CREDIT: FANSHAWE ATHLETICS
Fanshawe brings home all four gold medals at this year's OCAA Cross-Country Provincial Championships.

On Saturday Oct. 28, Fanshawe College hosted the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Cross-Country Provincial Championships at the Fanshawe Conservation Area. While the weather was rather cold with a constant downpour of rain, it did not deter these athletes from giving it their all.

At 11 a.m. the women's six kilometre race began with a roar of cheers from family, friends and coaches. The majority of supporters rushed to checkpoints throughout the course to send their encouraging messages to racers. Janelle Hanna pulled off a first place finish with a time of 22.11.4. Hanna explained that she was running close to the two competitors that were in the lead for most of the race. She made her move to sprint to the finish line with about 150 metres left to pull off a clutch victory. In addition, the Fanshawe women's cross country running team also won the gold medal at Provincials with a total of 33 points.

“I'm having a really great time running with the team. It's a lot of fun. The women's team is undefeated going into nationals,” Hanna said. Hanna explained that she is hoping for a podium finish at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championships, which will be held in Sainte-Thérèse, Que and hosted by Collège Lionel-Groulx, next month.

Volunteers from the Fanshawe School of Public Safety were situated at the finish line to assist racers who were in the process of recuperating from the run.

In addition, sports beverages were offered to racers at the finish line and Fanshawe provided some pump-up tunes to keep participants focused.

Following the women's race, participants of the men's eight kilometre race took the opportunity to do some last-minute warm-ups in the rain before the race was scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. Just like in the women's race, once the men began running, their supporters rushed over to checkpoints throughout the course for a chance to cheer them on.

Jordan Kadlecik took home the gold medal with a time of 26.37.5. Kadlecik explained that two other competitors were battling for first place throughout the majority of the race and he, along with two of his teammates, were running as a group to help pace each other throughout the event.

With a couple kilometres left to go, Kadlecik said he made his move to pass the two competitors in front of him and as a result, pulled off a first place finish.

The men's cross country team also took home the gold medal with 20 points, meaning Fanshawe took home all the gold medal awards at this year's Provincial Championships.

“I couldn't have asked for a better result for myself and my team,” Kadlecik said.

Once the men's race concluded, the teams made their way over to the Western Fair District for a banquet celebration and formal award ceremony. Head coach Ashley VanderVecht said that the falcons had a great time running in the rain and that everyone on the team gets along very well.

The results for all Fanshawe runners are as follows:

Women's final team results: Janelle Hanna (1), Sammi-Jo Burch (7), Breah Gordon (12), Hannah Carley (13) and Nicole Sharma (32).

Women's overall finish list: Janelle Hanna (1), Sammi-Jo Burch (10), Breah Gordon (15), Hannah Carley (16) and Nicole Sharma (38).

Men's final team results: Jordan Kadlecik (1), Chris Caddey (4), Alastair Thompson (5), Zach Buchan (10), Dean Vanherpe (13) and Justin Attfield (14).

Men's overall finish list: Jordan Kadlecik (1), Chris Caddey (4), Alastair Thompson (5), Zach Buchan (10), Dean Vanherpe (13) and Justin Attfield (14).

Photos 1-2 CREDIT: JEN DOEDE. Photos 3-5 CREDIT: FANSHAWE ATHLETICS Click on the thumbnails below to view a larger version of each image.