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John Lofranco steps down as Concordia cross-country coach

The Concordia Stingers cross-country program is looking for a new coach for the 2013 season. Earlier in the month, coach John Lofranco announced his resignation as the leader of the school’s program.

Lofranco has been at the helm of the school’s cross-country program since 2004. During these eight years, he has not only revived Concordia’s cross-country program, but also helped establish the current seven-team Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec conference. The RSEQ conference started with only three teams which soon became seven, with the Université de Montréal about to become the eighth school in the conference.

“As far as the Concordia University program goes, I can only thank you all for participating in such an historic and exciting time,” he said in a statement. “We set an example and many followed. I think we can be proud of that legacy.”

Along with his time as a Concordia coach, Lofranco is also the founder of Montreal Endurance. According to the club’s website, Montreal Endurance is “a non-profit sports organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of its members through endurance sport, specifically the distance events of athletics.”

In 2013, Montreal Endurance will be merging with the McGill Olympic Club. As a result, Lofranco has been hired by McGill.

“I have been hired as an assistant coach in the McGill program, responsible for the post-collegiate group, as well as race direction,” Lofranco explained in the same statement. “I will also lend a hand to the varsity program as needed. It will be exciting to help build on the strong Martlet/Redmen tradition.”

Under Lofranco’s guidance, Concordia finished the 2012 RSEQ Championship in fourth place. Stingers runner Ryan Noel-Hodge finished the men’s 10-kilometre race in third place, six seconds behind the leader. Concordia’s Elizabeth Mokrusa finished the women’s five-kilometre race in 13th with a time of 19:59.

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Stingers cross-country teams battle wet weather at the Rouge et Or invitational

A 7 a.m. wake-up call to torrential rain hammering against the window was how Concordia’s men and women’s cross-country teams woke up on the morning prior to their race in Quebec City on Saturday, Oct. 6.

The three hour drive to the province’s capital was not any more uplifting. However, by 1 p.m., the intensity of the rain had calmed to a drizzle.

The course was soft and wet. It started with a tight curve with some back and forth on the flat. This was an easy way to scatter the runners early on. A steep downhill followed with a quick turn and the monster hill to the top.

The men’s side repeated this loop four times for a total of eight kilometres, while the women’s team totaled four kilometres.

Ryan Noel-Hodge was the first Concordia man to cross the finish line. He finished second out of 55 runners with a time of 25:12. Noel-

Hodge was three seconds behind the leader. Simon Driver was the second best Concordia runner. He finished in 12th place with a time of 27:07. Francis Dumoulin and James Coulton finished 29th and 31st respectively. Ryan Ruffner was in 52nd spot.

Noel-Hodge felt confident, followed his plan and executed it near-perfectly.

“It went well,” he said. “There was good competition up front. I know what I have to work on to win provincials now.”

As for the women’s side, Elizabeth Mokrusa was the first Stinger to finish the run. She came in 16th place and posted a time of 15:52. Val Sicard-Thibodeau, Molly Howes and Chloé Rochette finished within minutes of Mokrusa. Andriana Farias was the last Stingers runner to cross the line with a time of 19:41.

“Prior to the race, I wasn’t feeling as fresh as I have for the previous races this season,” said Howes. “It may have affected me in the last kilometre, but otherwise I felt relatively strong.”

Farias felt the weather didn’t affect her negatively. She was however, unable to attain her goal of beating her time from the previous race.
“Every race is different so I guess I shouldn’t compare times between races,” she said. “I still feel accomplished, and motivated to keep training.”

The Stingers’ next event will be Saturday, Oct. 13 at the AUS Interlock in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The men’s team will complete another eight kilometre race, while the women’s side will participate in a five kilometre race.

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Stingers off to slow start at Western Invitational

Dominique Roy

The Western Invitational cross-country course in London, Ontario is a soft, and mushy all-grass course with constant rolling hills. Competition at this event is fierce. Only at the CIS championships will the Stingers’ cross-country team be faced with such a strong a group of runners.

On the men’s side, Ryan Noel-Hodge finished a strong performance in eighth place. He won last week’s McGill Open. Starting this run in the lead pack, he was unable to hold on to the top runners, as they increased the pace going through the second half of the eight kilometre race.

“It went well,” he said. “There was good competition up front. This is my base; I will only progress from here.”

The rest of the men’s team ran hard, but came out of the race wanting more.

The women’s team worked hard for it, with the top four running within a minute of one another. The majority of the team was happy with their performance. The women ended the race in 12th place.

“Next time, the goal will be to try to start out closer together and work to push each other throughout the race,” said coach John Lofranco.

Concordia’s next meet will be on Saturday, Sept. 29. The Stingers will participate in the Sherbrooke Vert et Or Invitational.

 

 

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Stingers cross-country still making strides forward

Sofiane Guend finished eighth at the provincial championship. Photo by Jennie Roy

The Stingers cross-country team ran through the finish line of their 2011 season in Quebec City on Saturday.

Sofiane Guend finished eighth at the provincial championship. Photo by Jennie Roy

It was a long season of ups and downs for the team, with everyone involved being proud of what they accomplished, but also hoping to improve on things in the future.

“We had a good season,” said coach John Lofranco. “Considering the men were one of only three Stingers fall sports teams to finish the regular season with a winning record, I’d say we did well.”

Individually, captain Ryan Noel-Hodge had the best season of any runner, despite having his year marred by illness. Even after some strong performances, Noel-Hodge was still frustrated with how his season went. “I seem to always be struck with bad luck,” he said.

Noel-Hodge finished sixth at the University of Western Ontario invitational, a race featuring strong competition. Unfortunately he was never able to build on the momentum. “After that result things went downhill for me. Because of a stubborn cold and conditions that deprived me of good sleep, I was unable to train properly and to race to my full potential,” he said.

Noel-Hodge believed that had he been healthy he would have been a favourite to win the RSEQ provincial title. He instead finished in ninth place, one behind teammate Sofiane Guend.

Guend was in his last year as a Stinger and described the provincial championship as his “best race”.

At Sunday’s national championships, Noel-Hodge finished 47th out of 134 runners. He was also the fourth Quebec runner to cross the finish line, which is an improvement from his finish at provincials. He was still a bit disappointed, though. “My performance was not what I had originally set out to accomplish,” he said. “But I’m walking away from this season knowing that I’ve gotten stronger, and satisfied that I did what I did with the setbacks that I’ve had.”

Guend finished in 78th while Simon Driver finished 85th, running a memorable race to close an inspirational season.

“Simon Driver ran his guts out, literally. He puked as he crossed the line,” said Lofranco. “He’s a father of two young kids and that has kept his training to a minimum, so it was pretty impressive for him to have been able to pull off the run that he did.”

On the women’s side Dominique Roy had the highest finish of any of the Concordia women, placing 34th. Roy also had an impressive third place finish at the provincial championship.

Roy has battled a diaphragm problem all season, but was commended by her coach for improving her mental toughness over the course of the year.

The 2011 season was also a great learning experience for first-year runner Molly Howes, who made the transition to cross-country from soccer.

“It’s all really new to me,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed every second, even when I’m having an off day or the workout is really tough. I feel really lucky to be part of such a great team.”

Howes finished 120th at nationals, but her coach is expecting she will only go up from there. “With a full year of running-specific training behind her, she is going to be dangerous next year,” said Lofranco.

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