Moncton's Sophie Black claims second individual title at StFX Invitational

Antigonish, NS – It was a home course sweep at the STFX Cross Country Invitational Saturday afternoon as both the STFX X-Women and X-Men ran to first place team titles on their own university trails. 

The X-Women garnered the top spot in the 8K race with 24 points as they had five runners finish in the top ten.  

Sophie Black from the Université de Moncton was the overall race winner, crossing the line with a time of 31:00 as she earned her second consecutive first place finish in as many AUS races this season. 

STFX's Mairin Canning was second at 31:11, followed closely by teammate Allie Sandluck at 31:33.

Allie's sister Breanna Sandluck – a former X runner and now representing Dalhousie – was fourth with a time of 31:20, while Caroline Ash and Eileen Benoit rounded out the top five individual finishers as they both clocked in at 31:24 in fifth place for STFX.  

In the team standings, the Dalhousie Tigers came in second place with 51 points. The Memorial Sea-Hawks were third with 83. UPEI earned fourth spot with 106 points, followed by Moncton (121), Acadia (153) and Saint Mary's (202). 

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In the men's race, the STFX X-Men claimed six spots in the top 10 to win first place with 20 points.

The Dalhousie Tigers were second with 38 points, and Memorial came third with 88. 

Tigers runner Jacob Benoit garnered his second consecutive individual first place finish of the AUS season as he crossed the finish line ahead of the other 51 racers with a time of 25:04. 

STFX's Joel Gallant came in second at 25:55, while his teammates Liam McCullagh and Griffin Gamble tied for third place, both finishing at 26:16.   

Luke MacDonald and Brett King – both with the STFX X-Men – came in fourth and fifth positions with times of 26:22 and 26:40, respectively. 

Rounding out the team standings following STFX, DAL and Memorial were UPEI in fourth place with 107 points, followed by Saint Mary's (140) and Moncton (155). 

The next race on the AUS schedule is the Moncton Invitational on Saturday, October 5th. Race times are 12:00 (Women) and 1:00 pm (Men) in Moncton.  

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics