Talent
Shannon Popowich continued her domination of the Canada West conference this season, toppling competitors to take gold in many events. She even managed fourth at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Cross-Country Championship on the eastern coast of this vast country.
Lindsay Winter stayed just behind Popowich all year, with a few top 10s, including a second place finish in Spokane and a ninth place finish at nationals in the East. Renee Kaylor was also a regular in the top 10 at CW meets.
Geoff Kerr, while warming a top-10 seat during the regular season, was bumped to 11th at nationals.
Effort
Do you run on an almost daily basis? Since I bet a tonne of you health nuts do, I propose you try keeping up with the men and women of the cross-country team some time. Then you’ll know what effort is. They’ll make your runs look like that other kind of runs.
Coaching
The Dinos are blessed with the cross-country coaching talents of Doug Lamont. He has been named CW Cross-Country Coach of the Year numerous times and was CIS Women’s Cross-Country Coach of the Year in 2003. Under his supervision, many University of Calgary athletes have moved from jogging mediocrity to running greatness.
Achievement
While the men grabbed two silvers in three meets in the West, they slipped to 12th at nationals. The ladies, on the other hand, have a more diversified team, with many ladies posting excellent results all season. This helped them win all three of their regular season meets and finish a strong fourth amongst Canada’s best at nationals.
Overall: B+
Animal: Zebra. They run pretty damn fast, but in the end they’re just another hunted herbivore.