NORTH BAY, Ont. - Laurier's cross-country teams competed at the OUA Championships this past Saturday in Callander, Ont. just 10 minutes south of North Bay, with both the women's and men's team finishing 10th and barely outside the qualification threshold for nationals.

Both teams had a great warm-up at the four-kilometre loop (run twice) hosted by Osprey Links Golf Course thanks to the crisp, cool conditions. The team also received extra support with assistant coaches MacKenzie Morgan and Eric Hill making the trip to help the team run to their full potential.
            
With U SPORTS qualifications to Kelowna, BC on the line, the team was excited to put on a strong showing.  

The men's team went out hard and were in the top eight well into the race. Unfortunately, they couldn't hold on to that position and ended up in 10th place out of 17 schools represented.

Despite the disappointing finish, Ian Young came in 28th place and qualified for the nationals on Saturday, November 9. Young ran his race in 25:50 for the very challenging 8 kilometre course.  

Ryan Skjarum was the team's next finisher,  going out quickly under 16 for the first five kilometres and finishing in 43rd.  

Laurier's next three finishers were all rookies, who look to return even stronger next year having gained valuable experience. 

Simon Drolet, the team's top-ranked tri-athlete, came in 65th in 27:40. 

Nolan Kuhlberg was elbowed in the face early in the race and looked like a prize-fighting boxer as he gritted it out to finish only nine seconds behind Drolet.  

Coming in next was Ezra Bender only 14 seconds later.  

Braydon Trowbridge and Nathan Lemire ran strong races finishing close to each other.

The women's race was next, where the Golden Hawks lined up on the line at high noon ready to battle it out with the other Ontario universities.

Nicole Beach had a competitive race, doing her best to achieve the highest rank possible. Beach was the top finisher, running her best race in a personal best time of 31:50. 

Marie Mazzoli, the squad's Belgium track star competing on the most hilly course she has ever run, was 17 seconds behind Beach. 

Mazzoli had a really good experience running cross country in Canada and will compete in the Western Invitational for indoor track in November before heading back overseas. 

Sabrina Arena had a challenging race where she used the hills to her advantage. Sabrina finished strong at 32:42 and will now focus on having a strong indoor track season. 
           
Belinda Guerra coming out of the start of her road running career ran a competitive race. Guerra pushed herself at the end to pass a Laurentian athlete to finish in 33:25. 

Tegan Ceccanese was only five seconds behind Guerra. 

Laurier's coaching staff felt Ceccanese ran the best race of her university career in 33:30. 

Piper Lafayette raced with her heart to get a season's best of 33:33. 

Maya Robinson had a strong race and battled hard to kick strong at 33:51.

Overall, the women's team was only 15 points behind qualifying for U SPORTS. This means there are not many runners to pass to achieve those collectively as a team next season.

Final team and individual results