When the bus of Lions, Gee-Gees and Ravens returned from Saturday’s Hoffmann Invitational cross country race in Canton, New York they had an unusual item to declare as they re-entered Canada – pie. Yes, seven athletes had the dubious distinction of bringing some back to Canada, an honour bestowed upon those who placed among the top-15 finishers in each of the men’s and women’s races on the St. Lawrence University campus.
André Alie-Lamarche garnered his prized pie after taking top spot in the men’s contest. The fifth-year political science student finished the eight-kilometre course in a time of 25 minutes and 17.2 seconds – more than nine seconds ahead of St. Lawrence’s Michael Skutt in second. Alie-Lamarche’s teammate Zach Sikka also picked up a pie with his 14th place finish (27:17.4). Combined, the Gee-Gee men finished third overall with 71 points – 20 back of second place Plattsburgh State.
On the women’s side, five runners ran their way to pie. Nina Günther was the top finisher in the six-kilometre race, placing second in 22 minutes and 32.3 seconds for the Lions. Also cracking the top-10 were Carleton’s Saorise Kealy (7th) and the Gee-Gee’s Melani Hamel (10th). Finishing right behind Hamel were Bryn Reyonds (Carleton) and Kylee Fowler (uOttawa) to round out the pie winners.
Elsewhere on the weekend, Elizabeth Vroom and Olivia Baggley both posted top-30 finishes at the Vigars and Salter Western Invitational in London. Vroom, a second year engineering student at Queen’s University, placed 22nd among the field of 130-plus runners in a time of 31 minutes and 19.6 seconds. Her finish helped the Gaels to a fifth place team finish, while Baggley was the top finisher for the University of New Brunswick Reds, finishing the eight-kilometre course in 31:39.4 to place 29th overall.
Cross country action returns to the nation’s capital this week with the Capital XC Challenge taking place Friday and Saturday.
Full results from the Hoffmann Invitational can be found on our website.