It was a more friendly battle on the Plains of Abraham Saturday at the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) cross country championships for members of the University of Ottawa Gee Gees and Carleton University Ravens. With the two Ontario based schools dueling it out for a spot in next weekend’s USports XC Championships in Kingston, the Gee Gees’ Rebecca Brennan and Nic Roberts were the only athletes to earn a spot by virtue of their top 20 placings.
Brennan continued to lead the Gee Gee women as she has done all season, placing eighth overall in the field – two spots ahead of last year’s finish. The fifth year social science student completed the 8km course in 30 minutes and 43 seconds, just over two minutes ahead of teammate Keili Shepherd who was 26th overall. Madison Clarke, Abigaile Lea, and Holly Hicks rounded out the top five scorers, placing 30th, 41st and 44th overall respectively.
As a team, the Gee Gee women scored 148 points to place fifth overall behind the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
The Ravens sole runner was first year student Pippa Norman, who placed 42nd.
For the second year in a row, Nic Roberts was the top Gee Gee, placing 11th overall. Improving top spots from last year’s finish, the fourth year human kinetics student completed the 10km course in a time of 33 minutes and 15 seconds. Teammates Adrian Fournier, Andre Alie-Lamarche and Paul Bates clumped behind in 22nd, 23rd and 24th while Stephen Robinson rounded out the top five in 27th.
Combined, the Gee Gee men scored 107 points to finish fourth, just 14 points off the podium.
The Raven’s top runner was first year student Cameron Bruce who placed 33rd.
The USports Championships will take place Saturday, November 9th at the historic Fort Henry in Kingston.