LONDON, Ont. - The McMaster Marauders men's cross country team closed out the Ontario season on a high note, claiming the program's first conference banner since 2018. The Marauders competed at the 2022 OUA Championships this past Saturday in London, Ont. and secured the OUA title and gold after finishing atop the standings in the men's team competition. On the women's side, McMaster edged out the Western Mustangs by a single point to head back to Hamilton with the silver medal.
FULL RESULTS
After finishing first in all three of the Marauders' previous competitions this season, the McMaster men's cross country team had high expectations for the Championship and performed at peak level. The maroon and grey continued their dominance on the course, finishing with the first, second and third fastest times in the field, sweeping the individual podium in the process.
A two-time U SPORTS Male Cross Country Athlete of the Week, Max Turek (Whitby, Ont.), continued his fine form this season, crossing the finish line first to earn individual gold. The Whitby local has topped the podium twice previously this season at both the Vigars & Salter Western Invitational and the Marauder Bayfront Open. His time of 24:36 on the eight-kilometre course was a mere six seconds off the course record and helped earn McMaster its second straight individual OUA gold medal at the event. The mechatronics engineering and management student finished five seconds ahead of teammate and second-place finisher, Andrew Davies (Sarnia, Ont.), and 17 seconds clear of the closest non-McMaster runner.
This year's silver medalist, Davies averaged 3:06 per kilometre and finished eight seconds ahead of bronze medalist and teammate,
Alex Drover (Kingston, Ont.). A graduate student at McMaster, Drover showcased his veteran skill and maturity to ensure all three provincial medals went to Marauder runners.
Dylan Alick (Mississauga, Ont.) and
Sam Nusselder (Port Elgin, Ont.) rounded out the scoring runners for McMaster with times of 24:59 and 25:11.
David Marchant (Toronto, Ont.) and Christopher Hoftyzer (Brighton, Ont.) crossed the finish line in 32nd and 36th spot, respectively, to wrap up the finishes for the Marauders. McMaster claimed gold, clearing second place by an impressive 31 points in the team competition.
The maroon and grey saw all five scoring athletes finish in the top eight in a field of 102 competitors to claim the title and bring the banner back to Hamilton for the first time since 2018.
On the women's side, McMaster finished in second place, earning the silver medal at the OUA Championships. Rosalyn Barrett (Ottawa, Ont.) had an impressive race to finish on the podium in third spot, securing herself an individual medal.
Barrett led the way for the Marauders with a bronze medal time of 29:33, just one second back of second place and a stellar 14 seconds ahead of the next closest competitor. The third-year kinesiology student finished in seventh spot two weeks ago at the Marauder Bayfront Open and opened the season with a sixth place finish at the Thames Valley Golf Club. Teammate, Sarah Nolan (Toronto, Ont.) finished in the Top 10, recording her best performance of the season with a 3:48 per kilometre pace for a time of 30:24.
Veteran, Hannah Goodjohn (Mount Albert, Ont.), has been a staple for the Marauders this season and earned eleventh with a time of 30:29. Teammate Kaitlyn Treleaven (Hamilton, Ont.) was the next to cross the finish line in 21st spot. Emma Waddington (Hamilton, Ont.) recorded a time of 31:37 to round out the scorers for the maroon and grey. Kayla Overholt (Burlington, Ont.) and Morgan McKeown (Minesing, Ont.) were the final two runners for the Marauders, finishing in 30th and 44th, respectively. After finishing third and fourth as a team throughout the invitational season, McMaster recorded its best team finish of the year and returned to Hamilton with the OUA silver medal.
Similar to the men's team, the top half of the women's field of 92 competitors was full of maroon. Two Marauders made it into the top ten with Hannah Goodjohn's 30:29 good for eleventh place.
Next Up
The Marauders will now make final preparations for the U SPORTS Championships which will take place on Saturday November 12th in Halifax, N.S. McMaster will be joined by teams from coast to coast, all in search of the national title.
