2009 CIS cross country championships: Gryphons sweep team titles in record-breaking CIS meet

- Brown & Brunsting repeat as individual champions -

By Queen's University sports information office

KINGSTON, Ont. (CIS) - The University of Guelph Gryphons once again dominated the CIS cross country championships. The Gryphon women's squad won its fifth straight team title, while the men earned their fourth consecutive banner Saturday afternoon at Fort Henry Hill in Kingston, Ont.

The Gryphons proved they are in a class of its own, having won both team titles for a record fourth straight year.

Guelph became the most successful cross country program in CIS history with the most CIS banners captured by a single school, with 15. Guelph has obtained nine men's and six women's titles. The Gryphons entered the event tied with the University of Victoria at 13.

The Guelph women also entered the history books becoming the first team to earn five championship banners in a row. The previous CIS mark had been set by Western Ontario from 1981 to 1984 and equalled by Victoria from 1998 to 2001.

The Gryphon men claimed their fourth straight banner and eighth crown in 11 years. Overall it is Guelph's ninth men's title since the inaugural men's championship was held in 1963, tying a CIS all-time record for most first-place finishes established by the Toronto Varsity Blues.

"Our main goal all season was to win the team banners again," said Guelph head coach Dave Scott-Thomas, named both CIS women's and men's coach of the year for the fourth straight campaign. "It was a battle out there and our teams held strong. We also broke three major records today which is great."

On the men's side, the Gryphons cruised through the 10-kilometre race finishing with 31 points. Windsor was second with 92 points and StFX claimed team bronze with 170. Three Guelph teammates were among the first five runners to cross the finish line, including individual champion Matt Brunsting of Stirling, Ont., who earned back-to-back CIS gold medals. Brunsting finished the course with an impressive time of 30:34.3.

"It feels great," said Brunsting. "Our goal this year was to repeat as team champions. All season we were very team oriented so to win the individual and team title for the second straight time is amazing."

The silver medal went to Gryphon Kyle Boorsma of Guelph, Ont., with a time of 30:44.8, while University of Regina's Kelly Wiebe was third at 30:49.8.

Matt Hulse of Kingston, Ont. was the top male runner from host Queen's University placing 17th.

The Guelph women won with a 57-point tally blowing away the competition as the Toronto Varsity Blues were second at 144 points and the McMaster Marauders third with 147.

The U of T's Megan Brown from Guelph, Ont., claimed back-to-back CIS gold medals and her third individual title in four years, after her victories in 2008 and 2006. She completed the five-kilomentre event with a time of 16:55.9.

"I wanted to run under 17 minutes," said Brown. "I went in today very strong. I decided that I was going to dictate the race and I ran aggressive from the start which is what I wanted to do. This course is always good to me. I'm very excited to finish my university career off here and to win is great."

Guelph's Lindsay Carson of Kitchener, Ont., led the Gryphons contingent and finished second overall with a time of 17:14.3. In a race for the third and final podium spot, University of Sherbrooke's Valérie Bélanger finished with a time of 17:23.1 edging out Toronto's Erin McClure (17:23.9) by less than one second.

Brown and Brunsting earned athlete-of-the-year honours for the second straight season, while Guelph's Genevieve Lalonde of Moncton, N.B., and Regina's Wyatt Baiton of Lumsden, Sask., were named CIS female and male rookies of the year after they finished ninth and 13th in their respective races.

Host Queen's finished seventh in the men's competition and 10th in the women's. Leah Laroqcuqe of Ottawa was the top Gael female finishing 33rd.

The top seven finishers in the women's and men's races earn first-team all-Canadian status. Finishers eight through 14 are second-team CIS all-stars.

The event saw 25 schools compete, featuring 323 student-athletes from across Canada.

CIS also announced the Student-Athlete Community Service Awards at the event. Gwendolyn Muir (Knowlton, Que.) from Dalhousie and Matt Hulse (Kingston, Ont.) from Queen's University were named this year's recipients.

