By: Brendan Jewell
Conditions were not ideal for a race during the Centennial Cross Country Invitational this past Saturday. Despite the conditions, runners from around the province showed up and showed out for the event, with two highly contested races, as schools prepare for the OCAA Nationals at Humber College in two weeks.
Included in the two events were four runners for Centennial, who performed admirably in the Invitational, accumulating a couple of personal best times. Nadia Rocheford made her XC debut for the college, completing the six-kilometre circuit with a time of 31:27. The best (Woman's) result for Centennial to date in this shortened cross-country season, finishing 38th for her school. "I know I have a lot of things to improve on, but for my first race here, I'm pretty proud about it, but I know there's a lot of work to do in the next few weeks [leading up to OCAA Championships]," Rocheford said after the contest. Hayley Howson and Natalie Zairns finished shortly after Rocheford, placing 39th and 40th in the contest. Howson seems to be rounding into form coming into the end of the cross-country season, posting a time of 32:30, almost 50 seconds better than her time at the Fanshawe Invitational a week before.
As far as the top competitors in the Woman's heat, Catherine Irwin of St Lawrence College won her second event in a row with yet another remarkable showing, winning the contest with ease over the second-place finalist Karyn Blackney by 21 seconds. Faith Neeson of Laurier Brantford rounded out the podium on the Woman's side, with Fanshawe College having the best team results overall, followed by St Clair College and the rest of the Laurier Brantford team. Next up in the Centennial Invitational was the Men's heat, with Colt's lone male competitor Shezan Dosani giving an inspired performance for his school, finishing with a time of 36:22. The result was good enough for 47th place, with Dosani powering through tough windy conditions throughout the eight-kilometre loop for the outcome.
The big storyline following the competition was the incredible battle between Fanshawe and St. Clair College for the top team result. The two schools combined for nine of the top ten spots in the race. St Clair won the event by a slim margin, with three of their competitors finishing inside the top five compared to Fanshawe's two. Mohawk College also saw themselves getting on the podium with four runners finishing in the top 20.
The competition was led again by Fanshawe's Seth Maraccio, who blew away the rest of the field with a time of 26:39, as he continues to put himself up there with some of the most elite runners Fanshawe has ever seen. Tyler Jones of St. Clair College was just able to knock of Maraccio's teammate Sandy Freeland for second in the highly entertaining race. Overall it was a great day for Centennial, as the team continues to make excellent strides in their performance. Up next, the team will be heading to Humber College for the 2021 OCAA Cross Country Championships.
***For corrections, please email rmiller@centennialcollege.ca***