University of Toronto Varsity Blues cross country standout Lucia Stafford has been named the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) female athlete of the week for the period ending October 20, 2019.

Stafford earned the individual gold medal in dominant fashion at the 2019 OUA cross country championships this past Saturday in Hamilton, Ont.

A fourth-year engineering major from Toronto, Stafford crossed the 8km finish line in 27:20.2, a full six seconds ahead of Queen's runner Branna MacDougall and 41 seconds ahead of her sister Brogan MacDougall, the 2017 and 2018 OUA individual champions, respectively.

It marks Stafford's second career podium finish after placing second in 2016 and is the first time a Varsity Blue has won the individual crown since her sister, 2016 Olympian Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, did it in 2015. Stafford led Toronto's women to an overall bronze-medal finish.

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