By Earl Zukerman
APINEAUVILLE, Que. - Lauren Whyte of Belleville, Ont., finished first of 39 runners as McGill captured the Quebec university women's cross-country championship at Papineauville, Que., about 70 kilometres east of Ottawa, Saturday.
It was the 20th straight conference title for the Martlets, who also placed runners in the third, fifth, seventh and eighth spots to score 24 total points.
Whyte, a 21-year-old political science senior, completed the women's five-kilometre course in 17 minutes, 42 seconds. Concordia's Sarah Burger and McGill's Elspeth McGregor of Vernon, B.C., finished behind her on the podium, clocking in at 17:50 and 18:03, respectively.
"Whyte ran a smart race," said long-time McGill mentor Dennis Barrett, who earned coach-of-the-year honours. "She's had a terrific season and merited winning the conference's athlete-of-the-year award."
Whyte also captured the conference honour presented to the athlete who best combines athletic performance with academics and citizenship.
Sherbrooke's Annie Riopel-Meunier was named rookie of the year.
Sherbrooke was second with 40, followed by Laval (71) and Concordia (99). Using a new scoring method, which attributes a reverse order points total over the four league meets, the McGill women won the conference title with 100 points, followed by Sherbrooke (80), Laval (55) and Concordia (45).
Rounding out the scoring for McGill was Trish Muddiman (5th, 18:10) of Sarnia, Ont., Deenie Quinn (7th, 18:46) of Westfield, N.J., and Christina Lo Basso (8th, 18:49) of Montreal.
The Martlets will now focus on the CIS championships in Victoria, Nov. 10.
On the men's side, Sherbrooke's Alex Genest was named athlete of the year after running the 10k race in 30:09 to capture gold and lead the Vert & Or to the league championship. Teammates Francois Menard-Kilrane (30:18) and Ferdinand Buzingo (30:29).
McGill, which placed second overall, was led by freshman Sebastien Flynn of Dartmouth, N.S., who came in fourth (30:33). Flynn, a 19-year-old who was McGill's top scorer in five meets overall, was voted as the conference's rookie of the year.
Sherbrooke won the meet with 24 points, followed by McGill (42), Laval (58) and Concordia (106). Over the four league meets, Sherbrooke captured the QSSF banner with 100 points, followed by McGill (85), Concordia (65) and Laval (50).
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer & Webmaster
Dept. of Athletics
McGill University
475 Pine Avenue W.
Montreal, Que. H2W 1S4
(514) 398-7012 (tel.)
(514) 398-1956 (fax)
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
www.athletics.mcgill.ca