KING CITY, Ont. - Mother Nature cooperated for the third annual Sting Invitational cross country running meet at Seneca College's King Campus.
In what was forecasted to be a rainy, cool day with high wind gusts, Saturday's runners couldn't have asked for better weather.
As start time approached for the women's race, the sky cleared, the rain stopped and out came the sun, raising the temperature to a manageable 13 degrees Celsius.
Aside from a course which featured wet grass and muddy paths through the bush at the scenic King Campus, students, coaches and race organizers went away happy. The meet served as much a competition as a trial run in anticipation of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association championships held on the same course in exactly three weeks.
The big winners on the day were Humber Hawks, who captured both team titles for the second consecutive year and the women's individual, as well as Fleming's Riley Hubbard-Olesky, who won the Sting Invitational for the second consecutive year.
In the women's race, Seneca's Karina Van Andel showed off her home course advantage in the early going, sprinting to a lead in anticipation of the course's first obstacle 200 metres from the start line. The obstacle came in the form of a narrow four foot opening into the bush following a start which began in an open grass area.
Humber's Lindsay Webster quickly overcame the early deficit and coasted to victory in 20:58, more than a minute faster than the next closest competitor. Nicole Bernardi (Fanshawe) finished in second followed by Loyalist's Ashley Bickle.
The Hawks won the women's team competition thanks to placing four runners in the top seven overall. Redeemer finished in second place, being led by Andrianna So (eighth) while George Brown rounded out the top three with Joanita Louw (ninth) leading the Huskies. In fourth place was Fleming College followed by the Mohawk Mountaineers in fifth.
In the men's race, Hubbard-Olesky fought off a number of challengers to win by four seconds. Rob Asselstine (St. Lawrence-Kingston) finished in second place while Fanshawe's Seth Marcaccio completed the course just six seconds slower than the race winner. Humber's Daniel Bright held the lead on the third lap, but finished in fourth spot.
The men's team competition was once again won by the Humber Hawks who narrowly defeated Fanshawe by one point. The Falcons did have a better average time and quicker total time, but lost on points 38-39 (lower point total wins). The Hawks and Falcons were paced by Bright and Marcaccio respectively while the third place Fleming Knights were led by Hubbard-Olesky. George Brown finished fourth while the host Seneca Sting finished in fifth.
The 2014 OCAA Cross Country Championships will take place on
Saturday, Oct. 25 at Seneca College. The 2014 CCAA championship
will be contested Nov. 8 at SAIT Polytechnic.
Photos from the races can be found at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.965200283505845.1073741995.174399265919288&type=1.
Women's Individual
1st - Lindsay Webster (Humber) 20:58
2nd - Nicole Bernardi (Fanshawe) 22:04
3rd - Ashley Bickle (Loyalist) 22:19
Women's Team
1st - Humber Hawks 1:29:36
2nd - Redeemer Royals 1:37:17
3rd - George Brown Huskies 1:38:54
Men's Individual
1st - Riley Hubbard-Olesky (Fleming) 28:42
2nd - Rob Asselstine (St. Lawrence-K) 28:46
3rd - Seth Maraccio (Fanshawe) 28:48
Men's Team
1st - Humber Hawks 1:59:44
2nd - Fanshawe Falcons 1:59:25
3rd - Fleming Knights 2:07:00
Source: Seneca College