PREVIEW: Canadian University Cross-Country Championships
The Plains of Abraham in Quebec City will be the host site for the 2016 Canadian University Cross-Country Championships on Saturday. Here's what to watch for. (Photo: Cross-Country et athlétisme.)
The pinnacle of Canadian university cross-country is this weekend in Quebec City.
RELATED: VIDEO: Post-race interviews with the OUA cross-country champions.
The Canadian University Cross-Country Championships are Nov. 12, hosted by the University of Laval, on the Plains of Abraham. The country’s governing body for Canadian university sports rebranded to U Sports from the previous Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) name.
Women’s race: 1 p.m. EST – 6K
Men’s race: 1:40 p.m. EST – 10K
The national university championships have, since 2000, been dominated by the University of Guelph. In 2015, the Victoria Vikes upset the Guelph men to become just the second university to beat Guelph on the men’s side since 2000. (Windsor beat Guelph in 2003, 2004 and 2005.) Guelph had won nine previous CIS cross-country championships before losing in 2015.
Historical winners
Both defending individual champions, Aaron Hendrikx and Sarah Inglis, have graduated leaving the door open for a new CIS/U Sports cross-country champion. Don’t be surprised, however, to see a repeat of the women’s team champion, Guelph.
The Guelph women have won 11 consecutive national university team championships and are ranked number one entering Saturday. Guelph also won the Ontario university championships two weekends ago, a good sign for things to come. Most universities, excluding those on the west coast, had conference meets at the end of October.
Women’s contenders
Ontario university champion and Queen’s runner Claire Sumner is coming off a strong run at provincials and won the Queen’s Invitational earlier in the year. Lucia Stafford has won two of four races this year and finished second at the Ontario university championships two weekends ago. Trinity Western University has two top contenders in Regan Yee and Lisa Brooking, the latter of who won the British Columbia open cross-country championships.
Guelph, considered one of Canada’s running hubs as it has been home to a number of Olympians, was the host for last year’s event. The Guelph women won on home soil for the first time in program history. The Gryphons have not lost at the national championships in more than a decade.
Start list
Men’s contenders
The top contenders in the men’s race are expected to be Yves Sikubwabo of Laval, Windsor’s Corey Bellemore, Trinity Western’s Declan White and Lakehead’s Kevin Tree. Sikubwabo will be competing on his home course while Bellemore is the Ontario university champion. Some have said that Tree is more attune to racing the Plains of Abraham course versus Centennial Park, the site of the Ontario championships.
Sikubwabo has been at the forefront at times in the Canadian running scene, including an illustrious career in high school and success at the University of Guelph, and at other times been absent at national championships. The Rwandan-born runner has been the athlete of the week multiple times so far this summer and fall. He runs for Laval, arguably the favourite for the men’s overall team championship. Laval runners placed first through ninth at the RSEQ Championships.
Conference individual and team winners
The men currently run 10K at the championships; the women run 6K. Canadian Running has learned that the distances will change beginning in 2017 with the women moving up to 8K.
BREAKING: Canadian university coaches vote for #CIS women to run 8K, men 10K in 2017, consider equal distances in the future.
— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) November 11, 2016
Make sure to follow Canadian Running on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat for live updates on Saturday. Cover photo is courtesy of Cross-Country et athlétisme.
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