Travaglini wins second straight CCAA cross country title

The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) held its cross country national championships at Seneca College’s King Campus in King City, Ont. yesterday in cool, snowy conditions. For the second straight year, Matthew Travaglini of SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) took the gold medal, running the 8K course in 26:19, one of the strongest performances in the CCAA’s history, and far outclassing his competition. Leonard Chesoo of Concordia University of Edmonton was second, in 27:22, and Matthew Hope of Red Deer was third, in 28:01.

RELATED: 2017 Canadian Collegiate Cross-Country Championships roundup

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Men’s team results

The St. Clair Saints of Windsor, Ont. took team gold yesterday, with four runners in the top 15. The team was represented by Tyler Jones (28:41), Andre Tomasian (29:07), Thador Tekhli (29:11), Rick Nepomuceno (29:11), Tyler Tofflemire (31:44) and Jack Porter (31:57).

The silver medal was won by the SAIT Trojans, led by Travaglini and including Jacques Saayman (who also finished in the top six with a time of 28:33), Daryl Ross (29:39), Brant Lauweryssen (30:06), Mathew Hebert (31:20) and Jemmy Lee (32:26).

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It was a close race between Champlain Saint-Lambert and the Sheridan Bruins for the bronze medal, with the Quebec team prevailing with 111 points to Sheridan’s 117. Kudos to Karl Belley (28:42), Jasmin Bellerive (29:57), Christopher Quesnel (30:16), Jeremy Burg (30:43), Samuel Cote (31:15) and Emile Garon (32:13).

Women’s individual results

Lethbridge College’s Sophia Nowicki took top honours on the hilly 6K course, crossing the finish line in 23:32, four seconds ahead of  Simone Plourde of Collège André-Grasset in Montreal (23:36). Anne-Frédérik Drolet of Jonquière was third, in 23:44.

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Women’s team results

In team results, the Fanshawe Falcons of London, Ont. took the national title, with two competitors (Janelle Hanna in 24:06 and Sammi-Jo Burch in 24:22) finishing in the top five. Rachyl MacPhail (25:24), Laura Travaglini (25:54) and Hannah Carley (26:25) completed the Falcon team.

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Nowicki led the Lethbridge Kodiaks to a silver medal, with Emily Spencer (25:15), Salma Moreira (26:16), Janelle Graham (26:26), Rebecca Sweeney (27:28) and Brooklyn Vogel (28:22) rounding out the team.

The bronze medal went to the Red Deer Queens, also of Alberta, which included Jillian Stewart (24:30), Shayla Sklaruk (25:43) and Shaelyn Moltzahn (25:49), who all finished in the top 20 in team results. The team was rounded out by Caitlin Debree (26:46), Deshann Velentine (27:38) and Teagan Shapka (29:29).

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Next year’s nationals will be held in Grande Prairie, Alta., 465K northwest of Edmonton.