Lucia Stafford, Toronto, Cross Country

University of Toronto rookie runner Lucia Stafford (Toronto, Ont.) has been named the Investors Group OUA Athlete of the Week after winning the Western International Invitational on Saturday.

Stafford, a first-year engineering student-athlete, crossed the line in a time of 17:04.5, finishing almost a full five seconds ahead of Guelph's Katelyn Ayers.

Thanks to a strong individual performance from Stafford, the Varsity Blues finished in second-place in the team competition, just 21 points behind the 11-time OUA champion Guelph Gryphons.

The Stafford name is familiar to those in the OUA running community as it was Lucia’s older sister Gabriela Stafford who won the individual title at last year’s cross country championship and represented Canada in the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Next up, Lucia and her Varsity Blues teammates will travel to Kentucky for the Greater Louisville Classic.