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Men's cross country earn bronze medal at OCAA Championships; women place fourth

Photo credit: Satbir Singh
Photo credit: Satbir Singh
Posted: Oct 31, 2021

By: Satbir Singh
Sports Information Coordinator

Mountaineers cross country is heading to Calgary for the CCAA Championships.

The men's team qualified for nationals following a bronze medal finish at the OCAA Championships as four runners placed in the top 20.

On the women's side, Mohawk finished fourth in the OCAA Championships and three Mountaineers were able to qualify for nationals as individuals. 

Head coach David Hopton recognized the growth of his young team over the last couple months, particularly with all but one athlete being in their first year racing.

"We had athletes who weren't really training much in the summer, so for them to come in and make big improvements in two months, that was really great to see," Hopton said.

Jacob Chant led the Mountaineers men's team, placing 13th with a time of 29:53. Teammates Matias Tessel (30:00) and Will Summers (30:05) followed right behind, finishing 14th and 15th, respectively.

Ben Yalin joined his teammates in the top half of the standings with a 31:04 time for 20th place. Gordon McGinn (32:15) placed 26th and Riley Hambly (33:16) finished 32nd.

Hopton highlighted Yalin as a key piece to the program. The first-year from Scarborough has a judo background and made the switch to running just prior to this season starting.

"If you take him out of the equation, we're a lot closer to a fourth place finish," Hopton said. "For him to come in and change sports and be such a strong runner right off the bat was instrumental for our success."

Chant and Tessel were named to the OCAA All-Ontario Second-Team.

For the women, Annie Sterenberg (26:56) finished sixth place, Ashley Lof (27:03) placed ninth, Stefania Salzer (28:04) came in 20th place, Niki Ann Brideau (29:25) placed 33rd and Anika Gatto (31:44) finished 43rd.

Sterenberg, Lof and Salzer all qualified for the CCAA Championships.

On top of that, Sterenberg was named to the OCAA All-Ontario First Team and Lof was honoured with a spot on the OCAA All-Ontario Second-team.

"The women really blew us away," Hopton said. "I think they had the race they needed to have to get on the podium. It was just that the women on the other teams had great days as well."

The Mountaineers will compete in the CCAA Championships on Nov. 13 in Calgary.