2019 AUS championship
It's not over until it's over
It was a weekend of hard-fought battles and close calls at the 2019 AUS cross-country championship in Fredericton, N.B.
Photos here!
Full results here!
The X-Women and X-Men battled closely with the Dalhousie Tigers and, by the end of each race, it was still unclear which teams would take home the banner.
In the final count, however, the white and blue took home two silver medals.
The Women
From left: Aidan MacDonald, Breanna Sandluck, Ashley Robson, Jane Hergett, Zoe Johnston, Paige Chisholm, Ellen Taggart, Chloe Walker, and Tanna Burke.
The X-Women hoped to put an end to Dalhousie’s six-year AUS winning streak, and this race announced itself as the closest one of that stretch.
From the start, third year athlete and AUS favourite Jane Hergett battled for the win with St. FX alumna Catherine Thompson (now of Dalhousie) and Jade Roberts of Memorial University of Newfoundland. Roberts won the 8K race in a time of 30:23, twenty seconds ahead of Hergett. Thompson rounded out the podium in a time of 30:51.
Coach Eric Gillis says that when Roberts broke away, Hergett kept her own pace to secure no worse than second, instead of chasing glory and risking a difficult finish.
“She did that for the team,” he says. “I am proud of her for that.”
Senior Paige Chisholm, St. FX’s second runner, claimed fifth place in 30:58. Ashley Robson, Breanna Sandluck and Ellen Taggart also scored for St. FX, crossing the line in 11th, 21st and 22nd, respectively.
Dalhousie’s five ran a strong race, and tallied 49 points to St. FX’s 61.
At the banquet, Hergett and Chisholm were honoured for their individual performances.
Jane Hergett - Silver medal and First team All-Star
Paige Chisholm - First team All-Star
The Men
From left to right: Evan Knight, Findlay Day, Jonah Shankel, Addison Derhak, Paul MacLellan, Jacob Benoit, Luc Gallant, Graydon Staples, Aidan Doherty, and Eric Knight.
The men entered the conference final as the only AUS cross-country team ranked in the U SPORTS top ten. They rode momentum from the mid-October Interlock race in Montreal, in which they beat all other AUS teams. From the start of the race, however, it became evident that they would have to break up a tight Dalhousie Tiger spread.
Senior Paul MacLellan led the way for the X-Men, and gapped all runners but gold medallist Andrew Peverill of Saint Mary’s. He cruised to a second place finish in a time of 25:40.
After the race, Gillis applauded MacLellan’s gutsy race strategy.
“Paul had the confidence to go with (Peverill), and he put a gap on the rest of the field. He was able to hold and look great, despite having a pack chasing him.”
Leading that chase pack was St. FX rookie Jacob Benoit, who finished just five seconds behind MacLellan and grabbed bronze in the process.
20 seconds after Benoit came Jonathan Goodridge of Dalhousie, in sixth. Goodridge led a train of five consecutive Tiger runners, that bumped down St. FX’s third finisher, senior Addison Derhak, to 13th place. Sophomore Luc Gallant and rookie Evan Knight, in 16th and 17th place, were the fourth and fifth scorers for the X-Men. The final tally:
Dalhousie Tigers: 40
X-Men: 51
After the race, MacLellan and Benoit were recognized for their individual accomplishments.
Paul MacLellan - Silver medal, AUS Community Service Award and First team All-Star
Jacob Benoit - Bronze medal, First team All-Star and Rookie of the Year
The Aftermath
Gillis admitted that Dalhousie had the better day in Fredericton.
“We were pretty confident that it was going to be a close battle,” he told Ken Farrell of Antigonish radio station 989 XFM, soon after the championship. “We were thinking first place the whole way, but I’m happy with how (both teams) competed.”
An AUS team is only guaranteed a place on the line at U SPORTS by winning their conference championship, so the X-Women and X-Men travelled back to Antigonish, thinking their season had come to an end. Senior Addison Derhak said that he and his teammates tried to reflect on the positive parts of their fall season, but could not help but feel disappointed about their losses.
Little did the runners know, their fortune was about to change.
On Monday, individual silver medalists Paul MacLellan and Jane Hergett were named two of the St. FX Boston Pizza Athletes of the Week.
The Kicker
The good news kept coming.
On Monday afternoon, Gillis had met with St. FX Athletic Director Leo MacPherson.
“I gave Leo the recap of AUS,” says the coach “and I made the case that with a few people having good days, we could be close to Dalhousie.”
When an AUS team does not win the conference championship, U SPORTS does not fund their trip to the nationals. In such a case, the Athletic Department can decide to sponsor the team’s trip to the championship, if it thinks the team can be competitive on the national stage.
“Leo gave me the green light,” says Gillis, who later broke the news to the teams.
“The athletes were a bit shocked and excited about going to U SPORTS,” says the coach, “but they deserve it. The men were ranked in the top-10 earlier this year, so the goal is to be curious about how well they can do. As for the women, a top-10 finish isn’t out of the question. We get another chance at being the best team in the AUS and we’re excited to take a crack at that.”
What it means to go to U SPORTS for the first time.
The White and Blue will be represented by two full teams, seven women and seven men, at the U SPORTS championship on Nov. 9 in Kingston, Ont., and seven of those women and men will be toeing the line at nationals for the first time. How do they feel about it? Find out for yourself, thanks to this video by sophomore Graydon Staples, also a U SPORTS first-timer.
Good luck to all at U SPORTS - Hail and Health!
