The 2019 Subway Atlantic University Sport Cross Country Championships took place Saturday October 26th in Hanwell, NB, hosted by the University of New Brunswick at the Kingswood Resort. Eight men’s teams participated in the 8km race on a rolling grass course in perfect weather conditions, with six athletes representing the St. Thomas University Tommies.
Andrew Peverill of the Saint Mary’s University Huskies was the overall men’s winner in a time of 25:18, followed by Paul MacLellan of St. Francis Xavier University in 25:40, and Jacob Benoit of St. FX in 25:45. In the team competition, Dalhousie were the overall winners with St. FX in second and the University of New Brunswick in third. STU finished in eighth place.
Lars Schwarz was the top finisher for STU in 23rd place with a time of 27:53. “It was a pretty good race. Definitely a different course than what I was used to, which was interesting. It took the first two laps to get a feel for it,” said Schwarz. Team captain Ryan Terry was the next STU finisher in 30:18 in his final cross-country race as a Tommie. “I felt kind of sick leading up to the race and tired, however I feel confident in my fitness for track,” said Terry. “I am really proud of everyone for putting their best foot forward, despite the difficulty of the course and injuries. This year’s team is one of the strongest we’ve had, and I’ve seen a big improvement over the semester.”
Tristan Eisnor was the third STU athlete across the line in 34:17 to finish out his first year of cross country, showing promise for upcoming seasons with the team. Cameron Miller returned from a long injury to run 39:04, and Daniel Ghosn-Taimaine put in a solid effort to round out his season with a 43:10 time. First-year runner Alexander Gallant unfortunately had to withdraw from the race due to an injury.
“With only a short amount of time to work with some new runners, I’m happy with what our team accomplished this season,” says Tommies head coach Nicholas Larade. “Everyone made progress and I’m excited to see our runners keep growing as athletes as we head into track and next year.”
The indoor track season will commence for the Tommies with the Red and Black Open at the Irving Oil Field House in Saint John, NB on November 23rd.