2012 world university cross country championships: 11 Canadian runners off to Poland

Photo credit Peter Jewett

OTTAWA (CIS) – Eleven Canadian Interuniversity Sport student-athletes are set to compete in the 18th FISU world university cross country championships on Saturday, April 14, in Poland.

FISU cross country website: www.fisu.net/en/Cross-Country-2012-2751.html

Lodz 2012 website (INCLUDING LIVE WEBCAST): www.wuc.cc2012.p.lodz.pl

The competition will take place in Lodz, Poland’s third largest city situated approximately 135 kilometres south-west of Warsaw.

Canada is coming off its best-ever performance at the biennial event, which was held on Canadian soil for the first time in history in 2010. The women captured team bronze on the course of Fort Henry Hill in Kingston, Ont., while the men finished just outside the podium, in fourth place.

Highlighting the 2012 Canadian selection are four members of the University of Guelph Gryphons, who resumed their domination of CIS cross country last November claiming a seventh straight women’s team title and a sixth consecutive men’s banner.

The Gryphons’ foursome includes Lydia Frost of Bocabec, N.B., and Carise Thompson of Lynden, Ont., as well as male teammates Aaron Hendrikx of Parkhill, Ont., and Allan Brett of Ottawa.

Rounding out the women’s squad are University of Toronto’s Tamara Jewett, Laval University’s Catherine Cormier and Western University’s Jen Bays. On the men’s side, the red and white team is completed by University of Windsor teammates Matt Walters and Paul Janikowski, as well as Dylan Haight and Cliff Childs, both from UVic.

All 11 runners were named all-Canadians this past season after finishing in the Top 14 at the CIS championships in Quebec City, including first-team nods for Jewett (2nd), Thompson (4th), Cormier (6th), Frost (7th), Walters (3rd), Janikowski (5th), Hendrikx (6th) and Brett (7th). Bays (8th), Haight (8th) and Childs (9th) merited second-team all-Canadian status.

Jewett, who hails from Toronto, and Walters, a native of North Bay, Ont., claimed individual silver and bronze, respectively, at the CIS meet on the Plains of Abraham.

Of the group, only Brett competed at the last FISU championships in Kingston, where he finished in 24th position.

Keith Butler from the University of Victoria is Canada’s head coach in Poland. He is assisted by UVic colleague Ingrid Ruys and Windsor’s Gary Malloy.

Great Britain is the reigning women’s team champion after finishing ahead of Australia and Canada two years ago. Japan captured the men’s crown at Fort Henry Hill, with Spain and Great Britain rounding out the podium.

CANADIAN ROSTER

Name University Elig * Hometown Academic Program

Women

Jen Bays Western 2 Whitby, Ont. Health Science
Catherine Cormier Laval 5 New Richmond, Que. Medicine
Lydia Frost Guelph 4 Bocabec, N.B. Human Kinetics
Tamara Jewett Toronto 3 Toronto, Ont. History/Literary Studies
Carise Thompson Guelph 2 Lynden, Ont. Applied Sciences
Originally selected but unable to attend due to an injury:
Stephanie Trenholm Victoria 3 Campbell River, B.C. Humanities

Men

Allan Brett Guelph 5 Ottawa, Ont. Master’s Biological Eng.
Cliff Childs Victoria 5 Kelowna, B.C. Social Sciences
Dylan Haight Victoria 2 Victoria, B.C. Social Sciences
Aaron Hendrikx Guelph 1 Parkhill, Ont. Human Kinetics
Paul Janikowski Windsor 2 LaSalle, Ont. Human Kinetics
Matt Walters Windsor 4 North Bay, Ont. Liberal Arts

* Year of CIS eligibility used during 2011 cross country season

Head Coach: Keith Butler, University of Victoria
Assistant Coach: Gary Malloy, University of Windsor
Assistant Coach: Ingrid Ruys, University of Victoria

-CIS-