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Hearts heave on Fourth Line (24 photos)

The Sault's November weather is often not conducive to off-road running. But weekend conditions at Crimson Ridge exceeded anyone's best expectation for the national CCAA Cross Country Running Championship.

Sault College's organizational prowess and an unusually propitious Mother Nature were credited for the success of a national collegiate running competition over the weekend.

"Sault Ste. Marie has been fantastic," said Michele McConney, vice president of governance for the Canadian Collegiate  Athletic Association (CCAA).

"This hospitality has been outstanding - the organization here of Sault College and all their volunteers. They've put together a first-class national championship," McConney told SooToday.

All last week, organizers of the 2016 CCAA Cross Country Running Championship at Crimson Ridge were keeping a wary eye on the weather.

Daily low temperatures hovered close to zero for much of the time and even dropped below freezing on Wednesday, but predicted snowfall didn't happen.

"Obviously the weather has co-operated," McConney told SooToday. "Sault College was ready for any condition. I know they had snow in mind. They had wind, rain in mind but everything's worked out."

The Sault's November weather is often not conducive to off-road running, but Saturday's conditions were wildly better than anyone's best expectation.

"The biggest supporter of this national event seemed to be Mother Nature, as temperatures hovered around 10 degrees with the sun breaking through, creating optimal racing conditions for Canada’s best," Scott Gray, Sault College's manager of athletics, said in a written statement.

The result, competitors told SooToday, was crisp, fast terrain on which both men's and women's course records were set Saturday.

Men's competition

"It's pretty hilly but you can still run pretty quick on it," said Fanshawe College's Seth Marcaccio after running the men's eight-kilometre course in a field-topping, heart-heaving 25 minutes, 39 seconds.

"I figured I'd have the same plan as the provincials, just kinda relax the first K," Marcaccio said. "It's gonna go out pretty hard, so just relax the first K, get into a good position and then try to hammer it and see if anyone would go with me. No one went, so I figured just keep going. Things were getting a little tough by 6K. But I managed to hold on for the last 2K."

After his unhurried start, Marcaccio took the lead about one kilometre into the race and never surrendered it.

"Those guys were with me for a little but after that, but about 2K it was just myself."
 
"I was being told I had to lead coming through 5K, It's a lot easier to just relax and let them come back to you, but I just had to  convince myself to keep going and try to hold them off for as long as I could."

Second-place William Chemno from Centennial College finished 20 seconds behind Marcaccio, pushed by CEGEP de Sherbrooke’s Felix Lapointe-Pilote two seconds later.

Marcaccio says the Fanshawe team benefited from a mental coach this year.

"We had four or five sessions, talking about different things like visualizing the race, trying to create positive affirmations. If you're not feeling good, you've got to just try to convince yourself that you are."

"I had to train my mind so I can push through the pain. Your mind can be your greatest asset but it can also be your worst enemy."

Women's competition

"I think it was a beautiful race. We had hills and it was fast too," said CEGEP Garneau's Jessy Lacourse after leading the women's five-kilometre course from start to finish, setting a new course record of 18:11 and quickly trotting off to encourage her teammates still on the course.

Cambrian College's Mary Strain crossed the finish line next in 18:24 and promptly collapsed.

Jade Berube of College Lionel-Groulx was third at 18:39.

"The first part of the race was very flat," Lacourse said. "At the end we had like a little hill and we had to finish pretty hard."

Based on their experience with other recent cross-country competitions at Crimson Ridge, organizers decided to alter the course design for the CCAA nationals, so the start and finish lines were closer together.

"We altered the course to give it a straighter finish and a more challenging finish with an uphill and then a straightaway," Sault College's Scott Gray told SooToday.

"Last year, you had the big hill over there," said men's leader Marcaccio. "You had to run down and then go right back up it. This year, you just had to go down. You're still going down it, but you didn't have to go back up it."

The following are race results and season awards, as provided by www.chiptimeresults.com and Sault College Athletics.

Top Sault College finishers were Luke Groulx, 51st in the men's race and Lindsay Lewkowitz, 86th in the women's race.

