The 2021 Subway Atlantic University Sport Cross Country Championships, presented by Bell, took place Saturday October 30th in Moncton, NB, hosted by the Université of Moncton. Nine university teams participated in the 8km race on a mostly flat grass course with lots of switchbacks in perfect weather conditions, with four athletes representing the St. Thomas University Tommies men’s team.
In the women’s race, Siona Chisholm of St. Francis Xavier University won in 29:19, with Kelsey Hogan of Dalhousie University in second at 30:37, and Paige Chisholm of the University of Prince Edward Island in 30:41 for third place. St. FX won the women’s team competition, followed by Dalhouse, and the University of New Brunswick.
Andrew Peverill of the Saint Mary’s University Huskies was the overall men’s winner in a time of 25:22, followed by Jacob Benoit of St. FX in 25:30, and Will Cox of Dalhousie University in 25:53. In the team competition, Dalhousie was the overall winners with St. FX in second and the University of New Brunswick in third.
Team captain, Lars Schwarz (Fredericton, NB), was the top finisher for STU in 31st place with a time of 29:15. “I thought it was a good race. I felt more like myself than I did at the past race [at UNB]. I was happy with my result considering the strange season and past few years,” said Schwarz.
Ethan Nylen was the second STU athlete across the line in 32:48 to finish out his first year of cross country, showing promise for upcoming seasons with the team. Third year Tristan Eisnor returned from a long injury to run 35:46 and Jonathan DesRoches unfortunately had to withdraw from the race due to an injury. Schwarz was optimistic about the future of the team, stating “Both Jonathan and Tristan had recent injuries but still wanted to run and represent the school. Ethan has been working hard the past few weeks, and it shows. He had a great race, especially considering it was only his second University race. I'm excited to see where he is next year.”
“We had a challenging off-season and lead up to the Championship,” says Tommies’ head coach Nicholas Larade. “We hope to continue building the team throughout track competitions and the summer to improve for next season.”
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 20th.