CALEDON, Ont. - The St. Clair College cross country teams both won a silver medal at the OCAA provincial championships hosted by Humber College on a soggy Saturday afternoon in Caledon, Ont., at Albion Hills Conservation Area, punching their tickets to the Canadian championship in a few weeks.
The Saints women were just six points from the gold medal position and were led by rookie Melody Knight (Tecumseh, Ont./Tecumseh Vista) who was named an OCAA All-Ontario First-Team selection after finishing seventh in a time of 27:02 over the six kilometre course in a field of 47 runners. Mya Palumbo (Amherstburg, Ont./General Amherst) was right behind in eighth place with a time of 27:03 followed by Lily Pattinson (Windsor, Ont./Riverside) in 14th position (27:24). Palumbo and Pattinson were both named an All-Ontario Second-Team member for their efforts. Hailey Jones (Windsor, Ont./Vincent Massey) was 17th in a time of 27:34 while Natasha Atherton (Windsor, Ont./Holy Names) finished 30th (28:54) and Samantha Marchenkowsky (Windsor, Ont./Massey) was 41st (31:35) for St. Clair.
St. Clair was just four points shy of the top team in the men's race spot despite having all four scoring runners in the top 10 over the eight kilometre course. Tyler Jones (LaSalle, Ont./Sandwich) became only the second two-time OCAA individual medalist in Saints' cross country history after duplicating his 2017 effort with a silver performance in a time of 26:33 and was just 15 seconds from the top spot. OCAA Rookie of the Year award winner Jacob Fitzpatrick (Tecumseh, Ont./Tecumseh Vista) ran to a fourth place finish in a time of 26:59 for St. Clair with Rick Nepomuceno (Windsor, Ont./Holy Names) not far behind in fifth place clocking in at 27:10. All three were named All-Ontario First-Team selections after finishing top seven in a field of 58 runners.
Matt Lafleur (Kingsville, Ont./Kingsville District) became an All-Ontario Second-Team member after crossing the line in 10th place with a time of 29:50 despite falling twice in the wet conditions. Other finishers for the Saints were John Riley (St. Catharines) in 22nd place (31:14) and Mitch Haggart (Kingsville, Ont./Kingsville District) in 35th position (33:49).
Both the St. Clair men's and women's team have qualified for the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Cross-Country Running National Championships being hosted St. Mary's University in Calgary, Alta. on Nov. 13.
Source: St. Clair Saints