TORONTO - In Scarborough, Ont., on Saturday, the Fanshawe Falcons cross country teams competed in the OCAA provincial championships hosted by Centennial College. In the women's six kilometre race, Janelle Hanna (Peterborough, Ont.) captured the OCAA individual women's gold medal with a time of 23:44, leading the Fanshawe women's team to a second consecutive provincial championship. Hanna's first place finish gave her back-to-back individual titles as she entered the race as the reigning champion.

In the women's team competition, Fanshawe collected 26 points, less than half of that of second place Humber (83 points) to win the OCAA banner. Along with Hanna, Sammi-Jo Burch (Strathroy, Ont.), Rachyl MacPhail (Sydney River, N.S.) and Hannah Carley (Newmarket, Ont.) all contributed to the Fanshawe team championship. Burch finished in fourth place (24:10), MacPhail eighth (24:35) and Carley 13th (25:39). Hanna and Burch were named to the Women's All-Ontario First Team, while teammates MacPhail and Carley were named to the All-Ontario Second Team.

In the men's eight kilometre race, Fanshawe finished second in the team event. The top runner for the Falcons was Luke Groulx (Blind River, Ont.) with a time of 27:51, good for eighth place. Rookie Justin Verburg (Kent Bridge, Ont.) had a 12th place finish in his first year with a time of 28:16. Along with Groulx and Verburg, Kyle Luyt (St. Thomas, Ont.) and John Berthelot (Blind River, Ont.) contributed to Fanshawe's OCAA silver medal. Groulx and Verburg were named to the All-Ontario Second Team.

On Nov. 10, Fanshawe will compete in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Cross Country National Championships in King City, Ont., hosted by Seneca College. The Falcons women's team is ranked No. 4 in the CCAA, while the men's team is ranked No. 9.

Source: Fanshawe Falcons