Guelph's Carson breaks 22-year old record

LONDON, Ont. - Guelph Gryphons runner Lindsay Carson won her third straight Western International cross-country meet, shattering the course record by 14 seconds to lift Guelph to the team title.

Carson finished with a time of 17:01 in the 5km race in cloudy, fall-like conditions at the Thames Valley Golf Course on Sept. 26, with about 500 fans looking on. She beat the course and meet record of 17:15 held by former Mustang Sandra Anschuetz, which was set in 1987, 22 years to the day.

Tamara Jewett of the Toronto Varsity Blues finished in second place with 17:31 while Genevieve Lalonde of Guelph placed third in 17:35.

The top Mustang finisher was Lorelle Convery, who finished with a time of 18:19 an all-time personal best for the 5 km race. Lynn Mockler was the next best Mustang in 18:27, placing 13th overall. The two results helped Western to a third-place team finish with 101 points, behind Guelph (30 points) and McMaster (65 points).

"It was pretty fast, this meet is always pretty competitive," said Convery, who added she was pleased with her performance and is optimistic about the year ahead.

"The first half I was in the Top 20, between 15th and 20th, and I felt good and I just started picking people off to move into the Top 10," Convery said. "We have four rookie girls on our team, they have stepped up huge this season."

Convery was complimentary of Carson's meet-record time.

"Lindsay Carson is just unbelievable. I'm not surprised to hear she broke the record," Convery said. "Throughout Ontario, the competition is getting faster and faster for sure."

Other Mustangs in the scoring were rookies Alicia Knox (21st, 18:58), Laura Desjardins (22nd 19:01) and Hailey Cummings (36th, 19:18). Non-scoring Mustangs included Hilary Egan (54th, 19:36), Lauren Coutts (67th, 19:54) and Sara Leo (74th, 20:06). Mustang Rachel Windsor did not finish due to injury.

Team Results - Women's 5km
1. Guelph Gryphons (1, 3, 7, 8, 11) 30
2. McMaster Marauders (6, 9, 12, 18, 20) 65
3. Western Mustangs (10, 13, 21, 22, 35) 101
4. Queen's Gaels (19, 24, 28, 30, 33) 134
5. Geneseo Knights (17, 25, 27, 32, 34) 135
6. Toronto Varsity Blues 173
7. Windsor Lancers 176
8. Laurentian Voyageurs 200
9. McGill Martletts 231
10. RMC Paladins 312
11. Waterloo Warriors 343
12. Nazareth Gold Flyers 366
13. York Lions 393
14. Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 433
15. Nipissing Lakers 457
16. Brock Badgers 467

Top 10 Individual Results - Women's 5km
1. Lindsay Carson, Guelph Gryphons, 17:01.6*
2. Tamara Jewett, Toronto Varsity Blues, 17:31.3
3. Genevieve Lalonde, Guelph Gryphons, 17:35.9
4. Erin McClure, Toronto Varsity Blues, 17:48.3
5. Dayna Pidhoresky, Windsor Lancers, 18:05.1
6. Jessica Pearo, McMaster Maruaders, 18:13.2
7. Courtney Laurie, Guelph Gryphons, 18:15.8
8. Laura McIvor, Guelph Gryphons, 18:17.6
9. Jillian Wyman, McMaster Marauders, 18:18.5
10. Lorelle Convery, Western Mustangs, 18:19.4

Source: Western Mustangs