The McMaster women's cross country team battled grueling conditions and came away with a bronze medal finish at the 2011 Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship.

Sarah Haliburton was the top individual finisher placing 18^th overall in a time of 19:00.2. Close behind Haliburton where Lindsday Carson in 20^th place and Victoria Coates in 23^rd.

The McMaster men placed sixth led by Graham Bowes in 21^st position. Cory McCury was also named the recipient of the Student Athlete Community Service Award.

The University of Guelph Gryphons resumed their domination at the CIS cross country championships on the snow-covered Plains of Abraham in Quebec City as they once again claimed both the women’s and men’s team banners, while Geneviève Lalonde and Andrew
Nixon won the individual gold medals, on Saturday afternoon.

It marked the seventh consecutive national title for the Guelph women and the sixth straight for their male teammates, both CIS records. The Gryphons have now captured 19 total team banners, also a CIS mark, six more than Victoria.

In the women’s five-kilometre event, the Gryphons placed five runners in the top 10 to finish with 31 points. Lalonde, who hails from Moncton, N.B., overtook Tamara Jewett of the Toronto Varsity Blues late in the race to cross the finish line in 18 minutes (18:00.04), seven seconds ahead of the Toronto native (18:07.09). Ellen Pennock of Calgary, running for the Victoria Vikes, rounded out the podium with a time of 18:14.02.

?The Gryphons did even better on the men’s side with five runners among the seven fastest, including a 1-2 finish, for a championship-low 20 points. After capturing the OUA title two weeks ago, Andrew Nixon of Burlington, Ont., won the 10km CIS race in 31:42.8, six seconds faster than teammate Alex Genest of Lac-aux-Sables, Que. (31:48.6). Matt Walters of North Bay, Ont., claimed bronze for the Windsor Lancers in 31:53.8.

In the team standings, Windsor placed second with 49 points, ahead of Victoria (82).

WOMEN’S RESULTS (5 km)

Team standings?
1. Guelph                           31 points
2. Victoria                          87
3. McMaster                       134
4. Saskatchewan                138
5. Western                         161
5. McGill                           161
7. StFx                               228
8. Laval                             236
9. Calgary                          249
10. Queens                        300
11. Windsor                       311
12. Dalhousie                    312
13. Toronto                        327
14. Sherbrooke                  369
15. Alberta                         371
16. Regina                         378
17. Manitoba                     392
18.Trinity Western             434
19.UQAM                          596
 
Individual honours
Athlete of the year: Geneviève Lalonde, Guelph
Rookie of the year: Ellen Pennock, Victoria
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Katherine Anker, Calgary
Coach of the year: Dave Scott-Thomas, Guelph
 
First All-Canadian team (top 7 finishers)
1. Genevieve Lalonde, Guelph, 18:00.4    
2. Tamara Jewett, Toronto, 18:07.9    
3. Ellen Pennock, Victoria, 18:14.2    
4. Carise Thompson, Guelph, 18:16.5    
5. Stephanie Trenholm, Victoria, 18:18.2    
6. Catherine Cormier, Laval, 18:25.9    
7. Lydia Frost, Guelph, 18:29.5 
 
Second All-Canadian team (finishers 8-14)
8. Jen Bays, Western, 18:31.4    
9. Lindsay Furtado, Guelph, 18:37.5    
10. Andrea Secaffien, Guelph, 18:39.7    
11. Nadine Frost, Guelph, 18:40.4    
12. Laura Mitic, Victoria, 18:40.5    
13. Jodi Souter, Saskatchewan, 18:47.0    
14. Joanna Brown, Guelph, 18:47.3
 
MEN’S RESULTS (10 km)
 
Team standings
1. Guelph                           20 points
2. Windsor                         49
3. Victoria                          82
4. Queen’s                         97
5. Laval                             176
6. McMaster                       204
7. Toronto                          206
8. Calgary                          219
9. StFx                               224
10. Regina                         255
11. Alberta                         288
12. Manitoba                     345
13. Sherbrooke                  385
14. Saskatchewan              391
15. Laurier                         415
16. Trinity Western            443
17. UQAM                         506
 
Individual honours
Athlete of the year: Andrew Nixon, Guelph
Rookie of the year: Aaron Hendrikx, Guelph
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Cory McCurry, McMaster
Coach of the year: Dave Scott-Thomas, Guelph
 
First All-Canadian team (top 7 finishers)
1. Andrew Nixon, Guelph, 31:42.8    
2. Alex Genest, Guelph, 31:48.6    
3. Matt Walters, Windsor, 31:53.8    
4. Ross Proudfoot, Guelph, 31:59.1    
5. Paul Janikowski, Windsor, 32:12.5    
6. Aaron Hendrikx, Guelph, 32:15.4    
7. Allan Brett, Guelph, 32:22.6
 
Second All-Canadian team (finishers 8-14)
8. Dylan Haight, Victoria, 32:30.3    
9. Cliff Childs, Victoria, 32:32.0    
10. Jeff Archer, Queens, 32:36.6    
11. Kyle O'Neill, Western, 32:46.2    
12. Anthony Berkis, Windsor, 32:46.9    
13. Andrew deGroot, Windsor, 32:51.6    
14. Ryan Armstrong, Western, 32:54.0