CALGARY – The UBC Thunderbirds Women's Cross Country team boasted tremendous results with four top ten finishes at the Western Canadian Cross Country Challenge in Calgary Saturday.
Led by
Mackenzie Campbell's fourth place finish in the women's open race, the T-Birds claimed the university team title.
Maximilien Filion once again led the way on the men's side as he did in last week's Vancouver Spirit Run, the third-year T-Bird finishing third overall but the first university athlete to cross the finish line with a time of 24:51 on the eight kilometre course.
"Today was a good step forward for our teams and we're tracking well for November," said UBC lead endurance coach,
Steve Weiler, who will now prepare his athletes for the upcoming Canada West championship later in October.
Campbell's fourth place time of 29:26 actually stands as the third best university athlete result while teammates
Amelia Pfohl,
Elysse Fleming and
Sarah MacGillivray finished sixth through eighth, respectively, within a three second span.
First-year
Mazy McFarling had another strong performance with a 15
th place time of 29:59, just ahead of
Rachel McDonald who took 17
th overall.
"This meet was such a fun experience getting to travel with the team for the first time," said rookie T-Bird
Alexandra Smith who posted a final time of 32:14 Saturday. "The girls all worked really well together and I'm super proud of all of us! I can't wait to see what we do at the next meet."
Second-year T-Bird
Steven Brittain finished 15
th out of 63 men's university competitors and 24
th of 87 total.
Freshman
Andrew Corbeil was the third Thunderbird to finish the men's race, 21
st in the university affiliated division with a time of 26:38.
"I'm very excited with how the race turned out for me and my placement as a rookie," said Corbeil following just his second entry in the blue and gold. "This race was all about taking what I learned from the Spirit Run and applying it today."
Kai Martland finished 23
rd in 26:39 while
Calvin Brain,
Miles Graham,
James Doughty and
Thomas Williams crossed the line in a pack no more than one second apart from each other to officially take 33
rd through 36
th.
Prior to the conference championship races in Victoria on Saturday, October 25, several T-Birds will compete in the B.C. Cross Country Championships in Vernon October 18.
The 2025 U SPORTS National Championships are slated for Sherbrooke, Quebec on Saturday, November 8.
FULL RESULTS
