The Marauder men's cross country team sent a strong message on Saturday, winning their opening meet of the 2014 season at the Western International, with four scorers inside the top 10 at the Thames Valley Golf and Country Club in London.
Blair Morgan was McMaster's low stick on the afternoon, finishing fourth, and Austen Forbes enjoyed his best result as a Marauder while scoring second for his team and seventh overall. Gabe Ghiglione (ninth), Paul Rochus (10th) and Peter Kolb (14th) completed the scoring for the Marauders, who outpaced their nearest competitors, the Windsor Lancers, by 31 points.
Saturday's result was not only the McMaster men's first win at the long-running Western International, but their first appearance on the podium. McMaster has competed at the event in all but two years since 1986.
It was McMaster's first race since completing a landmark season in 2013, in which the Marauder men achieved their highest overall score at the CIS Championships in a decade and missed the podium by a single place.
Veterans Connor Darlington and Taylor Forbes were held out of competition, as they continue to recover from extended summer seasons on the track. Both men are targeting returns on October 11th, when the Marauders compete at Queen's.
Rookie Frank Sorbara is likely to appear this weekend, when McMaster travels to Windsor on Saturday, while fellow first-year Keaton Smee is scheduled to debut a week later in Waterloo.
The Marauder women also climbed the podium on Saturday, as Maddy McDonald led the team to a bronze medal with a fourth-place finish. Kierstin Myers (24th), Maddy Benjamin (25th), Erin Mawhinney (28th) and Gabrielle Foran (30th) completed the scoring for McMaster.
It was the sixth podium position that the McMaster women have achieved at the Western International, having won the event outright on two occasions (2010 and 2012).
The Marauders were weakened by the absences of Phoebe Cseresnyes, due to an illness, and Megan Beverley, who McMaster's coaching staff expects to enter competition in early October. She will target a return for either the Waterloo (October 4) or Queen's (October 11) events.
McMaster continues its OUA schedule on Saturday, September 27, when the Marauders travel to Windsor.
MEN'S RESULTSWOMEN'S RESULTSMEN'S HISTORY AT WESTERN INTERNATIONALWOMEN'S HISTORY AT WESTERN INTERNATIONAL
