HAMILTON, Ont. - Laurier's cross-country team travelled to Hamilton this past Friday for the 8-Kay Marauder Invitational, which also served as the final race before the OUA Championships next weekend.

With almost all Ontario schools represented and most teams trying to decide on rosters of seven racers for provincials, it was a competitive set of races. The Golden Hawks women's and men's teams finished ninth, with the men only one point out of eighth spot.  

Cross-country running is a team sport where every place picked up by the team's top seven runners can have an enormous impact on the final team score.

On the women's side, Marie Mazzoli was once again Laurier's top finisher coming in 56th place in a time of 32:09.  Mazzoli has gained confidence every race and is expected to continue improving as she learns the intricacies of the sport.

Sabrina Arena was the team's second finisher, coming in 63rd.  

In her race, she went out conservatively and was very competitive with the women around her.  At the end of the race, she was able to put in a strong finishing kick.

Piper Lafayette was the third scorer, coming in just over 34 minutes in her best eight-kilometre race of the season.

The next three finishers all have a steeplechase background in outdoor track.  

Belinda Guerra ran a big personal best. She also showed excellent hurdle form over the hay bale barriers!  

Maya Robinson and Tegan Ceccenese also did the steeple in high school track. They worked together throughout the race, starting conservatively and then working together to pick off spots as the race progressed.

On the men's side, Ryan Skjarum stepped up his form, running very well to finish 42nd in 26:39.  

He ran so well, he ran both a personal best at the 5 km mark (16:09) and another at the finish line.  Coaches remarked that he ran a smart and controlled race.  



Simon Drolet bounced back from a disappointing result at the Don Mills Open and was in top form, coming in 65th.  Drolet only arrived at the course a few minutes before his race due to traffic issues and, with a longer warm-up, the hope is he can even be further up the field at provincials.

Laurier's next four scoring runners all finished within six seconds of each other, having pushed each other throughout the eight-kilometre race course.  

They kept trading places and, in the end, finished in the following order: Ezra Bender (89th), Nolan Kulberg (91st), Braydon Trowbridge (93rd), and Nathan Lemire (97th).  

Of special note, Om Nathwani and Cohen Ledger also ran great races to finish only 20 seconds back.

The Golden Hawks will now look forward to the OUA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, October 26 at Osprey Links Golf Course in Callander, Ont. 

The 17-team, eight-kilometre races, hosted by the Nipissing Lakers, begin at 11 am with the men and the women's race at noon.