Dalhousie Tigers sweep 2019 AUS men's and women’s cross country banners

Memorial's Jade Roberts and Saint Mary's Andrew Peverill claim individual gold medals

(HALIFAX, N.S.) The Dalhousie Tigers raced to first-place men's and women's team finishes at the 2019 Subway AUS Cross Country Championships presented by Keep It Social Saturday afternoon.

The championships were hosted by the UNB Reds at Kingswood Resort in Hanwell, N.B.  

WOMEN'S RACE RESULTS

In the women's 8km race, the Tigers claimed one individual medal and had three of the top 10 finishers to earn their 26^th AUS women's cross country title.

The Tigers' Catherine Thompson captured bronze with a time of 30:51.0. Dalhousie's Emily Hamilton (31:08.0) finished in sixth while Jessica Needham (31:31.0) came in eighth.

This marks Dalhousie's 26^th AUS women's cross country banner win and their seventh consecutive year claiming the title.

The StFX X-Women earned a second-place team finish. Their top finishers were Jane Hergett (30:43.0) who earned the silver medal and Paige Chisholm (30:58.0) who placed fifth.

The Memorial Sea-Hawks earned team bronze, led by Jade Roberts (30:23.0) who claimed individual gold, and Nicole Hollohan (31:35.0) who finished in eighth.

The Acadia Axewomen team finished in fourth, while the host UNB Reds claimed fifth. Acadia's Madalyn Higgins (31:22.0) placed seventh, while UNB's Hannah Cormier (30:56.0) narrowly missed the podium in fourth.

Dalhousie's women's team finished with a score of 49, followed by the X-Women with 61 and the Memorial Sea-Hawks with 73.

MEN'S RACE RESULTS

In the men's 8km race, the Tigers edged out the X-Men to claim their 20^th AUS men's cross country title.

The Tigers had five runners finish in the top 10—Jonathan Goodridge (26:05.0) in sixth, Hudson Grimshaw-Surette (26:17) in seventh, Callum Drever (26:19.0) in eighth, Nick Robertson (26:20.9) in ninth and Mike Rogers (26:24.0) in 10^th.

 The X-Men claimed a second-place team finish and two of three spots on the podium. Paul MacLellan (25:40.0) was the silver medallist while Jacob Benoit (25:45.0) earned bronze.

The host UNB Reds earned team bronze, led by Isaac Cull (25:51.0) who narrowly missed the podium in fourth.

The Saint Mary's Huskies men's team finished in fourth place, led by individual gold medallist Andrew Peverill (25:18.0).

The Memorial Sea-Hawks finished in fifth, with Levi Moulton (25:58.0) being the team's top finisher in fifth.

The Tigers finished with 40 team points. The X-Men followed with 51 and UNB claimed third with 68 points.

AUS MAJOR AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-STARS

Following the races, participants attended an awards luncheon at the Radisson Kingswood Hotel and Suites in Hanwell, N.B. AUS all-star awards were presented to the top seven finishers in each race, and individual medals, team medals and the AUS championship banners and trophies were handed out.

AUS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARDS

The AUS athletes of the year were awarded to the individual AUS champions, Jade Roberts (Twillingate, N.L.) from Memorial and Andrew Peverill (Sackville, N.S.) from Saint Mary's.

AUS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARDS

The winners of the AUS rookie of the year awards were Dalhousie's Lauren Lowther (Antigonish, N.S.) who finished in 17^th with a time of 32:36.0 and StFX's Jacob Benoit (Windsor, N.S.) who finished third with a time of 25:45.0

AUS STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS

Acadia's Madalyn Higgins (Halifax, N.S.) and StFX's Paul MacLellan (Antigonish, N.S.) were honoured as the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service award winners.

Higgins, a fourth-year nutrition student from Halifax, N.S., earned a 7^th place finish in today's championship and was named an AUS all-star with a time of 31:22.0.

She is a three-time academic all-Canadian on pace to repeat for a fourth time this year.

Higgins also volunteers her time with an array of community initiatives, including serving as a volunteer coach for the Wolfville School cross country team and being involved with Acadia's S.M.I.L.E. (Sensory Motor Instructional Leadership Experience) program.

MacLellan, a fifth-year accounting student from Antigonish, N.S., has had both academic and athletic success this season and throughout his AUS career. He boasts a current academic average of 87% and is a three-time AUS cross country all-star. He earned individual silver in today's race.

MacLellan is heavily involved in the community, volunteering his time with such initiatives as Fit 4 Tots, the StFX Student Food Resource Centre and the St. Martha's Regional Hospital Hope and Dreams event.

AUS COACH OF THE YEAR

Dalhousie's Rich Lehman was named AUS Coach of the Year for both men's and women's cross country.

This is his seventh consecutive time being named the AUS women's cross country coach of the year and his second time earning the Bernie Chisholm Award for men's cross country.

Today's wins mark Dalhousie's seventh consecutive AUS women's cross country banner (26^th all-time) and their 20^th AUS men's cross country banner.

The U SPORTS national championship meet will take place Saturday, Nov. 9 at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. 

Subway AUS Cross Country Championship Results: 
http://atlanticuniversitysport.com/sports/wxc/2019-20/files/AUS-Results_XC_2019_champs.pdf

2019 AUS CROSS COUNTRY ALL-STARS:

WOMEN
Jade Roberts, Memorial (2^nd year – Twillingate, N.L.)
Jane Hergett, StFX (3^rd year – Port Williams, N.S.)
Catherine Thompson, Dalhousie (5^th year – Blenheim, Ont.)
Hannah Cormier, UNB (3^rd year – Fredericton, N.B.)
Paige Chisholm, StFX (4^th year – Port Williams, N.S.)
Emily Hamilton, Dalhousie (1^st year – Halifax, N.S.)
Madalyn Higgins, Acadia (4^th year – Halifax, N.S.) 

MEN
Andrew Peverill, Saint Mary's (3^rd year – Sackville, N.S.)
Paul MacLellan, StFX (5^th year – Antigonish, N.S.)
Jacob Benoit, StFX (1^st year – Windsor, N.S.)
Isaac Cull, UNB Reds (3^rd year – Pubnico, N.S.)
Levi Moulton, Memorial (2^nd year – Paradise, N.L.)
Jonathan Goodridge, Dalhousie (2^nd year – St. John's, N.L.)
Hudson Grimshaw-Surette, Dalhousie (3^rd year – Yarmouth, N.S.)