Cross-country teams eye national championships
For the Fanshawe cross-country
teams, this is what it's all about.
After a gruelling five race season,
featuring the Falcons owning the
podium every week, countless training
sessions and plenty of blood,
sweat and hard work, it all came
down to this past weekend's
Canadian Colleges Athletic
Association national championships
at St.Thomas University in
Fredericton, New Brunswick.
After dominating all season throughout Ontario, with strong efforts from all runners, head coach John Loney believes it has been plenty of hard work and consistency from the team that has contributed to the success so far. "The biggest factor has been just everyone buying into the program, and consistency doesn't just happen, you grind away every week. The kids have been putting in the work. We've treated every race up until now - even provincials - we've just used as a stepping stone, to the big prize at the end of the season which is nationals."
With all the success the team has had here in Ontario, Loney knows full well other teams will be gunning for the Falcons at the championships. "Being ranked number one all season and both teams are undefeated, so we've kind of had a bit of a target on our back all season, and we've tried not to let that get to us."
Looking towards the championships, coach Loney believes the women's team is in position to be the front runners. "They're clearly the class of the field, if they run well, I don't think there is any college that can run with them." With a dominating team featuring Ontario champion Liliane Sparkes, the women are positioned to make CCAA history, by becoming the first cross-country team to three-peat on the national level.
On the men's side, it could be a little more difficult, said Loney. "They're going to be in a bit of a dog fight, I think there are four other colleges that have separated themselves from the pack, and it's going to be which team wins the individual battles that's going to come away with the medals. I think there's going to be about five teams: three are going to come away with a medal, and two aren't."
While it was clear from the beginning of the season the women's team was going to be strong due to their experience, Loney wasn't as sure about the men. With lots of rookies it was going to take the first few races to really see what they had, but Loney feels they established themselves early. "What looked like it was going to be a rebuilding year turned out be picking up right where we left off so that was a big surprise."
With a lot of the attention this season being paid the women, the men have come together and worked hard as a team, according to second-year paramedic student and fourth-year varsity athlete Chris Bruchner, who spent two seasons at Fleming College. "We have a very dynamic group of individuals who come together three times a week and push ourselves, and we race each other. If someone's having a bad day, it's up to the other guys to rally around them and push them forward. We know exactly where we should be and we just execute."
Looking towards this national championship, Bruchner said, "Hopefully we come back with some hardware because that's what it's all about for us." And while the women's team will be looking for a historic three-peat, the men will also be looking for their own bit of history as the men's team has never won a national gold medal in cross-country. Bruchner believes the men are in contention to do so this year.
With plenty of Fanshawe Falcons in the field, it looks to be a very exciting championship for Fanshawe. The races are set to go on Saturday, November 13 with the women running first at 12 p.m. in the 5km race while the men take off at 1 p.m. in the 8km championship race. Results and more information can be found at: ocaa.com or ccaa.ca.
After dominating all season throughout Ontario, with strong efforts from all runners, head coach John Loney believes it has been plenty of hard work and consistency from the team that has contributed to the success so far. "The biggest factor has been just everyone buying into the program, and consistency doesn't just happen, you grind away every week. The kids have been putting in the work. We've treated every race up until now - even provincials - we've just used as a stepping stone, to the big prize at the end of the season which is nationals."
With all the success the team has had here in Ontario, Loney knows full well other teams will be gunning for the Falcons at the championships. "Being ranked number one all season and both teams are undefeated, so we've kind of had a bit of a target on our back all season, and we've tried not to let that get to us."
Looking towards the championships, coach Loney believes the women's team is in position to be the front runners. "They're clearly the class of the field, if they run well, I don't think there is any college that can run with them." With a dominating team featuring Ontario champion Liliane Sparkes, the women are positioned to make CCAA history, by becoming the first cross-country team to three-peat on the national level.
On the men's side, it could be a little more difficult, said Loney. "They're going to be in a bit of a dog fight, I think there are four other colleges that have separated themselves from the pack, and it's going to be which team wins the individual battles that's going to come away with the medals. I think there's going to be about five teams: three are going to come away with a medal, and two aren't."
While it was clear from the beginning of the season the women's team was going to be strong due to their experience, Loney wasn't as sure about the men. With lots of rookies it was going to take the first few races to really see what they had, but Loney feels they established themselves early. "What looked like it was going to be a rebuilding year turned out be picking up right where we left off so that was a big surprise."
With a lot of the attention this season being paid the women, the men have come together and worked hard as a team, according to second-year paramedic student and fourth-year varsity athlete Chris Bruchner, who spent two seasons at Fleming College. "We have a very dynamic group of individuals who come together three times a week and push ourselves, and we race each other. If someone's having a bad day, it's up to the other guys to rally around them and push them forward. We know exactly where we should be and we just execute."
Looking towards this national championship, Bruchner said, "Hopefully we come back with some hardware because that's what it's all about for us." And while the women's team will be looking for a historic three-peat, the men will also be looking for their own bit of history as the men's team has never won a national gold medal in cross-country. Bruchner believes the men are in contention to do so this year.
With plenty of Fanshawe Falcons in the field, it looks to be a very exciting championship for Fanshawe. The races are set to go on Saturday, November 13 with the women running first at 12 p.m. in the 5km race while the men take off at 1 p.m. in the 8km championship race. Results and more information can be found at: ocaa.com or ccaa.ca.
