(King City, Ontario) – The St. Clair College Men’s Cross Country team will bring home its first ever Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship Gold Medal after besting the field at Seneca College’s King City campus Saturday afternoon. This puts a stamp on a remarkable season for the Saints who went undefeated in all five competitions they entered which includes three Invitational Meets, the OCAA Provincial’s and capping it with a National title. The St. Clair Men were ranked #2 coming into the event but finished 12 points ahead of #1 ranked Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (Calgary, AB). Snow at the starting gun made visibility low which combined with blustery winds for a true test of cross country. Recent rains in the GTA made for slippery course conditions which put more than a few runners to the ground.
The Saints were led by 2nd year runner Tyler Jones (Lasalle, ON/Sandwich) who finished in 10th place in a time of 28:41 over the very difficult 8km hilly trail course. As a result of the finish Jones received his second All-Canadian Award at the Championship Banquet later in the evening. Andre Tomasian (Amherstburg, ON/St. Thomas of Villanova) finished in 13th position in a time of 29:07 and was followed quickly by Thador Tekhli (Chatham, ON) and Rick Nepomuceno (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) in 15th (29:11) and 16th (29:11) positions which rounded out the scoring runners for St. Clair. Other Saints finishers were Tyler Tofflemire (Amherstburg, ON/St. Thomas of Villanova) who was 77th in a time of 31:44 and Jack Porter (Windsor, ON/Riverside) who was 80th in a time of 31:57. 119 runners comprised the field in the Men’s race.
The St. Clair Women’s team place 14th out of 18 colleges and were led by Jessica Hodgkin (Lasalle, ON/Sandwich) who completed the 6km course in a time of 27:17 for 65th place. Nicole Desrosiers-Michienzi (Essex, ON/Essex District) was 80th in a time of 28:05 with Beth Horrobin (Wallaceburg, ON) right behind in 81st position in a time of 28:09. Sisters Aryana Cirino (Lasalle, ON/St. Thomas of Villanova) and Hannah Cirino (Lasalle, ON/St. Thomas of Villanova) ran their final collegiate races in 28:42 (89th Place) and 29:26 (97th Place) respectively with Samantha Boussey (Amherstburg, ON/St. Thomas of Villanova) rounding out the Saints runners in 105th Place in a time of 29:48. There were 117 runners in the field for the Women’s race.