Men’s 8-kilometre race results

1 Seth Marcaccio 25:39 OCAA - Fanshawe
2 William Chemno 25:59 OCAA - Centennial
3 Félix Lapointe-Pilote 26:01 RSEQ - Sherbrooke
4 Jacob Smith 26:12 OCAA - Conestoga
5 Kevin Robertson 26:26 RSEQ - Andre-Laurendeau
6 Rob Asselstine 26:29 OCAA - SLC
7 Emmanuel Champagne 26:34 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
8 Perry Mackinnon 26:39 RSEQ - Sherbrooke
9 Riley Olesky 26:45 OCAA - Fleming
10 Jacques Saayman 26:55 ACAC - SAIT
11 Ryan Foott 27:00 OCAA - Fanshawe
12 Alex Howells 27:04 ACAC - SAIT
13 Soufiane Sanba 27:08 RSEQ - Andre-Laurendeau
14 Alex Andres 27:09 ACAC - Lethbridge
15 Enrique (Ricky) Nepomuceno 27:10 OCAA - St. Clair
16 Felix Deschenes 27:11 RSEQ - Chicoutimi
17 Chris Caddey 27:14 OCAA - Mohawk
18 Louis-Philippe Ringuet 27:17 RSEQ - Sherbrooke
19 Kyler Rooke 27:19 OCAA - Mohawk
20 Boaz Korir 27:20 ACAC - Lethbridge
21 Idris Ahmed 27:21 OCAA - Humber 3:26 /Km
22 Justin Attfield 27:21 OCAA - Fanshawe 3:26 /Km
23 Orest Vesna 27:25 OCAA - Humber 3:26 /Km
24 Jordan Kadlecik 27:33 OCAA - Fanshawe 3:27 /Km
25 Hubert Fortin 27:35 RSEQ - Garneau
26 Dominic Perreault 27:40 RSEQ - Sherbrooke
27 Andy Hein 27:40 OCAA - Fleming
28 Alfred Coma Pujades 27:49 OCAA - Centennial
29 Jason LaPorta 27:50 OCAA - Mohawk
30 Abderaouf Hani 28:03 RSEQ - Sherbrooke
31 Cael Warner 28:08 PACW - UBC-O
32 Matthew Lozano 28:11 OCAA - Centennial
33 Abdelmalek Benbachir 28:16 RSEQ - Andre-Laurendeau
34 Simon Wells 28:16 OCAA - Humber
35 Brandon Wladyko 28:17 ACAC - GPRC
36 Haseeb Malik 28:24 OCAA - UTM
37 Nicolas Riopel 28:29 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
38 Matt Martin 28:30 ACAC - Augustana 3:34
39 Sean Hickey 28:30 ACAC - SAIT
40 Isaac Fraser 28:32 OCAA - SLC - C
41 Justin McNamara 28:35 OCAA - Fanshawe
42 Josh Heuving 28:36 OCAA - Fanshawe
43 Jérémie Roy 28:36 RSEQ - Sherbrooke
44 Michael Mitchell 28:38 PACW - UBC-O
45 Daryl Ross 28:38 ACAC - SAIT
46 Karim Boussikouk 28:40 RSEQ - Andre-Laurendeau
47 Ahmed Ahmed 28:42 OCAA - Conestoga
48 Kale Heino 28:42 OCAA - UTM
49 Ryan Merrett 28:49 ACAA - Holland
50 Aaron Veenstra 28:52 OCAA - Humber
51 Luke Groulx 28:58 OCAA - Sault
52 Maréchal Félix 28:58 RSEQ - Vieux Montreal
53 Philippe Huard 28:58 RSEQ - Garneau
54 Samuel Goodrich 29:02 PACW - UBC-O
55 Alexis Froment 29:04 RSEQ - Levis-Lauzon
56 Edwin Kitany 29:05 ACAC - Lethbridge
57 Jérémie Martin 29:08 RSEQ - Champlain St. Lambert
58 Gabriel Lemay 29:13 RSEQ - Levis-Lauzon
59 Karan Matusin 29:13 ACAC - SMU
60 Jake Buchan 29:15 OCAA - Fleming
61 Didier Kénol-Tomway 29:16 RSEQ - Garneau
62 Giguère Antonin  29:21 RSEQ - Levis-Lauzon
63 Kyler Norton 29:22 OCAA - Mohawk
64 Emmanuel Mercier 29:23 RSEQ - Garneau
65 Charles Langlois 29:26 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
66 Leo Wormser 29:43 RSEQ - Ahuntsic
67 Hassan Ishaq 29:43 OCAA - Mohawk
68 Matthew Vandegriff 29:45 ACAC - SAIT
69 Xavier Houle 29:51 RSEQ - Trois Rivieres
70 Matthew Mundy 29:52 ACAC - SMU
71 Shawn Acrey 29:55 OCAA - Humber
72 Derek Veenstra 29:56 OCAA - Conestoga
73 Markus Firus 29:58 OCAA - Conestoga
74 Alexis Deslauriers 30:17 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
75 Bryce Turner 30:24 ACAC - Augustana
76 Francis Fortin 30:29 RSEQ - Garneau
77 Antoine Turgeon 30:31 RSEQ - Levis-Lauzon
78 Cailan Libby 30:39 PACW - UBC-O
79 Austin White 30:50 PACW - UBC-O
80 Marc Sfeir 30:57 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
81 Jacob Campbell 30:59 OCAA - Humber
82 Anthony Slade 31:07 OCAA - Fleming
83 (William ) Luis Curry 31:13 OCAA - Fleming
84 Joseph Tuskin 31:14 OCAA - Fleming
85 Logan Gechter 31:24 ACAC - Lethbridge
86 Jash Malmsten 31:26 ACAC - GPRC
87 Kyle Foster 31:37 PACW - UBC-O
88 Antoine Ruel 31:44 RSEQ - Levis-Lauzon
89 Vassil Kroumov 31:49 RSEQ - Andre-Laurendeau
90 Jeff Whaling 31:51 OCAA - Mohawk
91 Denton Davies 31:56 ACAC - SAIT
92 Reece Bailey 32:00 ACAC - Augustana
93 John Krause 32:20 ACAC - Lethbridge
94 Étienne Benoît-Labelle 32:38 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
95 Dayton Jans 32:53 ACAC - Lethbridge
96 Mark Moores 33:17 OCAA - Sault
97 Jean-Charles Marentette 34:26 RSEQ - Andre-Laurendeau
98 Parker Jackson 34:46 OCAA - Sault
99 Liam Jordan 34:53 OCAA - Sault
100 Michael Cole 36:30 ACAC - Augustana
101 Jordan Reinke 39:56 OCAA - Sault

