The St. Thomas University women’s cross country team posted their best result to date, capturing third place on Saturday, October 15th AUS meet at Universite de Moncton. The men’s team finished U de M’s course in fifth.
Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, Moncton’s course was still a gruelling hills run. The grassy and uneven ground made for a challenging race, especially for those with lingering, mid-season injuries.
In both the men’s and the women’s races, athletes dropped out, attesting to the difficulty of the course and the cross country season. Some teams were taken out of scoring contention because of injured team members or because of athletes not finishing.
Two of the women’s team’s top five runners were injured and unable to compete in Moncton, but that didn’t stop the team from making great strides in this race. Led by transfer student Tathnee O’Meara in eighth, the women continued to post solid times as they race towards AUS championships at the end of the month.
The men were missing their number two runner this weekend, but still managed to tough out the course and post some good times. Patrick Cormier ran hard in Moncton for 17th, a personal best, placing in the AUS league to date.
The Tommies compete at AUS championships, hosted by the University of New Brunswick. On Oct. 29, the Tommies will battle it with the rest of the league out on their home course in Odell Park.
