Athletics Canada announces World Cross Country Championship roster
28 Canadians will head to Australia for this year's world championship event

On Tuesday, Athletics Canada released its roster for the 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championship. The team consists of 28 Canadians, who will travel to Bathurst, Australia, for the February 18 event. This is the first cross-country championship held by World Athletics since the 2019 event in Aarhus, Denmark, as the 2021 event was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Athletics Canada to send team of 28 athletes to World Cross-Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia.
Details: https://t.co/F1XYYp1GPm
— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) February 1, 2023
There will be five Canadian teams competing in Australia: men’s and women’s U20 teams, men’s and women’s open and a mixed relay squad. Headlining the teams are 2022 Canadian cross-country champions Julie-Anne Staehli and Connor Black. In total, Team Canada features five Olympians and seven athletes who have previously competed at the World Athletics Cross-Country Championship.
“We have great leadership, talent and experience to allow Canada to meet the tremendous challenge of World Cross Country racing,” said team leader Thelma Wright. “Canada historically has excellent individual and team results in both men’s and women’s U20 races, as well as some outstanding individual performances in our Senior ranks. This years team will be no different and we look to some very positive results and surprise performances.”
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Wright added that while each of the Canadian teams has a chance to drop big results, the open women’s team will be especially exciting to watch. “With five of our six senior women having previous world cross-country experience, and with four Olympians on the team, our senior women’s team is one of our strongest in a decade.” Joining Staehli, who competed at the Tokyo Summer Games, are three other Olympians: Regan Yee, Natalia Allen (formerly Natalia Hawthorn) and Maria Bernard-Galea. John Gay is the lone Olympian on the men’s roster.
Back in Denmark in 2019, the Canadian teams had decent showings, with the open women’s and mixed relay teams both placing seventh, the women’s U20 team coming in sixth, the men’s U20 squad finishing 12th and the open men 16th. Wright said she thinks there’s a chance for each team to climb even higher up the ranks this year.
The full roster
Athlete Name | Hometown | Club | Coach |
U20 Men | |||
Heath McAllister | London, ON | London Western T&F Club | Dave Mills |
Jack Lehto | Burlington, ON | Burlington T&F Club | Terry Radchenko |
Tion McLeish | Victoria, BC | University of Victoria | Hilary Stellingwerff |
Tristan Coles | St. Thomas, ON | London Western T&F Club | Dave Mills |
Jaxon Kuchar | Trail, BC | Victoria Endurance Track Club | Hilary Stellingwerff |
Gaetano Pocchi | Toronto, ON | Blue Devils Athletic Club | Ben Devito |
Non-travelling reserves | |||
Angus Skinner | Kingston, ON | Physi-Kult | Brant Stachel |
Tanner Hueglin | Bradford, ON | Newmarket Huskies | |
U20 Women | |||
Erin Vringer | Saint John, NB | Saint Johns Red Track Club | Kyle Kepler |
Marika Couture | Québec, QC | Club d’athlétisme de l’Université Laval | Vincent Filion |
Ella Ballard | Victoria, BC | Prairie Inn Harriers | Bruce Deacon |
Emily Cescon | Toronto, ON | University of Toronto Track Club | Ethan Davenport |
Muriel Lovshin | Toronto, ON | Toronto Olympic Club | Brian Lovshin |
Michelle Gray | Mississauga, ON | Mississauga Track and Field Club | Paul Carter |
Non-travelling reserves | |||
Sierra Rodrigues | Bolton, ON | Saint John Track Club | Chris Belof |
Léane Baril | Rouyn-Noranda, QC | Tracklass | Christian Villeneuve |
Open Men | |||
Connor Black | Forest, ON | London Western TFC | Dave Mills |
John Gay | Kelowna, BC | Vancouver Thunderbirds Track & Field Club | Chris Johnson |
Max Turek | Whitby, ON | Harbour Track | Paula Schnurr |
Phil Parrot-Migas | London, ON | London Western TFC | Dave Wills |
Mitchell Ubene | Tecumseh, ON | Royal City Athletics Club | Terry Radchenko |
Andrew Davies | Hamilton, ON | Harbour Track | Paula Schnurr |
Non-travelling reserves | |||
Jeremy Coughler | London, ON | London Western T&F Club | Dave Mills |
Mike Tate | Antigonish, NS | London Western T&F Club | Dave Mills |
Open Women | |||
Julie-Anne Staehli | Lucknow, ON | Team New Balance Boston | Mark Coogan |
Natalia Allen | North Vancouver, BC | Vancouver Thunderbirds / Brooks | Chris Johnson |
Katelyn Ayers | Orillia, ON | Victoria Endurance Club | Hilary Stellingwerff |
Kate Bazeley | St. Johns, NL | Newfoundland Athletics | Jon Brown |
Regan Yee | South Hazelton, BC | Under Armour | Stephen Haas |
Maria Bernard-Galea | Calgary, AB | University of Calgary Athletics Club | Matthew Galea |
Non-travelling reserves | |||
Jessy Lacourse | Québec, QC | Club d’athlétisme de l’Université Laval | Félix-Antoine Lapointe |
Branna MacDougall | Glenburnie, ON | Physi-Kult | Steve Boyd |
Mixed Relay | |||
Jazz Shukla | Toronto, ON | Royal City Athletics Club | Terry Radchenko |
Erin Teschuk | Winnipeg, MB | New Balance | Andrew Carlson |
Matthew Beaudet | Montreal, QC | Club St-Laurent Sélect (CSLS) | Samuel Marion |
Perry MacKinnon | Coaticook, QC | Sherbrooke | Jean-Pierre Lemelin |
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