Women’s 5-kilometre race results

1 Jessy Lacourse 18:11 RSEQ - Garneau
2 Mary Strain 18:24 OCAA - Cambrian
3 Jade Bérubé 18:39 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
4 Veronika Fagan 18:49 PACW - UBC-O
5 Rachel McKenzie 19:16 ACAC - Lethbridge
6 Jordanna Cota 19:21 ACAC - RDC
7 Marianne Houle 19:25 RSEQ - Trois-Rivieres
8 Emily Spencer 19:26 ACAC - Lethbridge
9 Élodie De Coene 19:27 RSEQ - Montmorency
10 Kaitlin Shuvera 19:32 OCAA - Humber
11 Sarah Beairsto 19:37 OCAA - Mohawk
12 Brianna Dolderman 19:41 OCAA - Conestoga
13 Sandrine Veillette 19:41 RSEQ - Garneau
14 Jillian Stewart 19:41 ACAC - RDC
15 Camille Galloway 19:43 PACW - UBC-O
16 Ricki Doyle 19:50 ACAC - SAIT
17 Camiré Madelaine 19:52 RSEQ - Vieux Montreal
18 Laurie Custeau 19:56 RSEQ - Trois-Rivieres
19 Morgan Hendriks 20:03 OCAA - Fanshawe
20 Josie Storey 20:11 PACW - UBC-O
21 Frédérique Cyr-Deschênes 20:12 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
22 Camille Dumont 20:21 RSEQ - John Abbott
23 Anna Merino 20:22 PACW - UBC-O
24 Noémie Desharnais-Préfontaine 20:22 RSEQ - Montmorency
25 Andrea Snider 20:24 ACAC - GPRC
26 Geneviève Paquin 20:26 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
27 Stacey Andrews 20:30 OCAA - Fanshawe
28 Alex Beswick 20:31 PACW - UBC-O
29 Janaya Garbe 20:35 ACAC - RDC
30 Maria Houle 20:38 ACAC - GPRC
31 Amy Severtson 20:41 ACAC - RDC
32 Elizabeth Nawrocki 20:44 ACAC - Concordia
33 Beth (Elizabeth) Horrobin 20:46 OCAA - St. Clair 4:10
34 Kirstyn Janzen 20:46 ACAC - Lethbridge
35 Karlie Dolderman 20:51 OCAA - Conestoga
36 Ivon Jaimes Albarran 20:57 OCAA - Humber
37 Marie-Pier Corneau 20:59 RSEQ - Garneau
38 Leanne Sanders 21:00 OCAA - George Brown
39 Yasmine Saad 21:02 RSEQ - Montmorency
40 Marie-Ève Turcotte 21:03 RSEQ - Garneau
41 Breah Gordon 21:04 OCAA - Fanshawe
42 Mariane Pominville 21:04 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
43 Alea Stockton 21:06 PACW - UBC-O
44 Baylee Frissell 21:06 ACAC - Concordia
45 Hannah Cirino 21:07 OCAA - St. Clair
46 Mélyna Levasseur 21:08 RSEQ - Garneau
47 Lorelei Wiebe 21:09 OCAA - Mohawk
48 Coby Phillips 21:10 OCAA - Humber
49 Rachel Hoekstra 21:13 OCAA - Redeemer
50 Kailey Bratland 21:17 ACAC - GPRC
