Cross-Country Team On Fire in Time for Provincials

The Stingers cross-country team ran their way to the top of the pack in Quebec City this past weekend. The men raced an 8km distance in the rain, while the women trampled their way through a muddy 4km. Individual honours and accomplishments were the focal point for the Stingers in the Rouge et Or meet.
Stephane Colle of the Stingers won the men’s 8km race with a time of 24:59. Colle competed for Quebec at the Canada Games in Prince-Edward Island this summer, winning a silver medal in the 5000m men’s race with a time of 14:27. He also came in fourth in the 3000m steeplechase, and has proven to be a great acquisition for the Stingers this season.
Teammate Ryan Noel-Hodge came in second at the race, with a time of 25:22. Noel-Hodge has been nursing injuries for the past week and has been limited to strict fitness routines in the pool, but managed to keep up a strong enough pace to place him second amongst university runners.
The men’s team overall placed second, with only a 1-point margin putting them below the top-ranking Laval. The men kept their competition close and made it a heated battle over 8km, with Sofiane Guend running 26:36, and just .07 seconds slower than his Laval counterpart. Stingers’ front-runner Simon-Malik Giroux also battled it out in a fierce footrace against his Laval competitor, crossing the line at 26:20, also less than a second behind a Rouge et Or.
The lady Stingers stuck close together in their 4km race. Emily Hargreaves, a new addition to the team, ran ahead of the pack and finished with a strong time of 15:38. Camilla Fitzgibbon, Jennie Mae Roy, and Chanel Savoie all finished in the 17:45 area, each less than a second apart.
The Stingers are sending their top male and female runners to New Brunswick this weekend to compete in an important race before the provincial championship. As the most critical part of the season approaches, races become progressively more difficult. The New Brunswick race increases the distance, as the women run 5km cross-country, while the men race a gruelling 10km.