In the final race prior to the OCAA Championships, the Mohawk Mountaineers saw a double-podium finish.

Participating in the Centennial Invitational, both the Mountaineer women and men finished third place. It was the first podium finish for the men this season, while it was the third consecutive third-place finish for the women.

"Getting a double-podium in the final race before OCAAs is a huge confidence boost," said head coach David Hopton.

The women's race was extremely close, with only four points separating the second and fifth-place teams. Mohawk finished two-points out of second, putting them in the hunt for a silver or bronze at the provincial championships.

Ava Snyder (Burlington, ON) continues to lead the Mountaineers women's team as she placed seventh overall. Ashley Lof (Beamsville, ON) wasn't far behind with a 13^th place finish. Stefania Salzer (Hamilton, ON) placed 19^th, Brooklyn Skoog (Brantford, ON) finished 29^th and Emily Chant placed 32^nd (Waterdown, ON).

"Stefania really executed well today and put herself up near the front of the race, which is exactly what we needed from her," Hopton said.

He also credited Chant, who joined the team last winter and has been training with the team all year.

"We tied with St. Clair for 61 points and the fifth runner was the tiebreak," Hopton said. "Emily adding that depth to give us the nod in the tiebreak was a really special moment."

The Mountaineers men's team has continued to improve each race this season.

"A podium finish at OCAAs would be a huge feat and that's the goal," Hopton said. "If we can get our top four guys in the top-25 so we have a team who can score at Nationals, that would be a big accomplishment."

Matias Tessel (Guelph, ON) continued to perform at a high-level with an 11^th place finish, while teammate Will Summers (Hamilton, ON) came in at 16^th. Cody Beggs (Belmont, ON) placed 21^st, Tyler Karl (Collingwood, ON) finished 25^th, Gary McGuinness placed 39^th and Antonio Fricano (Ancaster, ON) placed 50^th.

"Matias raced tactically smart, and did everything in his power to get the boys back on the podium for the first time in 2022," Hopton said. "He does a ton of work off the race course to help this team be podium relevant, so it was special to see that hard work pay off today."

The Mountaineers will participate in the OCAA Championships in two weeks time on Oct. 29 at the Lappe Nordic Centre in Kaministiquia, ON.