Banner Season: Gaels Golden at OUA Cross Country Championships
Kingston, Ont. (via the Queen’s Gaels) - Queen’s Cross Country swept the OUA Cross Country Championships with team wins in both the Women’s and Men’s race at their home course on Fort Henry in Kingston, Ont.
In the Women’s race, Queen’s captured the team gold with 70 points, followed by the Windsor Lancers, also with 70 points (Queen’s won the tiebreaker with a higher sixth place finisher), and the Western Mustangs, capturing the bronze with 71 points.
The Gaels finished with 50 points in the Men’s race to capture gold, followed by the Guelph Gryphons with 69 points and the McMaster Marauders with 80 points.
“To have our athletes come here and perform in front of their friends, their family, the alumni, Queen’s administration … for us to be able to do this here and have both teams win, it’s fantastic,” said Queen’s Cross Country Head Coach Mark Bomba.
The Gryphon’s Alexandre MacDougall captured the individual gold in the Women’s race while the Gaels’ Jude Wheeler-Dee captured the individual gold in the Men’s race.
Women’s Race
The Guelph Gryphons’ Alexandra MacDougall took a commanding lead early in the race and wouldn’t look back, holding on for a big win, crossing the finish line with a time of 26:50.5 to grab the individual gold medal. MacDougall was 49 seconds ahead of the field in the big win.
“It feels great to win. I think this season has definitely not played out to what I expected coming into this season. I’ve never really been in a position like this before. But after my first race at Western, when I took the race from the gun, I think it’s sort of been my style and how I like to come into races this season. For it to work out again today, I was really pleased. Super happy with the outcome,” MacDougall said.
Julia Agostinelli of the Toronto Varsity Blues earned the silver medal, crossing the finish line in second place with a final time of 27:39.2. The podium was rounded out by the Windsor Lancers’ Samara Quanz, finishing the 8KM race with a final time of 27:46.4.
Rounding out the Top 7 and earning OUA First Team All-Star honours were Maria Linton and Sophie Coutts of the Western Mustangs, and Elizabeth Vroom and Hannah Goodjohn of the Queen’s Gaels.
The Gaels won the Team medal with a final score of 70 points. The Windsor Lancers earned the silver medal, also finishing the team race with a combined 70 points. Queen’s won the tiebreaker with a higher sixth place finisher. And the Western Mustangs earned the bronze medal, coming in third in the team race with a combined 71 points, just one point behind the gold and silver medal winning teams.
“I was really excited,” the Gaels’ top finisher, Elizabeth Vroom said about finding out the team won. “I saw everyone running towards the group and I was like, ‘what’s happening?’ And then someone screamed, ‘we won!’ and everyone was jumping up and down screaming. It was a really good moment.”
Student-Athlete Community Service Award - Sarah White, Toronto Varsity Blues
Coach of the Year - Mark Bomba, Queen’s Gaels
OUA Women’s Runner of the Year: Alexandra MacDougall Guelph Gryphons 26:50.5
OUA Women’s Rookie of the Year: Madison McDermott Queen’s Gaels 28:49.0 (17th)
OUA First Team All-Stars
Alexandra MacDougall Guelph Gryphons 26:50.5
Julia Agostinelli Toronto Varsity Blues 27:39.2
Samara Quanz Windsor Lancers 27:46.4
Maria Linton Western Mustangs 27:50.5
Sophie Coutts Western Mustangs 28:05.8
Elizabeth Vroom Queen’s Gaels 28:11.8
Hannah Goodjohn Queen’s Gaels 28:18.2
OUA Second Team All-Stars
Joelle Olla Windsor Lancers 28:19.3
Lauren Macsai Brock Badgers 28:20.2
Natalie Fortier Windsor Lancers 28:20.2
Paige Breedon Waterloo Warriors 28:23.1
Michelle Gray Guelph Gryphons 28:28.3
Victoria Lamb Western Mustangs 28:32.1
Caleigh Pribaz Queen’s Gaels 28:34.3
Team Results
Queen’s Gaels 70 points
Windsor Lancers 70 points
Western Mustangs 71 points
Guelph Gryphons 85 points
McMaster Marauders 107 points
Toronto Varsity Blues 161 points
Brock Badgers 183 points
Waterloo Warriors 220 points
Laurier Golden Hawks 276 points
York Lions 305 points
Laurentian Voyageurs 319 points
Ottawa Gee-Gees 326 points
Lakehead Thunderwolves 378 points
Men’s Race
Jude Wheeler-Dee of the host Queen’s Gaels earned the individual gold medal with a final time of 23:26.7 in the 8 KM race. Wheeler-Dee was with the lead pack for the first three laps of the four-lap course before pulling ahead and cruising to victory, six seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
“It feels good. It’s nice for us at the moment to know we’re in a good spot going into the next two weeks. The goals are set for U SPORTS, so it’s nice to take care of business today and a little bit of confidence going into the next race,” said Wheeler-Dee about the Gaels’ team win.
“This year is special because it is my final year,” Wheeler-Dee said about his individual win. “It is taking care of business but it’s also taking it all in. This is my last go-around so trying to soak in every race we do, every workout. Everything is special.”
The Guelph Gryphons’ Max Davies earned the silver medal, crossing the finish line with a final time of 23:32.3, while teammate Jack Lehto picked up the bronze medal with a time of 23:38.3.
Rounding out the OUA First Team All-Stars were Iain Thomson of the McMaster Marauders in fourth place, Jacob Fitzpatrick and Noah Costa of the Windsor Lancers in fifth and sixth place, and Roman Mironov of the Gaels in seventh.
Queen’s won the overall team medal with a combined score of 50 points, followed by Guelph earning the silver medal with 69 points, and McMaster earning the bronze with 80 points.
OUA Men’s Runner of the Year: Jude Wheeler-Dee Queen’s Gaels 23:26.7
OUA Men’s Rookie of the Year: James Wheeler Windsor Lancers 24:58.2 (30th)
OUA First Team All-Stars
Jude Wheeler-Dee Queen’s Gaels 23:26.7
Max Davies Guelph Gryphons 23:32.3
Jack Lehto Guelph Gryphons 23:38.3
Iain Thomson McMaster Marauders 23:40.1
Jacob Fitzpatrick Windsor Lancers 23:51.5
Noah Costa Windsor Lancers 23:55.2
Roman Mironov Queen’s Gaels 23:55.3
OUA Second Team All-Stars
Christian Rachner Guelph Gryphons 23:59.9
Tanner Hueglin Queen’s Gaels 24:00.5
Samuel Patrick McMaster Marauders 24:01.4
Liam Smith Western Mustangs 24:12.6
Jett Dobson Lakehead Thunderwolves 24:13.6
Angus Skinner Queen’s Gaels 24:23.3
Robin Faricier Western Mustangs 24:30.9
Team Results
Queen’s Gaels 50 points
Guelph Gryphons 69 points
McMaster Marauders 80 points
Windsor Lancers 99 points
Western Mustangs 109 points
Lakehead Thunderwolves 185 points
Toronto Varsity Blues 189 points
Brock Badgers 258 points
Waterloo Warriors 264 points
Laurentian Voyageurs 266 points
Ottawa Gee-Gees 285 points
Laurier Golden Hawks 342 points
York Lions 408 points
Nipissing Lakers 415 points