By Aritra Das
The high-flying Dinos cross-country team once again had an outstanding showing at the Stewart Cup held in Calgary on Halloween. The Dinos women took first place and the men finished in third. In addition, the University of Calgary Alumni team finished in first.
As usual, the Dinos women dominated their five-kilometre race with Shannon Popowich finishing in second place with a time of 19:22. Other Dinos ladies who finished in the top ten included Renee Kaylor, Sabrina Harper and Jackie Jones, finishing in fourth, sixth and seventh respectively. With no runners finishing above 24th place, the Dinos women easily won the competition based on their aggregate points total of 26. The Dinos’ nearest rival, the Regina Harriers, finished well behind with 61 points.
The Dinos men nearly matched the ladies’ exceptional performance with a third overall finish in their ten-kilometre race. Geoff Kerr and Andrew Carruthers were top performers for the team, finishing the race in ninth and tenth place respectively. Kerr finished the gruelling run in 35:21, with Carruthers just seven seconds behind. The U of C Alumni team stole some of the Dinos’ fire, finishing first in scoring. Alumni team members Jeremy Deere, Lanny Mann and Nathan Kendrick finished in first, second and third overall, respectively. Deere completed the run in 33:30, with teammates Mann and Kendrick, five and 11 seconds behind.
The perpetually dominant Dino cross-country team have high expectations this season. With their constantly strong performance, the Dinos women have a great shot at winning nationals this season while the men will at least make a run at the CIS title. No pun intended.
Nationals take place in Guelph Nov 13.