NANOOSE BAY, B.C. – It would almost be appropriate to place the letter 'U' in front of the 2026 BC Athletics Cross Country Championships with the Thunderbirds dominating the field in sunny Nanoose Bay on Saturday.

A week after claiming the UBC Farm Fest win in his augural race of the season, fourth-year Maximilien Filion took the senior men's title at the Arbutus Meadows course.

The T-Birds swept the eight kilometre U20 races with Clare Goodison taking the win on the women's side and fellow second-year James Doughty claiming men's gold.

Grace Beach continued her strong start to the 2026 cross country season with a silver finish in the women's senior race.



"Today was a great opportunity to enjoy a fantastic course and relish the fray," said UBC lead endurance coach, Steve Weiler. "Our Thunderbirds raced with aplomb and we're looking forward to November."

Racing a 10 kilometre distance for the first time this season, Filion crossed the finish line in 30:41, a full 43 seconds ahead of second.

T-Bird alum Liam Dwyer took men's senior bronze while freshman Ryerson Stockton-Thomas clocked in at 32:44 in fourth place. First-year Randy Ren claimed sixth in 33 minutes flat.

Beach's silver finish came in 36:43, just five seconds behind gold medallist Ally Ginther. The second-year led a string of seven consecutive T-Bird finishers comprised of both current student-athletes and alumnae. Katelyn Cotterell took bronze in 36:47 followed two seconds later by Mia Zurkovic. Former Thunderbird Amelia Pfohl rounded out the top five.



Fifth-year Sarah MacGillivray crossed the line in 37 minutes even while alumna Katie Newlove followed in seventh. Rachel McDonald took eighth place in 37:11.

Goodison won the U20 women's eight kilometre race with a time of 30:16 followed by Delphine Gosselin and Kieva Birmingham for the Thunderbirds medal sweep.

Doughty's 26:14 in the men's U20 competition was good for a 21 second margin of victory while second-year Miles Graham took bronze, clocking in at 27:08.



Andrew Corbeil, Arata Nakanishi and Noah Smith claimed fifth through seventh, respectively.

The T-Birds now have a week off from competition while preparing for the upcoming Canada West Championships set for Calgary on October 31. The U SPORTS National Championships take place exactly two weeks later in Hamilton.

BC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS