CAMBRIDGE, Ont. - Fanshawe College's Katie Rice (Ingersoll) and Sheridan College's Paulo Amotun Lokoro (Mississauga) successfully defended their respective individual gold medals at the 2023 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

The event was hosted by Conestoga College at Shade's Mills Conservation Area in Cambridge, Ont. Fifty-three runners crossed the finish line in the women's six kilometre race, while 80 completed the men's eight kilometre run.

Rice won the women's race in a time of 23:28.6, just over 17 seconds ahead of silver medalist Jaime Kovacic (Thunder Bay) of Confederation College. Annie Sterenberg (Vineland) of Mohawk College won the bronze medal in a time of 23:56.8. Rice is the first repeat winner in the women's race since Fanshawe's Janelle Hanna in 2018, and only the sixth ever to do so.

Lokoro won in a time of 25:09.4, nearly 44 seconds ahead of runner-up Ethan Roche (London) of Fanshawe. Mohawk's Sage Sulentic (Dundas) took the bronze medal position in a time of 25:53.1 and was the top rookie in the race. Lokoro is the ninth repeat champion of the men's race, and the first since Fanshawe's Clint Smith in 2013.

Sulentic's placement helped the Mohawk Mountaineers win the men's team championship for the first time since 1994. Mohawk finished five points better than runner-up Fanshawe and 19 points ahead of bronze medalist Humber College.

St. Clair College are the new women's team champions, edging defending champion Fanshawe by two points. Mohawk was awarded the bronze medal, just seven points behind the victors. It is St. Clair's first provincial women's title since 2013.

The top seven runners in each event are named to the OCAA All-Ontario First-Team. Joining Rice, Kovacic and Sterenberg in order of finish were Victoria Horrobin (Wallaceburg) of St. Clair (24:02.6); Rebecca Greer (Russell) of St. Lawrence College (24:03.7); Dianne Deboer (Guelph) of Conestoga (24:13.4); and Leah Durnford (Bolton) of Humber (24:16.4). Durnford was the top rookie of the women's race.

The men's OCAA All-Ontario First-Team includes in order of finish Lokoro, Roche, Sulentic, Ty Breedon (Barrie) of Fanshawe (26:15.3); Ethan Kruisselbrink (Owen Sound) of Redeemer University (26:39.3); Blaise Uglow (Schomberg) of Humber (26:47.4); and Albert Lanting (Caledonia) of Mohawk (26:54.5).

The OCAA All-Ontario Second-Team consists of individuals who placed eighth through 14th. The women's second-team in order of finish include Catherine Irwin (Kingston) of Humber (24:51.5); Camryn Crawford (Kemptville) of St. Clair (25:02.1); Mette Siemens (Saskatoon, Sask.) of Sheridan (25:13.4); Katie Funk (Bancroft) of Fanshawe (25:40.4); Zoe Thibault (Grimsby) of Mohawk (25:46.9); Skye Pinto (Ajax) of Centennial College (25:47.7); and Thea Van Halteren (Cameron) of Redeemer (25:57.7).

The men's second-team All-Ontario in order of finish is Irvin Omere (Scarborough) of Centennial (26:59.7); Matias Tessel (Guelph) of Mohawk (27:04.7); Owen Wrigley (St. Marys) of Fanshawe (27:05.3); Nathan Paul (Kitchener) of Conestoga (27:14.8); Kinnon Ringler (Toronto) of Sheridan (27:26.6); Tony Elikana (South Sudan) of Confederation (27:30.1); and Yassin Saleh (Hamilton) of Mohawk (27:30.2).

Mohawk's David Hopton was honoured after the competition as OCAA Coach of the Year with both teams and two runners reaching the podium. Melody Knight (Tecumseh) of the St. Clair Saints was the Fair Play Award recipient.

Runners represented 16 Ontario post-secondary campuses, including Cambrian College, Centennial, host Conestoga, Confederation, Fanshawe, Fleming College, Humber, Lambton College, Wilfrid Laurier University Brantford, Loyalist College, Mohawk, Redeemer, St. Clair, St. Lawrence, Seneca Polytechnic and Sheridan.

The top OCAA individuals and teams advance to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Cross Country National Championships in Truro, N.S., on Nov. 11.

Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/xc

- OCAA -

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