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Preview: 2007 OUA Conference Cross Country Championships
Meet Date:
Saturday October 27
Venue:
Thames Valley Golf Course, London ON
Races:
11:00am Women's 5km (30th Annual)
11:45am Men's 10km (93rd Annual)
TOP SEEDED WOMEN'S TEAMS [ 15 teams competing]
Guelph Gryphons: seeded # 1
- defending OUA Champions and going for a four-peat having won the provincial title in 2004, 2005, and 2006
- have been ranked # 1 in nation all season (sportingcanada.com)
- enjoying a superb season, undefeated versus CIS teams
- at Stanford Invite last month, finished 5th out of 28 teams defeating major D-1 schools California, Long Beach State, San Diego, and Utah
- at Penn State Invite two weeks ago finished 9th out of 25 teams defeating major D-1 schools Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, and Villanova
- led by rookie Lindsay Carson and sophomore Rachel Cliff
- Carson finished 2nd out of 241 runners at Stanford and 2nd out of 222 at Penn State and will challenge the course record of 17:15 at "The Valley" this Saturday
- Cliff was last year's OUA and CIS Rookie of the Year and Carson is a slam dunk for those awards this year's
Western Mustangs: seeded # 2
- have won most team medals (1st to 3rd place finishes) in OUA history with 27 in the 29 year history of women's championships (11 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze); Queen's is 2nd all-time with 18 medal finishes
- have only lost to 2 teams this season, Guelph (by 3 points) at the Western International and Purdue (by 1 point) at the Loyola of Chicago Lakefront Invite
- overall record to date this season versus CIS and NCAA teams is 52 wins and 2 losses (96% win record)
- led by Leila Angrand (Laurentian grad now doing her Master's at UWO in Occupational Therapy) who has won 4 races this season and only lost to 2 runners (at Chicago)
- the Mustangs will only have Angrand in the lead pack and look to their depth (2nd through 7th) runners to pull them to the podium
Queen's Golden Gaels: seeded # 3
- 3rd best CIS team (4th overall) at the major Western International last month on Thames Valley GC
- have won their last two multi-team meets, winning the Hamilton College (NY) Invite on October 6 defeating 7 teams then taking the team title at their home Queen's Open the following week defeating 9 teams
- led by Leslie Sexton who gave Western's Leila Angrand a battle at the Western International last month
TOP ATHLETE:
Toronto's Megan Brown comes in as the prohibitive favorite to win the individual gold medal. She is the defending OUA as well as CIS Nationals champ and MVP. Brown's has raced only once this season in Cross Country, taking the Brock Open gold last week. Her fitness is superb at this point in the season as shown in her silver medal performance at the Trans Canada 10km road race in 33:41 averaging 3:23 per km. The course record of 17:15 for 5km on the challenging Thames Valley GC is 20 years old, set by Western's Sandra Anschuetz at the 1987 Western International. Many greats have taken a shot at this record as "The Valley" has been the site of 4 CIS National Championships as well as 20 annual Western Internationals since 1987. Brown needs to average approximately 3:26 per km to take the mark down.
TOP SEEDED MEN'S TEAMS [ 14 teams competing]
Windsor Lancers: seeded # 1
The Lancers have struggled a bit this season putting together their best line-up on a regular basis, so their overall record does not warrant the top seed position. However, the Sporting Canada coaches' poll has Windsor # 1 in CIS. Their overall record versus CIS and USA teams is 46 wins and 11 losses (80% win record)
- 6th out of 17 teams at Western International behind Queen's (3rd) and Western (5th)
- 5th out of 25 teams in the Gold Division (lower tier) at Notre Dame (beat Akron, Ohio U., Oakland)
- 2nd out of 13 teams at Calvin College NCAA D-3 Great Lakes Region National Preview
- led by 2003 OUA All-Star Andrew Coates and last year's # 3 rookie in the nation Dave Weston
Guelph Gryphons: seeded # 2
- defending OUA Champions and going for a three-peat having won the provincial title in 2005, and 2006
- after a slow start to the season (finished behind Queen's, Western, and Windsor at Western International) the Gryphons have been on a tear
- at Stanford Invite last month, finished 6th out of 31 teams defeating major D-1 schools Arizona, Baylor, and Long Beach State
- at Penn State Invite two weeks ago finished 5th out of 20 teams defeating major D-1 schools Cornell, George Mason, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest
- this team is loaded up front with 5th year man Angus Macaulay, and two former OUA Rookie of the Year winners, Kyle Boorsma (2006) and Andre-Paul Baillargeon-Smith (2003), and sophomore Matt Brunsting who won All-Star honors last year. Baillargeon-Smith is a 3-time OUA All-Star (2003, 2004, 2005)
Queen's Golden Gaels: seeded # 3
- top CIS team at last month's Western International (3rd overall behind Eastern Michigan and Bucknell)
- won the Hamilton College Invite with a score of 20 points (15 is perfect) defeating 9 teams
- have held back their top men from racing regularly this season
- led by OUA defending gold medal winner Braden Novakowski and 3-time OUA All-Star Robert Kitz
Western Mustangs: seeded # 4
- an impressive regular season record puts the Mustangs in the mix as a dark horse as the pollsters no doubt have considered the lack of proven star power (no all-stars on the roster) and no medal placing at OU's since 2002 as liabilities
- opened up the season winning the McGill Open defeating 7 teams including NCAA D-3 powerhouse Williams College
- 2nd best CIS team, behind Queen's, at the Western International (defeated both Windsor and Guelph)
- 4th out of 21 teams at Loyola of Chicago Invite defeating Marshall, Northern Kentucky, Purdue
- 2nd out of 13 teams at the Univ of Rochester Invite
- overall record versus CIS and USA teams is 47 wins and 8 losses (85% win record)
- led by 5th year man Nathan de Witt who is having a career season and OUA 1500m track champion Scott Emberley who is gunning for a breakthrough in 10km cross country at "The Valley"
- strengthened significantly by the "Fab Four Frosh" of Ryan Armstrong, Ryan Huff, William Komer, and Kyle O'Neill
- O'Neill is arguably the top rookie in the CIS
TOP ATHLETE:
Braden Novakowki (Queen's) is the top seeded athlete. He is the OUA defending gold medal winner and finished a strong 3rd (top Canadian) on "The Valley" in 32:11 at last month's Western International.
Source:
Bob
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