Dalhousie's Savanna Jordan claims individual gold

(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) The Dalhousie Tigers raced to first-place men's and women's team finishes at the 2017 Subway AUS Cross Country Championships Saturday afternoon.

The championships were hosted by Acadia University at Hennigar's Farm in Wolfville, N.S.

In the women's 8km race, the Tigers claimed two individual medals and four of the top nine finishers. Freshman Savanna Jordan (Calgary, Alta.) captured first-place honours with a time of 30:05.0.

Dalhousie senior Michelle Reddy (Sarnia, Ont.) was the women's silver medallist, finishing with a time of 30:56.8.

Jenna MacDonald (New Glasgow, N.S.) finished seventh with a time of 32:07.3, while Shaylynn Tell (Toronto, Ont.) came in ninth place with a time of 32:30.3.

This marks Dalhousie's 24^th AUS women's cross country banner win and their fifth consecutive year claiming the title.

The StFX X-Women earned a second-place team finish. Their top finishers were Liz MacDonald (Bedford, N.S.) who came in fourth with a time of 31:30.7 and Rachel MacDougall (Antigonish, N.S.) who placed fifth with a time of 31:39.4.

The host Acadia Axewomen earned a third place team finish, with three runners in the top 10. Katie Robinson (Saint John, N.B.) finished sixth with a time of 31:58.3, Chrissy Smith (Glace Bay, N.S.) came in seventh with a time of 32:09.8 and Madalyn Higgins (Halifax, N.S.) claimed 10^th with a time of 32:33.2.

Dalhousie's women's team finished with a score of 36, followed by the X-Women with 52 and the Axewomen with 60.

Third-year Moncton Aigles Bleues' runner Carol-Ann MacDonald (Irishtown, N.B.) was the third runner to reach the podium on the women's side. She finished with a time of 31:11.8. Moncton earned a fourth-place team finish with 103 points.

AUS MAJOR AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-STARS

Following the races, the AUS all-stars were awarded to the top seven finishers in each race at the annual championship banquet, as were the individual medalists, team medalists and AUS championship banners.

AUS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

The AUS athlete of the year award was awarded to the individual AUS champion, Savanna Jordan (Calgary, Alta.) from Dalhousie. 

AUS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 

The winner of the AUS rookie of the year award was Dalhousie's Savanna Jordan (Calgary, Alta.).

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

StFX's Hana Marmura (Antigonish, N.S.) was honoured as the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service award winner.

Marmura, a third-year human kinetics student, earned an 18^th place finish in today's championship with a time of 33:43.7. She was named the AUS rookie of the year in her inaugural season with the X-Women in 2015.

Marmura has been named a U SPORTS academic all-Canadian and earned a spot on the Dean's List in her first two years at StFX. Her volunteer work includes serving as a chemistry tutor at StFX's Student Success Centre. This past summer, she volunteered with Med-Life on an initiative supporting community development in Lima, Peru, which brought clinics, doctors and volunteers to remote communities lacking easy access to health care.

Marmura volunteers weekly with the CBI Physiotherapy Clinic in Antigonish, N.S., and regularly lends her time to a variety of on-campus initiatives.

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 fifth consecutive time being named the AUS women's cross country coach of the year. 

Today's wins mark Dalhousie's fifth consecutive AUS women's cross country banner (24^th all-time).

The U SPORTS national championship meet will take place Saturday, Nov. 12 at the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C.

Subway AUS Women's Cross Country Championship Results: 
http://atlanticuniversitysport.com/sports/wxc/2017-18/files/2017_Subway_AUS_Women-s_Cross_Country_Championship_-_results.pdf 

2017 AUS CROSS COUNTRY ALL-STARS:

WOMEN
Savanna Jordan, Dalhousie (1^st year – Calgary, Alta.)
Michelle Reddy, Dalhousie (4^th year – Sarnia, Ont.)
Carol-Ann MacDonald, Moncton (3^rd year – Irishtown, N.B.)
Liz MacDonald, StFX (5^th year – Bedford, N.S.)
Rachel MacDougall, StFX (3^rd year – Antigonish, N.S.)
Katie Robinson, Acadia (4^th year – Saint John, N.B.)
Jenna MacDonald, Dalhousie (4^th year – New Glasgow, N.S.)

2017 AUS WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY MAJOR AWARD WINNERS:

AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award:  Hanna Marmura, StFX  
AUS Rookie of the Year:  Savanna Jordan, Dalhousie
AUS Coach of the Year:  Rich Lehman, Dalhousie
AUS Athlete of the Year:  Savanna Jordan, Dalhousie