The Nipissing Lakers Cross-Country teams have been busy in their in-season OUA competition the past few weekends.
Following a strong showing at the Vigars and Salters Western International on Sept. 21, the Lakers men and women travelled to the Don Mills Waterloo Open on Sept. 28, followed by the 8-Kay Marauder Invitational, hosted my McMaster University on Oct. 11.
Both races featured large fields of OUA competition, fast and dry grassy courses, and ideal weather for racing.
At the Don Mills Open race, the men and women each raced 6km. The Men and Women each placed ninth overall, ahead of the TMU Bold and a few points behind the York Lions.
On the women's side, Blaise Gravelle led the Lakers, finishing 55th with a time of 24:33.8, closely followed by Emily Drenth in 56th place at 24:38.5. Mackenzie Green finished 69th with a time of 25:03.6, while Chanell Duffy placed 80th, clocking 26:07.9. Abby MacMillan, Jaime Schweyer, and Makayla Denommee rounded out the team with times of 26:59.9, 27:26.7, and 29:40.4, placing 85th, 90th and 97th, respectively.
For the men's team, Calvin Traczuk led the way, finishing in 70th place with a time of 20:31.2. He was followed by Ethan Aarts in 86th at 21:01.6, Noah Cornish in 89th at 21:05.4, and Japhy-Kai Crookham in 93rd at 21:16.2. Samuel Bennett finished 95th with a time of 21:24.2, while Oliver Czerny-Holownia, Eily Woodman, George Legler, and Nolan Kenny placed 104th, 110th, 116th and 118th with times of 21:59.1, 22:20.4, 22:45.0, and 23:03.5, respectively.
At the 8-Kay Marauder Invitational, the men and women both placed 12th overall, ahead of Trent Excalibur and TMU Bold and only a few points behind Laurentian University (women) and York Lions (men). The team also had several athletes improving upon their previous times from the Western Invitational.
On the men's side, Japhy-Kai Crookham led the team, finishing 92nd with a time of 28:13.8, a significant improvement of 1:08.2 over his previous performance. He was followed by Samuel Bennett (118th, 29:10.6), who improved by 2:09.4Â and Ethan Aarts (119th, 29:12.0), with an improvement of 1:07.0. Calvin Traczuk (123rd, 29:33.8) bettered his time by 29.2 seconds, while Noah Cornish (126th, 29:45.8) showed a remarkable improvement of 1:12.2.
Other finishers included Adam Edwards (134th, 31:08.1), Oliver Czerny-Holownia (137th, 31:27.2), and George Legler (139th, 31:43.5), with Legler and Czerny-Holownia maintaining comparable times to their previous race. Nolan Kenny finished in 145th with a time of 33:13.6, improving by 50.4 seconds.
For the women's team, Emily Drenth was the top performer, placing 104th with a time of 34:32.5. Mackenzie Green, finishing in 105th at 34:36.0, made a significant improvement of 1:09.0. Blaise Gravelle placed 113th with a time of 34:55.7, improving by 1:23.3. Chanell Duffy (120th, 36:25.3) showed an improvement of 2:24.7, and Abby MacMillan (127th, 38:55.7) bettered her previous time by 25.3 seconds. Jaime Schweyer (125th, 37:55.7) rounded out the women's team's results.
The Lakers are now in the final days of preparing for the Ontario University Athletics Cross-Country Championships, being hosted by Nipissing University at the Osprey Links Golf Course in Callander on Oct. 26, 2024.
