VICTORIA – The University of Calgary Dinos received clutch performances from all 14 runners Saturday, bringing home the Canada West banners for both men and women at the 2007 CIS Cross Country Championships in Victoria, B.C.
Defending individual men's champion Geoff Kerr slipped from the gold medal all the way to sixth place but did maintain his all-Canadian status, leading the Dinos men to their second conference title in history and the first since 1999. At the national level, the Dinos finished fourth in the team standings behind champion Guelph, Windsor, and Sherbrooke.
On the women's side, Heather Sim pulled out an impressive performance, finishing sixth in the field of 107 to attain her second straight all-Canadian selection. The Dinos women captured their fourth Canada West championship in the past five years, defending the title they recaptured last year on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. The Guelph women placed four runners in the top 10 to defend their national title, while the Dinos finished second in the CIS standings.
“We have two Canada West Championships, a silver and fourth place finish at the CIS level, and that's probably our best result ever,” said Dinos coach Doug Lamont. “We went out and competed on the day and got what we got, and all our athletes did a great job.”
Sherbrooke's Alex Genest, who finished in the silver medal position behind Kerr in 2006, won the overall individual title, finishing the 10 km course in 31:40.28. Running the final race of an illustrious CIS cross country career, Kerr finished 29 seconds off the pace in 32:09.42.
“Geoff made a couple of tactical errors that hurt him late in the race, but he ran as hard as he could at the end,” said Lamont.
The defending conference men's champion Victoria Vikes slipped up, allowing the Dinos to bring back the Canada West trophy for the first time in nearly a decade. Matt Cloutier (27th) and rookie Ryan Russell (32nd) rounded out Calgary's top three finishers.
On the women's side, rookie Jessica O'Connell placed 15th overall while teammate Natalie Thompson finished just a second and a half behind her in 16th position. Guelph rookie Lindsay Carson won the individual gold medal in the 5 km race, crossing the line in 17:41.28 – nearly 20 seconds ahead of her closest rival, Alberta's Paula Findlay.
-UC-
2007 CIS Cross Country Championships
Dinos Results
Men
6. Geoff Kerr (32.09.42)
27. Matt Cloutier (33:32.91)
32. Ryan Russell (33:46.51)
35. David Zylberberg (33:51.87)
56. Grant Burwash (34:31.33)
67. Brad Hove (34:56.33)
72. Travis Cummings (35:16.63)
TEAM 147 points – CIS 4th place, Canada West Champions
Women
6. Heather Sim (18:15.18)
15. Jessica O'Connell (18:44.13)
16. Natalie Thompson (18:45.55)
27. Hilary Johnston (19:00.55)
35. Faye Stenning (19:12.85)
71. Kim McMurtry (19:51.70)
88. Valerie Hurdle (20:27.97)
TEAM 96 points – CIS 2nd place, Canada West Champions
