Athletics Canada National Cross Country Champs - Silver Team Medal for Reds

Saint John Reds Podium in Historic Canadian Cross Country Championships - November 28, 2021

On Saturday, November 27^th, Wesley Clover Parks in Ottawa hosted the 2021 Athletic Canada Canadian Cross Country Championships; and it was an exceptional day for New Brunswickers in the nation’s capital. Over 950 athletes participated in the event, which was split into various age categories.

Geneviève Lalonde, of Moncton stole the show, crossing the Open women's 10km line first for a 3rd Canadian title. She previously won in 2018 and 2019, and was looking for a threepeat in 2020 however, the pandemic made for a canceled event. Saturday, Lalonde trekked 10km in 36:21; ahead of Alberta’s Maria Bernard-Galea (36:45). Lalonde recently came off a Canadian-best ever finish in the Olympic Steeplechase event in Tokyo where she finished 11^th.

The Saint John Reds Track and Field Club had an outstanding weekend where individually, Jared Howse ran to a silver medal in a hard-fought battle in the U20 men's 8km. Howse ran toe-to-toe with Quebec’s Nolan Turgeon and British Columbia’s Spencer Hardy, but in the final push to the finish, Turgeon prevailed in 26:26, Howse close behind took silver in 26:31, and Hardy brought home the bronze in 26:59.

Ivy Bialowas ran an incredibly gritty 6km in the U20 women’s race, finishing in 8^th place overall with a time of 24:15.

In team standings, the Saint John Reds U20 men took home the silver medal in the Club Championship, the first ever team podium finish in club history for the Saint John Reds. The Reds finished in silver medal standings with 81 points, edging out the Newmarket Huskies Track Club by one point. UBC Track & Field Club took home the team title with 50 points.

Other notable performances include Audrey Roy-Beausoleil (43^rd), Nicole Trites (158^th), Jessica White (183^rd) and Gabby Kozak (197^th) in the U18 girls 4km; Mohamed Helal (198^th) in the U18 boys 6k; Emily Doucet (16^th) and Emily Trites (25^th) in the U20 women's 6km; William Boyle (10^th), Cameron Harris (33^rd), Sam Lamont (36^th), Kalevi Karhi (38^th), Sam Cadrain (58^th), Frederic Parent (60^th) and François Richard (70^th) in the U20 men’s 8km, and Ian Verschoor (87^th) and Stephen Andersen (95^th) in the Open men's 10km.

The course was challenging and the cold and windy conditions made for incredibly tough races, but New Brunswickers rose to the challenge.