Top runners in the province gathered in Kingston today as the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Cross Country Championship ran at Fort Henry National Historic Site, hosted by St. Lawrence College. In the team competitions, the Humber Hawks and Fanshawe Falcons ran to championship gold, while David Sharratt of the Conestoga Condors and Ingrid Golemiec-Stover of the St. Lawrence Vikings won the individual provincial titles.

In the team competition, the Fanshawe Falcons (London) men’s team soared to their second team title in three years edging out the Conestoga Condors (Kitchener) by a single point. The Falcon squad was made up of John Mason, Sean Cunningham, Casey Kulchycki and Chris Willits. The team win marks Fanshawe’s seventh overall men’s title, the most by any college in the last 25 years. The second place finish for Conestoga is their first OCAA medal in the men’s team event. The defending champion Humber Hawks finished in third place, picking up the bronze medal.

On the women’s side, the Humber Hawks (Etobicoke) won their second consecutive provincial title with three team members finishing in the top five in the 5K race. The team was made up of Lisa Lee, Cynthia Black and Amanda Pryde finishing second, fourth and fifth respectively. This season marks only third year that Humber College has fielded a cross country running program. The host St. Lawrence Vikings (Kingston) ran well on their home track picking up a silver medal. The Redeemer Royals (Ancaster) finished in third, winning their fourth bronze medal in five years at the event.

After a strong invitational season, Ingrid Golemiec-Stover of the St. Lawrence Vikings won the 5K women’s race. Golemiec-Stover ran with a time 20:08, 18 seconds ahead of Lisa Lee of Humber (2006 defending champion) who came in at second with a time of 20:26. Leading the race at the midway point by only three seconds, Golemiec-Stover kicked it into overdrive finishing the last 2.5 km with some urgency, managing to hold off the strong competition. Mohawk College’s (Hamilton) only runner in the race, Charlene Gibbons, finished in third place picking up the bronze medal. Gibbons did well to hold off teammates Cynthia Black and Amanda Pryde of Humber who finished in fourth and fifth respectively.

In the men’s individual 8K race, David Sharratt won Conestoga’s first ever OCAA individual title in cross country running with a time of 27:05. Sharratt came into the provincial meet on a hot streak, finishing first and second at the final two OCAA invitational races of the season. Nelson Ndereva Njeru of the George Brown Huskies (Toronto) made his OCAA debut and did extremely well finishing in second place with a time of 27:28, just ahead of the 2006 defending champion Martin Labute of St. Clair. Labute won his second consecutive medal at the championship with a time of 27:28.

The course at Fort Henry was highly praised by all of the participants as was the St. Lawrence College hosting committee. The course is highly regarded by competitive cross country runners around the world as it will be the site for the 2010 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Cross Country Championship.

Runners will now advance to the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) National Open Championship which is being held from November 9-10 at Grand Prairie Regional College in Alberta. The top seven men and women make up the OCAA Conference Team at the nationals.

FINAL RESULTS:

Women Individual – 5K
1. Ingrid Golemiec-Stover, St. Lawrence (20:08)
2. Lisa Lee, Humber (20:26)
3. Charlene Gibbons, Mohawk (20:32)
4. Cynthia Black, Humber (20:36)
5. Amanda Pryde, Humber (20:55)
6. Amy Crawford, Cambrian (21:00)
7. Glenna Fraumeni, George Brown (21:11)

Women Team
Gold – Humber College, 11 points
Silver – St. Lawrence College, 26 points
Bronze – Redeemer University College, 44 points

Men Individual – 8K
1. David Sharratt, Conestoga (27:05)
2. Nelson Ndereva Njeru, George Brown (27:20)
3. Martin Labute, St. Clair (27:28)
4. John Mason, Fanshawe (28:03)
5. Drew Jensen, Conestoga (28:22)
6. Mike Scipio, Humber (28:31)
7. Josh Bjold, Cambrian (28:43)

Men Team
Gold – Fanshawe College – 49 points
Silver – Conestoga College – 50 points
Bronze – Humber College – 57 points

Top Overall Team
Humber College

The OCAA governs intercollegiate sports and promotes physical activity in its member institutions through quality athletic and campus recreation programs. It offers 15 varsity sports to 30 member institutions throughout Ontario. For more information on the OCAA visit www.ocaa.com.