Fort Henry Hill will be the site of the 2010 FISU world university cross country championships on Saturday, April 11. Officials from FISU were on hand to conduct a progress update and officially pass the FISU banner to organizers during today's event.


WOMENS RESULTS (5 km)

Team standings
1. Guelph, 57 points
2. Toronto, 144
3. McMaster, 147
4. Victoria, 178
5. Alberta, 210
6. Calgary, 213
7. Manitoba, 218
8. St. Francis Xavier, 227
9. Laval, 232
10. Queen's, 237
11. Windsor, 251
12. Saskatchewan, 293
13. Dalhousie, 306
14. Sherbrooke, 307
15. Western, 317
16. McGill, 353
17. Laurentian, 467
18. Concordia, 568
19. RMC, 626

Individual honours
Athlete of the year:
Megan Brown, Toronto

Rookie of the year:
Genevieve Lalonde, Guelph

Student-Athlete Community Service Award:
Gwendolyn Muir, Dalhousie

Coach of the year:
Dave Scott-Thomas, Guelph

First All-Canadian team
1. 16:55.9 Megan Brown, Toronto
2. 17:14.3 Lindsay Carson, Guelph
3. 17.23.1 Valerie Belanger, Sherbrooke
4. 17:23.9 Erin McClure, Toronto
5. 17:24.2 Jessica Pearo, McMaster
6. 17:30.0 Tamara Jewett, Toronto
7.17:30.3 Jodi Souter, Sasketchwan

Second All-Canadian team
8. 17:32.3 Rachel Cliff, Guelph
9. 17:33.7 Genevieve Lalonde, Guelph
10.17:34.3 Ashley Ryer, Saint Marys
11.17:34.4 Catherine Cormier, Laval
12.17:37.9 Caroline Schlosser, Dalhousie
13. 17:40.9 Lynn Mockler, Western
14. 17:41.0 Dayna Pidhoresky, Windsor

MENS RESULTS (10 km)

Team standings
1. Guelph, 31 points
2. Windsor, 92
3. St.Francis Xavier, 170
4. Regina, 186
5. Calgary, 222
6. Alberta, 225
7. Queen's, 227
8. Western, 242
9. McMaster, 243
10. Sherbrooke, 251
11. Victoria, 252
12. Toronto, 280
13. Dalhousie, 341
14. Laval, 343
15. Manitoba, 361
16. Laurier, 459
17. Concordia, 462
18. Saskatchewan, 495
19. RMC, 600

Individual honours

Athlete of the year:
Matt Brunsting, University of Guelph

Rookie of the year:
Wyatt Baiton, University of Regina

Student-Athlete Community Service Award:
Matt Hulse, Queens University

Coach of the year:
Dave Scott-Thomas, University of Guelph

First All-Canadian team
1. 30:34.3 Matt Brunsting, Guelph
2. 30:44.8 Kyle Boorsma, Guelph
3. 30:49.8 Kelly Wiebbe, Regina
4. 30:54.3 Dave Weston, Windsor
5. 30:57.9 Allan Brett, Guelph
6. 31:01.8 Matt Pieterson, Victoria
7. 31:32.1 Russell Christie, Dalhousie

Second All-Canadian team
8. 31:34.0 Adam Kellar, Windsor
9. 31:37.9 Johannes Mallie, Victoria
10. 31:42.0 Kyle ONeill, Western
11. 31:43.9 Nigel Wray, Guelph
12. 31:49.2 John Parrott, Guelph
13. 31:59.9 Wyatt Baiton, Regina
14. 32:13.0 Bagdad Rachem, Sherbrooke

Full Results:
Women :
http://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=45510

Women Team:
http://results.sportstats.ca/res2009/ciswt.htm

Men:
http://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=45927

Men Team:
http://results.sportstats.ca/res2009/cismt.htm

-CIS-