Bhutani Paces Tommies at AUS Championships
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. Nine women’s teams participated in the 8km race on a rolling grass course in perfect weather conditions, with five athletes representing the St. Thomas University Tommies.
Jade Roberts of the Memorial University Sea Hawks was the overall women’s winner in a time of 30:23, followed by Jane Hergett of St. Francis Xavier University in 30:43, and Catherine Thompson of Dalhousie University in 30:51. In the team competition, Dalhousie were the overall winners with St. FX in second and Memorial in third. STU finished in eighth place.
Priya Bhutani was the top finisher for STU at 33rd place in 34:58, running a strong race and passing several athletes in the final lap. “It was definitely a tough course but felt good overall,” said Bhutani. Team captain Jensen Elliott was the next STU finisher in 39:21 in her final cross-country race as a Tommie. “I felt great about my race. I mean, it didn’t go quite as well as hoped but I am going to use it as an opportunity to learn and grow as a runner for the upcoming track season and the future,” said Elliot. “The athletes put in a lot of hard work, time, and effort into this season’s training and it shows. I am incredibly proud, and they should be too. I can’t wait to see where it takes us on the track.”
Jessica Kenny was the third STU athlete across the line in 42:33 to finish out her first season, having steadily picked off several other runners throughout the race. Alaina Mejia in 52:43 and Julia MacDonald in 52:45 worked together as a team to put in a successful run to end the 2019 cross country season.
“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.