Championship season kicked off for Canadian cross-country runners with university conference championships unfolding nationwide this past weekend.
At the OUA Championships in North Bay, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees battled to a pair of 12th-place finishes in both the men’s and women’s team races. On the men’s side, the Gee-Gees finished just 11 points behind Laurentian for 11th place, led by second-year computer science student Zachary Sikka, who completed the demanding 8-kilometre course in 26:36.3 to place 44th overall.
Nic Abanto Enns and Will McLeish supported the team effort with 56th and 63rd-place finishes, each finishing within a minute of Sikka. Adriano Padoin-Castillo and Fred Parent rounded out the scoring for Ottawa in 69th and 85th place, respectively.
On the women’s side, Melina Hamel continued her standout season, leading Ottawa with a 34th-place finish in 31:03.8, one of her strongest races of the year. Teammate Kylee Fowler followed closely in 54th place, with Elliot Tyman, Grace Farrington, and Katerina Culhane rounding out the scoring spots in 88th, 89th, and 90th, respectively.
Queen’s standout Lizzy Vroom, a former USport Rookie of the Year, captured a 12th-place individual finish in 29:31.6, earning her Second Team OUA All-Star honours and helping the Gaels to silver in the overall standings.
First-year Guelph Gryphon Jocelyn Giannotti, making her OUA Championships debut, placed 48th, crossing in 31:46.3 as the fourth-fastest rookie in the championship.
At the RSEQ Championships in Saint-Lazare, Quebec, the Carleton Ravens were represented by Sara Gross and Sydney Nielsen, with Gross clocking 34:33.2 for 71st place while Nielsen was 95th. Racing for McGill, Zoe Gardiner contributed to a team bronze for the Martlets with a 27th-place finish in 31:32.4.
The RSEQ Championship also featured a high school section, where brothers Noah and Zachary Mansouri swept the podium’s top two spots. Noah claimed gold on the 5-kilometre course in 15:58.9 with Zachary finishing 7.5 seconds back.
Out west, UBC Okanagan’s Kyle Porter competed at the Can-West Championships in Camrose, AB, placing 50th in 27:49.6 over the 8-kilometre course.
Next up for Canada’s top university athletes will be the USports Championships on November 9th in Kelowna, BC.
Full results from the OUA Championship can be found here: OUA
RSEQ Championships results can be found here: Men Women
Can-West Championship results can be found here: Can West