guelph Gryphons Lindsay Carson (Cambridge, Ont.).
The Gryphon women have been dominant in their races this season and, as proof, have claimed the No. 1 spot on the Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s top 10 national rankings. Carson made course history at the 2009 Western Open after completing the 5km race in 17:01, breaking a 22-year-old course record. Her successful season continued after that, completing the Queen’s Invitational in 17:19 for first place.
Also garnering some headlines is Western’s Lynn Mockler (London, Ont.), who has run a strong season. Mockler placed second at the McGill Open, with a time of 15:04, and completed the Rochester Invitational 5 km race in 18:28, a personal best for the fourth-year runner.
The Varsity Blues men’s team will be led by fifth-year veteran Mike Del Monte. Del Monte has led a young group of runners to a No. 8 CIS national ranking and is sure to turn heads this weekend.
The Gryphon men have been keeping up with their female counterparts, securing the No. 2 spot on the CIS national rankings. Matt Brunsting has been sensational in his races, most notably placing first at the Queen’s Invitational 10 km with a time of 31:51. He also completed the Vic Matthews Open 8 km in 23:48, placing first overall.
Teammate and 2008 defending OUA men’s champion Allan Brett has also had a great season, finishing fourth in the Western Invitational and second at the Queen’s Invitational with 32:00, just nine seconds behind Brunsting.
Windsor’s Dave Weston will be one to watch out for. He completed the Western Invitational course in 32:11 for first place and competed in the Bradley Invitational 8 km, finishing second with 24:49. The Lancers are currently ranked No. 1 in the country. Guelph or Windsor has won the OUA men’s championship every year since 1994.
The Guelph women’s team has won the OUA cross-country championship five years in a row and nine times overall since 1997. The men’s team has won eight times in the last 10 years, including the last four straight.
The women’s five kilometre race will begin at 11 a.m. and the men’s 10 km will race will start at 11:45 a.m. The top five finishers of each school are used to determine the team champions.
Source: OUA
