CALGARY – With Canada West and CIS championships on the line this weekend in Quebec City, the Dinos cross country teams are poised to challenge a strong field of schools from across the country.
Fifth year athlete Heather Sim has led a Dinos women's team to victories at the Eastern Washington University Invitational and the Stewart Cup in Calgary, and would like nothing more than to finish her Dinos career with another Canada West title and ultimately, the coveted CIS title.
Sim, who individually was first at the EWU invitational and third at the Stewart Cup, will be looking for a top five individual finish in both events. Other Dinos runners, such as Debby Querengesser, Riley McQueen and Lindsy McNicoll help form a very strong team of female runners that could easily place very well in any given competition.
The Dinos are the returning Canada West champions, and will be pushed hard by teams such as the Victoria Vikes, who Calgary has not yet seen this year. At the CIS level, the Guelph Gryphons are the defending national champions and will again be a very fast team, while the Toronto Varsity Blues will prove to be a very tough group as well.
Head Coach Doug Lamont knows that his women's team can compete at a very high level.
“Along with Heather, we have a pack of girls who are all very capable of placing very high at any meet,” he said. “If they all produce on the same day, we have a very good chance of winning. It's just a matter of making it all go at the same time.”
The men are led by conference and national Rookie of the Year candidate, Nyial Majock, who along with a second place finish at the Stewart Cup, placed ninth at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India this past summer with a blazing 5000m time of 14:56.23. Majock will be looking to place very high individually for the Dinos in Quebec this weekend.
The Dinos men's team is further rounded out by 24-year-old first year Gavin Hamilton, who placed fifth at the EWU invitational, and fifth year transfer from Queen's, Travis Cummings. With typical run times, both of these athletes should find themselves in the top 20 this weekend.
The CIS championships will feature two schools that have combined to win the past ten National Championships in the University of Guelph and the University of Windsor, who are predicted to have similar success in 2008. In the Canada West, the Dinos men's team will be pushed hard from the University of Victoria and the University of Regina. Both of these schools have beaten the Dinos men earlier this fall.
Despite the early losses to these schools, Coach Lamont still sees a competitive race this weekend.
“I think we'll see a very hard fought battle between the three of us. While they have beaten us, I think we can compete with these teams on any given weekend,” he explained.
With both the Canada West title and the CIS title up for grabs in the same race this weekend in Quebec City, the Dinos will certainly be looking for their best runs to date.
-UC-