Local spotlight for Eric and Evan Knight
Atlantic U23, an interview series that profiles Atlantic Canadian runners under 23 years old, caught up with two of our runners last week. Twin runners Eric and Evan Knight come from St. John’s Newfoundland, and are in their first year with the X-Men.
Although they look alike, their interview reveals that they differ in many ways, from favourite race distance to breakfast of choice. Read more here!
Need a Read? Eric Gillis’ favourite books
Like Coach Bernie before him, Coach Gillis loves to read. Perhaps unlike Bernie (unless Brenda has recently created him an iTunes account) Gillis is a big fan of the audiobook. He once told me that he listens to them as he runs.
Covering over 200km on some weeks has made our coach a pretty sophisticated reader and listener. In case you are looking for a recommendation, he shares his Top Five Running and Top Five Non-Running books.
Running Books
Eric Gillis:
1) Once A Runner (John L. Parker) - It’s the only book I've read twice.
2) Runners Of the Nish, of course! (Alex Cyr) - (Editor’s note: Ha, thanks Eric. I dropped the $20 in your office)
3) Better Training for Distance Runners (David Martin and Peter Coe) - I found a copy on the second floor of St. FX's Angus L. MacDonald Library in my first year. Such an interesting read about the Coe father and son team.
4) Running With the Buffaloes (Chris Lear) - Always rooted for the Buffs at NCAAs after reading.
5) Training Young Distance Runners (Laurence Greene and Russell Pate) - My latest favourite.
Non-Running books
1) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert M. Pirsig) - In my next life, want to write “Zen and the Art of Runner Maintenance.”
2) Shantaram (Gregory David Roberts) - The longest book I've ever read. So good.
3) Where The Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls) - My childhood favourite. I felt as if I was the boy in the story, although I didn’t hunt or have a dog.
4) Peak (Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool) - I now like trying to memorize number chains.
5) Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (Carol Glass, Keith Kaufman and Timothy Pineau) - This will be the book in 10 years that I credit much of our success to.
If you haven’t already… buy some tickets!
Follow this link for a chance to win a dream vacation for two!
This year, each St. FX endurance athlete has the goal of selling two tickets.
Help them with this goal: if you purchase a ticket and submit the name of your favourite current St. FX runner in the designated ticket box, it will count for that runner as a ticket sold! If you buy the ticket electronically, email the name of your favourite runner to nishrunner@gmail.com.
Of course, when you purchase a ticket, tour money will go directly to the St. FX cross-country teams - it's our # 1 fundraiser!
Remember them?
For this week and next, the countdown to U SPORTS is on. So, it’s just appropriate to feature the two St. FX alumnae who have moved on to post-graduate programs, and who will race in Kingston next weekend donning new colours. Rest assured, they will still be flashing their X-rings.
This week’s featured athlete is Hana Marmura, a 22-year-old born in Kingston, Ont. and raised in Antigonish, NS. Marmura competed for the X-Women between 2015 and 2019, and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Kinetics. Marmura is now in her first semester of a five-year physiotherapy doctoral program at Western University in London, Ontario. This fall, she competes with the Mustangs, and she recently finished 33rd in the competitive Ontario University Athletics conference championship, which helped her team claim fourth place.
Here, Marmura tells us about her academic program, her new team, and her still-fresh memories of St. FX.
Marmura leading a pack of X-Women in 2018 competition
Q: Where do you live now, and what brings you there?
A: I’m living in London right now (Ontario not England, I know disappointing). I came here to do the combined MPT/Ph.D program at Western. (Editor’s note: when Marmura completes the program, she will be able to practice physiotherapy, and she will hold a Ph.D.)
Q: What is your favourite thing about your new program, and least favourite?
A: My favourite thing about my program is the amazing level of research and researchers I am always surrounded by and the really close collaborations we make as research students with the sports medicine clinic and orthopaedic surgeons. My least favourite part is probably the increased level of independence compared to undergrad because I like a regular schedule and to always be around people, but I am getting used to it!
Q: What is your favourite running souvenir from St. FX?
A: This is going to sound cheesy but my favourite running souvenir from X is all the amazing memories I had with my team each and every year so I guess as something tangible I’d say all the photos that remind me of those.
Q: What is your favourite non-running souvenir from St. FX?
A: Favourite non-running souvenir is definitely my X ring.
Q: What skills did you develop as a student athlete at St. FX?
A: As a student athlete at X, I definitely developed good time management skills (helping me with all my independent work now,) and the confidence to be a leader. I also learned a lot of skills for mental strength, an always tough part of running.
Q: Now that you have experienced XC in another school, what are the main differences between your experience there and at St. FX?
A: Honestly a lot of things are really similar. There is a ton of team spirit here at Western, the team works hard and is super close. We do a bit of extra strength conditioning here (weights twice a week and mobility exercises with hurdles) and there is a big focus on running as much as possible on grass. Also our day off once a week is optional (but I always take the option, keeps me going stronger until the end of season). Having an indoor track to train on will be a nice difference in the winter. One thing I definitely miss from X is all the long team meal hall dinners. The bond of both the men’s and women’s team as one giant group was something truly unique at St. FX. I always referred to everyone as being on “my team” whether they were on the men’s or women’s team.
Q: What is your goal for this weekend?
A: My goal for this weekend is to improve on my time and place from last year on the same course. I want give it my all, put all the lessons I've learned to use, and have a strong race I can be truly proud of as my last varsity cross country race (so weird to say.)
