The Gaels weren’t tricked they were treated to and OUA Bronze medal finish at the 2009 Cross Country Championships for both the women and men.  Queen’s and Guelph were the only teams to put both their cross country teams on the podium.  What a difference a year makes, last year the women finished 6^th and the men 7^th at the OUA Championships.  Running with virtually the same core group plus a few new bodies the tricolour harriers have clearly responded positively to the wily veteran coach – Curt Bolton – and “rookie” coach - Kevin Dunbar.

The women ranked 8^th in the CIS were only 5^th in the conference entering the Championship race.  Using tremendous pack running the Gaels top 6 all finished between 18:35 and 19:01, with four of them coming in 18:58, 18:59, 19:00 and 19:01.  The top six packed in between 15^th and 26^th place.  As she has done all season Patricia Roney lead the Gaels with a 15^th place finish in 18:35.  She was closely followed by Leah Larocque in 18^th place in 18:40.  Leading the 4-some was rookie Maggie Hutton, the second rookie across the line, in 23^rd place.  Alecia Kallos continued her phenomenal season finishing 24^th, Grace Keenleyside 25^th and Nadia Tatlow 26^th.  Carla Murphy was 49^th in 19:44.  The average time for the team would easily be the fastest ever at an OUA Championship in Queen’s history; four athletes under 19-minutes is also a Queen’s first.  Knowing the incredible depth of the OUA the women dared to set the lofty goal of being on the OUA podium at the start of the season.  They’ve worked diligently preparing, have run very well in their preparatory races, and now have realized their goal by putting together a tremendous championship run.  AWESOME JOB WOMEN!  I’m sure the gals will enjoy their amazing accomplishment for the remainder of the weekend but come Monday will be focused on achieving the CIS Championship goal they set for themselves.

The men came in to OUA’s ranked 7^th in the CIS and 3^rd in the conference so their third place finish may not be viewed as much of a surprise.  What is a surprise is how quickly the men have managed to turn things around from one of the worst OUA finishes in school history last year – 7^th to being back on the OUA podium.  Matt Hulse is one of the reasons for the turnaround.  Matt finished 12^th to earn Second Team OUA All Star honours – his first in cross country.  His 31:22 is easily the fastest 10km he’s every run by 1-minute and 8-seconds.  Sophomore Clay Patterson just missed OUA All Star honours by 2-seconds with his superb 15^th place finish in his fastest ever 10km 31:31; a 1-minute and 11-second 10-km PB.  The growth and development of Clay is another reason the men have been a competitive unit all season.  The lone fourth year athlete on the team Trevor Walmsley easy posted his best ever OUA result with his 25^th place finish in 32:11 – a 10km PB by 2-minutes and 6-seconds.  Team rookie Andrew Courchene was 29^th in 32:24; a 49-second 10-km PB.  Juniors Josh Potvin was 39^th in 32:46 (a 38-second 10-km PB) and Michael Nishiyama 44^th in 32:53 (a 47-second 10-km PB).  Sophomore Oliver Hatheway running in his first OUA Championship was 58^th in 33:28 (a 51-second 10km PB).  With everyone coming up big this was a great team effort.  Like the women the men should be deservedly proud and savour the moment but there’s still one more cross country race left and it’s in 2-weeks time on their home course.

Queen’s will be welcoming the nation in 2-weeks as we host the CIS Championships on Fort Henry Hill.  Preparations for the meet have been going well and we are confident everyone will have a positive experience, even if the weather doesn’t cooperate.  Here’s looking forward to the Battle of Fort Henry – only the tough survive!!!