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What happened in each race at the 2017 Canadian XC Championships

Here's what happened in the seven championship races in Kingston, Ont. on Saturday

Canadian Cross-Country Championships
November 25, 2017
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Canadian Cross-Country Championships
Photo: Tim Huebsch

The 2017 Canadian Cross-Country Championships wrapped up the fall off-road season in Kingston, Ont. on Saturday. Fort Henry hosted the nation’s top middle- and long-distance runners on a cool, and often wet, day in eastern Ontario.

RELATED: See full results here.

Here’s what happened in the seven championship races:

Masters 8K

The masters runners avoided much, though certainly not all, of the mud that developed later in the day battling cool and rainy conditions to start off the championships off at 9 a.m. EST. Michael Gill and Sarah Nagy were the winners of the 8K in 27:12 and 30:56, respectively.

U18 girls 4K

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb7IZgKAb-V/

In perhaps the most impressive performance of the day, Alberta’s Sadie Sigfstead won the championships’ shortest, by distance, race. In a division for under-18 runners, Sigfstead, who is 14, won by 22 seconds in 14:03, her first national cross-country championships victory. She is eligible for the same division for several years to come.

U18 boys 6K

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb7QEhAgmoA/

The 1-2 finish of the U18 boys 6K was the closest of the day. With 1.6 seconds separating the top-two, Campbell Lee was able to outlast Joshua Zelek in the final stretch to win the title in 19:05. The finish wasn’t close enough to prevent Lee from celebrating as he broke the winner’s tape.

U20 women’s 6K

As expected, rising star Brogan MacDougall, 17, raced up an age category and moved away from the field, improving upon her second-place finish in 2016, clocking 20:50. The local Kingston runner has committed to Queen’s University for next year where she is expected to join sister Branna, who finished ninth in the open women’s 10K.

U20 men’s 8K

A mountain, trail, track, and, lastly, cross-country runner. The versatile Kieran Lumb showed his cross-country strength on the Fort Henry course by breaking away from a large lead pack of U20 men over the final 2K to win in 25:14. One of the turning points in the race came at the 180-degree hairpin turn on the course as OFSAA cross-country champion Thomas Witkowicz’s lead was erased when he fell and lost his gap on the chase pack.

RELATED: Kieran Lumb’s display of finish line sportsmanship in photos.

Open women’s 10K

Local Claire Sumner, who hails from Calgary but lives in Kingston, put her club Physi-Kult on top with a late-race surge to win the women’s 10K. The 2016 U Sports cross-country champion ran 34:48 for first and was swarmed by friends, family and fellow competitors in and around the finish line area. Victoria Coates was second followed by Rachel Cliff.

Other notable results included past Canadian cross-country champion Natasha Wodak in fourth and Olympic triathlete Paula Findlay in 37th. Defending champion Sasha Gollish did not race though she was registered.

Open men’s 10K

Luc Bruchet, the champion in 2013, put the pedal to the floor right from the starter’s gun. The only runner to match him early in the race was Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, who ended up finishing third as three-time Olympian (and St. FX cross-country assistant coach) Eric Gillis was in the mix and closed hard to grab second place. Bruchet won the 10K in 30:20.

Other notable finishes included 2017 U Sports champion Yves Sikubwabo in fifth and Canada’s second-fastest marathoner in history Reid Coolsaet in ninth. Two-time defending champion Ross Proudfoot did not race.

Check out CR‘s Instagram page for more photos.

Canadian Running‘s ACXC 2017 coverage

– Results
– Recap
– Kieran Lumb’s display of sportsmanship
– 14-year-old wins U18 4K
– Mud corner
– Instagram for more photos
– Complete set of videos/stories

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