Seneca College hosted the first Seneca College King Invitational this morning on a difficult course in perfect running conditions. The course challenged runners with altering terrain along with bends and turns everywhere you looked. The race helped produce personal bests for many of the runners leaving runners with a positive feeling as they left the inaugural event hosted by Canada's largest College.

Jocelyn Fry (Fanshawe) continued her winning ways this season with a 19-second victory over Rebecca Jaros (St. Lawrence-K). It was Fry's third win in as many invitationals this season.

At the end of the first lap on the 2.5 km track, Fry, Jaros and Seguin (George Brown) were all grouped together with a handful of runners not far behind. Fry pulled away in the second lap and sprinted to victory in a time of 18:19 in the 5 km. Fry's pace time was 3:40 per kilometer.

On the men's side, it was an all-Fanshawe podium as the Falcons swept the top three spots. Clint Smith and Josh Lumani tied for the best time at 24:44 in the 8 km race. Teammate Daniel Bright came in at 25:15 to round out the top three.

At the end of the first lap, Smith, Lumani and Bright had separated themselves from the pack while Riley Olesky (Fleming) and Brandon Graham (Fanshawe) led the next group of runners.

In the team competition, Redeemer won the women's side with an average time of 20:11. What was most impressive is the fact that they did not have a runner in the top six overall. Fanshawe and Seneca (led by Steph Braithwaite - fifth) rounded out the top three teams. On the men's side, Fanshawe finished first followed by Fleming and Mohawk.

The loudest cheers of the day came during the women's race, but not for the leaders. Fans, competitors and coaches applauded as Sarah Hargraves crossed the line for Fanshawe.  Hargraves is visually impaired and ran alongside a guide runner.

The next invitational will be hosted by Humber on October 13.

Source: Seneca College