For the final 9 weeks, college cross-country groups throughout Canada have competed on grass, filth and gravel with the identical finish purpose: reaching the 2024 U Sports activities XC Championships in Kelowna, B.C., on Nov. 9.
With numerous upsets and stunning performances on the latest convention championships, we’re taking one final shot at predicting the person and crew champions for the lads’s and girls’s U Sports activities races that are actually simply 4 days away. Right here’s all the knowledge it’s essential put together your self for the top day of the XC season.
Weekend recap: former excessive jumper wins Ontario College XC title
Learn how to observe
You may catch all of the motion at Mission Recreation Park in Kelowna, B.C. via the stay broadcast on CBC Sports activities, beginning with the ladies’s race at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET), adopted by the lads’s race at 1 p.m PT (4 p.m. ET).
Ladies’s 8K: Will the Western Mustangs proceed their upward trajectory?
Regardless of establishing dominance from the primary race of the season, the Western Mustangs have continued to enhance with every efficiency. Showcasing one of many deepest crew rosters seen in U Sports activities historical past, the Mustangs took dwelling gold on the OUA Championships with a near-perfect rating; all 5 scorers positioned within the prime seven. Ashley Maguire, Olivia Roussel, Sandra Guga, Anna Carruthers and Erika Jordan have persistently led the crew all through the season; twins Sophie Coutts and Chloe Coutts can even be probably scorers for the crew in Kelowna. It isn’t a thriller that the Mustangs are hungry for this yr’s U Sports activities banner; the crew hasn’t taken dwelling the title since 1990.
The Victoria Vikes brought about an enormous upset on the CanWest Championships by popping out victorious over the reigning U Sports activities Champions, the UBC Thunderbirds, by simply seven factors. The Vikes have been on the rise this season, now with two wins towards the T-birds beneath their belt heading into the championships in Kelowna. Nonetheless, 2023 particular person U Sports activities champion Katie Newlove was absent from this yr’s CanWest race; Newlove, alongside Holly MacGillivray, might be a key participant in serving to the Thunderbirds safe a spot on the rostrum on Saturday.
Laval Rouge et Or soar into the highest 5 after an astonishing efficiency on the RSEQ championships, taking dwelling their fourth consecutive banner. The Rouge et Or had beforehand fallen within the rankings after a couple of losses to the Sherbrooke Vert et Or and McGill Martlets earlier within the season.
Predictions
Workforce
- Western Mustangs (OUA)
- Victoria Vikes (CanWest)
- UBC Thunderbirds (CanWest)
- St. Francis Xavier X-Ladies (AUS)
- Laval Rouge et Or (RSEQ)
Particular person
- Constance Nankivell (TWU Spartans)
- Lauren McNeil (UBCO Warmth)
- Madelyn Eybergen (Windsor Lancers)
- Elisa Tripotin (UQAM Citadins)
- Holly MacGillivray (UBC Thunderbirds)
Males’s 8K: Can the Queen’s Gaels full their good season?
Contemporary off an OUA crew title, the Queen’s Gaels have been nothing however constant this season. They’ve maintained their prime rank with authority since September, with particular person OUA champion Jude Wheeler-Dee confidently main the pack and teammate Roman Mironov not far behind. Nonetheless, what units the Gaels aside from the remainder of their U Sports activities opponents is the depth of their competitors roster; Tanner Hueglin, Will Cox, Miles Brackenbury, Angus Skinner and Ethan Rashid-Cocker will proceed to be key elements to successful the crew’s first U Sports activities Championship title since 1984. The identical roster introduced dwelling a bronze medal from U Sports activities final yr.
The remaining collegiate groups have been profitable in holding followers on the sting of their seats. Laval Rouge et Or, led by defending U Sports activities champion Philippe Morneau-Cartier, fell in need of their thirteenth consecutive RSEQ title, with #5-ranked Sherbrooke Vert et Or taking the win by a slender 5-point margin. The Rouge et Or are undoubtedly hungrier than ever after the large upset in Quebec, however Sherbrooke, led by Nolan Turgeon, have positioned themselves as robust medal contenders and might be carrying ahead the optimistic momentum to Kelowna.
The UBC Thunderbirds have additionally launched themselves again into the operating after quite a few runner-up performances to the Victoria Vikes all through the season knocking them down within the rankings. The reigning U Sports activities champions beat the Vikes (#3-ranked) by 19 factors on the latest CanWest Championships.
Predictions
Workforce
- Queen’s Gael’s (OUA)
- Laval Rouge et Or
- Sherbrooke Vert et Or
- UBC Thunderbirds
- UNB Reds
Particular person
- Philippe Morneau-Cartier (Laval Rouge et Or)
- Jude Wheeler-Dee (Queen’s Gaels)
- Nolan Turgeon (Sherbrooke Vert et Or)
- Max Davies (Guelph Gryphons)
- Jared Howse (UNB Reds)