51 Christina Dolderman 21:21 OCAA - Conestoga
52 Breanna Berridge 21:24 ACAC - RDC
53 Pascale Morneau-Thomassin 21:25 RSEQ - Levis-Lauzon
54 Anne-Catherine Savaria 21:26 RSEQ - Montpetit
55 Sammi-Jo Burch 21:26 OCAA - Fanshawe
56 Rachael Smillie 21:27 ACAC - Concordia
57 Myriam Poirier 21:27 RSEQ - Montpetit
58 Richelle Ramirez 21:27 OCAA - Humber
59 Marcia Coelho 21:31 OCAA - Humber
60 Vildana Rekic 21:31 ACAC - Lethbridge
61 Anna Zulic 21:33 ACAC - Concordia
62 Janelle Graham 21:38 ACAC - Lethbridge
63 Florence Despins 21:42 RSEQ - Trois-Rivieres
64 Erin Kinninmont 21:43 OCAA - Sheridan
65 Adrianna So 21:43 OCAA - Redeemer
66 Aryana Cirino 21:46 OCAA - St. Clair
67 Bailey Troccoli-Hughes 21:46 ACAC - Concordia
68 Joanie Vallée 21:51 RSEQ - Trois-Rivieres
69 Haley Dunwoodie 21:51 ACAC - Concordia
70 Meghan Howell 21:53 OCAA - St. Clair
71 Florence Bourque 22:05 RSEQ - Montpetit
72 Christie Shepherd 22:06 ACAC - GPRC
73 Ella Strathdee 22:06 OCAA - Conestoga
74 Samantha Debree 22:07 ACAC - RDC
75 Jasmin Kornelsen 22:10 OCAA - Conestoga
76 Claire Brown 22:11 OCAA - Humber
77 Florence Lambert 22:11 RSEQ - Montpetit
78 Vicky Labourdette-Denis 22:12 RSEQ - Montpetit
79 Laura Szymanek 22:14 ACAC - RDC
80 Annie Tremblay 22:16 RSEQ - Montpetit
81 Audrey DeWeerd 22:23 OCAA - Mohawk
82 Brittany Duvall 22:27 ACAC - GPRC
83 Madison Sloan 22:30 OCAA - Fleming
84 Jillian Ciconne 22:42 OCAA - Mohawk
85 Lily Forsythe 22:46 ACAA - Dalhousie AC
86 Lindsay Lewkowitz 22:49 OCAA - Sault
87 Ellen Pederson 23:00 ACAC - Lethbridge
88 Toria (Victoria) Verbeek 23:05 OCAA - St. Clair
89 Danielle Albers 23:10 ACAA - Dalhousie AC
90 Hayley Shipp 23:16 OCAA - Conestoga
91 Cassidy Bradley 23:30 ACAA - Dalhousie AC
92 Abbey Rice 23:43 OCAA - St. Clair
93 Marie-Frédérique Poulin 23:50 RSEQ - Trois-Rivieres
94 Mikaila Kennedy 23:53 OCAA - Sault
95 Ashley Camsell 24:01 ACAC - GPRC
96 Éliane D'Aoust 24:41 RSEQ - Lionel-Groulx
97 Amber Coates-Worthington 24:58 OCAA - Sault
98 Emily Sutherland 25:04 ACAA - Dalhousie AC
99 Alison Fernandes 25:18 OCAA - Fanshawe
100 Lindsay Cameron 26:03 ACAA - Dalhousie AC
101 Tammy McCormick 26:05 OCAA - Sault
102 Shannon O'Connor 26:20 ACAA - Dalhousie AC
103 Morgan Faugh-Bulckaert 27:25 OCAA - Sault

