University of Toronto Varsity Blues star Lucia Stafford won the individual gold medal at the 2019 U SPORTS cross country championships on Saturday, November 9 at Fort Henry in Kingston, Ont.

Men's Results
Women's Results

The fourth-year engineering major crossed the 8km finish line in 27:30.3,  almost a full 14 seconds ahead of silver medalist Anne-Marie Comeau of the Laval Rouge et Or. Stafford earns her first U SPORTS cross country athlete of the year honour, as well as a first team all-Canadian nod for the third time in her cross country career.

"I came into this cross country season just wanting to get really fit for track and knew I was going to run at U SPORTS but I didn't know what to expect.  I'm just so proud of myself" said Stafford. "I didn't feel as comfortable as I did at the OUA championships. At the OUA championships I was surprised with how good I felt but here was definitely more of a grind. It came in waves."

Stafford is the second Varsity Blue to win the U SPORTS individual gold medal in the past three years, after Sasha Gollish claimed the title in 2017.

The Blues women finished fifth overall with 182 points. The host Queen's Gaels won the national banner (52), with the Guelph Gryphons (74) and Laval Rouge et Or (96) rounding out the podium finishes. The UBC Thunderbirds placed fourth with 120 points.

Three veterans were the next Blues across the finish line. Katherine Lampard placed 29th in 29:42.2, while fellow fifth-year veteran Tanis Bolton was 40th in 30:02.7. Fourth-year standout Jazz Shukla (30:23.2) and third-year Varsity Blue Katherine Marshall (30:47.5) rounded out U of T's top five in 54th and 72nd, respectively.

Toronto's men placed 10th overall with 310 points. The Calgary Dinos won the team banner (63), followed by the McMaster Marauders (82) and Guelph Gryphons (82).

Fifth-year veteran Sam Kinahan was the first Varsity Blue across the 10km finish line, placing 50th in 32:34.5. Rookie Rohan Nowbotsing was not far behind in 57th with a time of 32:42.9.

Craig Klomp (32:50.5), Cameron Cira (32:50.8) and Jake Carroll (33:25.5) rounded out Toronto's top five finishers.

WOMEN'S TEAM STANDINGS
 
1. Queen's, 53
2. Guelph, 74
3. Laval, 96
4. UBC, 120
5. Toronto, 182
6. Western, 185
7. Saskatchewan, 234
8. McGill, 244
9. Trinity Western, 251
10. Montreal, 259
11. Calgary, 268
12. Victoria, 294
13. McMaster, 332
14. Dalhousie, 375
15. Windsor, 378
16. Waterloo, 379
17. Laurier, 404
18. StFX, 452
19. Sherbrooke, 502

MEN'S Team Standings
 
1. Calgary, 63
2. McMaster, 82
3. Guelph, 82
4. Laval, 110
5. Windsor, 140
6. UBC, 150
7. Queen's, 175
8. Alberta, 215
9. Victoria, 264
10. Toronto, 310
11. Western, 312
12. Laurentian, 350
13. Dalhousie, 367
14. Montreal, 394
15. Sherbrooke, 406
16. StFX, 445
17. Manitoba, 461
18. Trinity Western, 475
19. Laurier, 563

 
WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
 
Athlete of the Year: Lucia Stafford, Toronto
Rookie of the Year: Naomi Lang, UBC
Fox 40 Coach of the Year: Steve Boyd, Queen's
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Caitlin Vail, Victoria

WOMEN'S First Team All-Canadians
 
1. Lucia Stafford, Toronto, 27:30.3
2. Anne-Marie Comeau, Laval, 27:44.2
3. Branna MacDougall, Queen's, 28:01.0
4. Kara Blair, Queen's, 28:17.3
5. Brogan MacDougall, Queen's, 28:19.6
6. Kate Current, Western, 28:20.4
7. Hannah Woodhouse, Guelph, 28:26.7
 
WOMEN'S Second Team All-Canadians
 
8. Nicola Symonds, UBC, 28:30.8
9. Danielle Jossinet, Guelph, 28:33.1
10. Joanna Williams, Trinity Western, 28:47.4
11. Naomi Lang, UBC, 28:56.5
12. Lizzy Laurie, Laurier, 29:00.8
13. Kaitlyn Harrison, Saskatchewan, 29:01.3
14. Eoldie De Coene, Montreal, 29:02.5
 
MEN'S INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
 
Athlete of the Year: Kieran Lumb, UBC
Rookie of the Year: Marcel Scheele, Western
Fox 40 Coach of the Year: Doug Lamont, Calgary
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Paul MacLellan, StFX

MEN'S First Team All-Canadians
 
1. Kieran Lumb, UBC, 30:41.8
2. Mitchell Ubene, Guelph, 30:49.3
3. Russell Pennock, Calgary, 30:55.2
4. Matthew Travaglini, Calgary, 30:58.4
5. Alex Drover, McMaster, 30:59.3
6. Max Turek, McMaster, 31:01.9
7. Joshua Martin, Windsor, 31:04.9
 
MEN'S Second Team All-Canadians
 
8. Kalum Delaney, Guelph, 31:07.7
9. Andrew Davies, McMaster, 31:08.8
10. Mitchell de Lange, Queen's, 31:09.8
11. John Perrier, Guelph, 31:12.1
12. Stefan Daniel, Calgary, 31:15.1
13. Thomas Broatch, UBC, 31:17.0
14. Félix Lapointe-Pilote, Laval, 31:18.9
 

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