Maddy McDonald reached the podium, and both McMaster teams finished third, as the Marauder cross country teams fielded their strongest units of the season at the AUS-RSEQ Interlock on Saturday.

McMaster and conference rivals Queen's took part in the event bringing together the top teams from Quebec and the Maritimes, in the Marauders' final tuneup before hosting the OUA Championships on October 26.

McDonald enjoyed her best result of the season on Saturday, finishing third in the women's six-kilometre race with a time of 21:22 to score first for McMaster. Veteran Courtney Patterson was the second Marauder to cross the line, finishing 11th in 22:21.

Rookies Emily Nowak and Megan Beverley finished in quick succession, crossing the line 25th and 27th respectively, to score third and fourth for McMaster. Raquel Burgess (30th), Chelsea Mackinnon (36th) and Phoebe Cseresnyes (41st) rounded out the Marauders' scorers.

McMaster's women were without their third runner, former Western Mustang Kierstin Myers.

The Marauder men, meanwhile, earned third place as a team despite the absences of top runner Lionel Sanders and top-seven candidate Austen Forbes.

Second-year Connor Darlington scored first for McMaster by finishing the men's eight-kilometre event in 24:53 and crossing the line fifth. Two more Marauders cracked the race's top ten, as Taylor Reid and Blair Morgan crossed the line together in ninth and tenth respectively.

Coach Rory Sneyd singled out Morgan for particular praise, calling his performance "exceptional".

Taylor Forbes (20th) and Gabe Ghiglione (22nd) finished inside the top 25, while Luke Charbonneau (31st) and Jeramie Lai (35th) rounded out the top seven for McMaster.

The Marauders now have two weeks of training ahead, before hosting the OUA Championships on October 26.