2016 CCAA Cross Country Championships women's team awards

Gold – the Heat from University of British Columbia – Okanagan
Silver – the Queens from Red Deer College
Bronze – the Nordiques from College Lionel-Groulx

2016 CCAA Cross Country Championships men's team awards

Gold – the Volontaires of CEGEP du Sherbrooke
Silver – the Falcons from Fanshawe College
Bronze – the Boomerang of CEGEP Andre-Laurendeau

Josten's CCAA Cross Country Coach of the Year

Olivier Lavoie, College Lionel-Groulx (winner)
Joy Galloway-Jones, Dalhousie AC (nominee)
Kari Elliott, Red Deer College (nominee)
Ashley Vandervecht, Fanshawe College (nominee)

Women’s All Canadians

Jessy Lacourse – Cegep Garneau
Mary Strain – Cambrian College
Jade Berube – College Lionel-Groulx
Veronika Fagan – UBC-Okanagan
Rachel McKenzie – Lethbridge College
Jordanna Cota – Red Deer College
Marianne Houle – Cegep de Trois-Rivieres
Emily Spencer – Lethbridge College
Elodie De Coene – College Montmorency 
Kaitlin Shuvera – Humber College

Men’s All Canadians

Seth Marcaccio – Fanshawe College
William Chemno – Centennial College
Felix Lapointe-Pilote – CEGEP du Sherbrooke
Jacob Smith – Conestoga College
Kevin Robertson – CEGEP Andre-Laurendeau
Rob Asselstine – St. Lawrence College Kingston
Emmanuel Champagne – College Lionel Groulx
Perry MacKinnon - CEGEP du Sherbrooke
Riley Olesky – Fleming College 
Jacques Saayman – Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

Community race results

1 Keven Bedard 15:48
2 Zach Buchan 16:35
3 Jose Carvalho 16:41
4 William Brouard 17:10
5 Eric Leishman 17:15
6 Simon Schaerz 17:21
7 Paul Nozicka 17:27
8 Brian Jamis 17:37
9 Jamie Wigmore 18:24
10 Samuel Kirwin 18:47
11 Sebastian Diebel 18:57
12 Josh Murphy 18:58
13 Cam Wilson 19:00
14 Nathan Mudge 19:07
15 Ryan Vandyl 19:08
16 Tim Pearson 19:26
17 Mario Morin 19:36
18 Joedy Dalke 19:52
19 Jake Thomson 20:03
20 Lucas Luciani 20:08
21 Jacob Verslype 20:19
22 Bryan Warick 20:26
23 Jonathan Reinke 20:42
24 Wyatt Kennedy 21:02
25 Tathnee Omeara 21:45
26 Danny Webster 21:58
27 Donna Dixon 22:26
28 Martine Gervais 22:33
29 Allan Dumas 22:39
30 James Isaacs 22:44
31 Henri Simard 23:00
32 Megan Wismer 26:14
33 Joclynn Amaral 26:56
34 Darrin Debassige 26:57
35 Jacqueline Robichard 28:21
36 Bertil Johansson 29:19


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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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