Make room CIS, Canadian collegiate championships are this Saturday
Canada’s top collegiate athletes will be racing at the Canadian collegiate cross-country championships this Saturday in Brockville, Ont. Over 200 athletes will convene at St. Lawrence College, an hour south of Ottawa.
Schedule (all times EST)
Women’s 5K: 11 a.m.
Men’s 8K: Noon
Live stream information can be found here.
The top two-ranked teams are from Quebec, as both the Volontaires de Sherbrooke (men) and the Nordiques de Lionel-Groulx (women) come from the RSEQ conference. The reigning national collegiate champions are the women’s team from Grand Prairie Regional College and Humber College’s men’s team.
Women
Dalhousie’s Hannah Arsenault is undefeated this season through the first four races including the Atlantic conference championship, which earned her conference runner of the year honours.
Out of the Quebec region, Jessy Lacourse, who competed for Canada at the IAAF World Junior Championships in 2014, could also be an athlete to watch. Lacourse runs for Victoriaville.
Other conference champions include Cambrian College’s Emily Marcolini and Grand Prairie Regional College’s Jamie Wigmore. Marcolini will aim to become the first Cambrian runner in program history to reach the podium at nationals.
RELATED: Canadian university cross-country championships preview.
Men
Fleming College’s Riley Olesky enters the championships as one of the men’s favourites after winning the bronze medal at the 2014 Canadian collegiate championships. St. Lawrence College’s Rob Asselstine could also contend for the men’s individual championship as the former Dartmouth athlete is coming off a win at the Ontario collegiate championships two weeks ago.
“Going into nationals this year, I have a better idea of where I sit compared to last season,” said Asselstine. “I’ve already raced the Quebec contingent at pre-nationals, and obviously have a good feel of where the Ontario guys are now. The athletes from Western Canada are still a bit of an unknown.”
“You always have to go into these races thinking you have a shot at winning. I won’t be upset if that doesn’t happen, as long as I do everything I can on the day,” he said.
Other individuals to watch out for are Alex Harding from Lethbridge College and Kirk Sudt from Concordia University of Edmonton.
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