KINGSTON, Ont. –
Kieran Lumb is the 2019 U SPORTS men's cross country champion, winning gold and earning men's Athlete of the Year, leading the UBC Thunderbird men to a sixth place team finish.
Nicola Symonds was the top UBC women's runner, finishing eighth, while
Naomi Lang earned U SPORTS women's Rookie of the Year as the 'Birds repeated their fourth place finish from one year earlier.
On a cold and very windy day at Kingston's Fort Henry course, Lumb stayed among the tight leading pack on the 10-kilometre course before opening up what became an eight second gap, finishing in 30:41.8. Adding to his growing list of accolades both domestically and on the international stage, Lumb earned automatic first team All-Canadian status to go along with his Athlete of the Year award.
"I felt great out there, I was really proud of how our whole team raced and all the work we put in this season so it was a great feeling to have it all pay off today," said Lumb after receiving his gold medal. "Knowing to be patient for the first few laps, staying out of trouble and making sure you have enough space around you, those are all things I felt really helped me today."
Fourth-year T-Bird
Thomas Broatch had a very impressive race, finishing 13
th overall with a time of 31:17.0 and was named to the second All-Canadian team.
Third-year Thunderbird
Tyler Dozzi finished very strong, coming off an injury that kept him out of the recent Canada West championship. The native of Terrace, B.C. was the third T-Bird to cross the finish line with a time of 31:36.8, good for 22
nd overall in the field of 143 competitors.
Christian Gravel and
Cole Dinsdale rounded out the scoring contingent for the T-Birds finishing just over five seconds apart in 56
th and 61
st, respectively.
The UBC women's team boasted five runners in the top 41 out of the 155 strong field, helping the Canada West champions repeat their fourth place U SPORTS finish from 2018.
Symonds improved on her 14
th place finish last year by 39 seconds, completing the eight-kilometre course in 28:30.8 while earning second team All-Canadian status.
"It was my goal to push myself from the start and I was really, really happy with the outcome," said Symonds who capped off a tremendous T-Bird career in style. "It was my personal goal to be top ten. Everyone gave it their full effort and left it all out there and I'm really proud of them, it was really a great finish."
It was fitting that the Canada West champion Symonds finished her last race as a Thunderbird leading the blue and gold while the second T-Bird to cross the line was Lang, named the country's outstanding first-year runner. Lang's time of 28:56.5 was good for 11
th overall as she was also named a second team All-Canadian.
Fifth-year T-Bird
Sarah MacArthur also had a solid race Saturday, finishing 26
th overall in 29:32.3.
Kyla Becker's 34
th place time of 29:57.8 counted towards UBC's finish as the fourth T-Bird across, and the eighth fastest rookie in the country.
Mikayla Tinkham finished 41
st overall, the fifth T-Bird, with a time of 30:08.5 and also helped towards UBC's solid team finish.
The meet marks the official end to the 2019 U SPORTS cross country season and if there's one thing that's now certain, it's that the UBC Thunderbirds continue to make noise on the national stage. In just the second year back in U SPORTS competition, the 'Birds have proven to be a force and one which the rest of the country can expect to have to contend with for years to come.
FULL RESULTS
