``Slanders and Speculations: Assorted Writings and Prognostications regarding CIS cross country competion, by Jeff Barr and Rob Kitz (Being two gentlemen of much learnedness and CIS Experience)`
The Men: Installment the Second.
1. Guelph: A partial Guelph squad was easily the top Canadian team at Western (albeit Windsor was also missing a few runners) and there’s no reason to think that anyone will challenge them. Allan Brett spent the first half of the race lying in the weeds, but came on strong over the second half for a creditable 4th place finish. Parrot and Jackson also snuck into the top 10 with conservative racing strategies. Koziarski and the young Alex Hinton performed creditably, and would be a welcome addition to many a CIS team’s top 5, though I expect that they’ll be knocked out of their scoring positions when the full Gryphons roster toes the line. Hopefully the battle for the final championship spots on this squad doesn’t wreak havoc with the peaking of the Gryphon machine…
2. Windsor: The Western Invite is a jagged shoal, upon which many a fine ship has foundered. Weston was in good form this weekend, dispatching all challengers with ease; let’s hope that this doesn’t turn out to be the highpoint of his season. On the whole, the Lancers were impressive this weekend. Aguanno and “Oscar” Meyer proved themselves dependable scorers with their 12th and 13th finishes. Add Sinclair, Kellar, and Henshaw to that mix, and you’ve got yourself a nice little roster. I will put a bit of question mark beside Kellar, though, given that he’s on his way to Lebanon to race the 1500; that may not be compatible with an ideal cross country training plan. I also question if we’ve seen the full Lancer roster as of yet. One wonders if they might get an old guy (Old guy, Def: one who was born before 1983 and / or started their undergrad before 2002) to come back for one more kick at the can.
3. St. F X: It would be silly to get excited about a bunch of 26 minute 8K’s at the St F X Invitational. That’s not interesting, even by Antigonish standards. And yet… X had their top 5 finish this race within 20 seconds of each other. One of those guys, David Gerych (X’s second finisher), was 3rd at CI’s last year. The only other runner able to keep up with the X Men was Russel Christie, a 3-time All-Canadian. Their fifth man, Brent Addison, was 32nd at CI’s last year. Hopefully, X will show us what they’re capable of at Murray Keating this coming weekend, but until then I take this as a very positive result. My only caveat is that it’s a significant gap back to their sixth runner, so all five of these X-Men will have to be in good form come November. If they put it all together, they will be in position to come home with another team medal.
4. Regina: What could have been in 2008? It doesn’t matter now, as this is 2009, and Baiton and Wig have taken the Cougars’ fate into their own hands. Alberta was number 1 in our pre-season Canwest analysis, but with fantastic runs by the aforementioned athletes Regina moves up to remove the target from Da Bear’s backs. 25:47 and 26:12 on a slow day at Roy Griak (which is NOT a fast course, come to think of it I think Kunter ran 25:10ish when he was 2nd in Victoria) for the lead Cougars bodes very well for their front end. Keep in mind, Wiebe hasn’t raced yet, perhaps to save himself for later in the season. Good to see the young guy is learning from last year when he was tearin’ it up early and faltered late. Fyfe and Benjammin need to get it rolling. If this team has any hope of medaling, they are going to need to have the 4-5 in under 40th.
UVic: This team moves up with the HUGE addition of Pieterson (14:30 for 5km) from UNB. Along with Mallie, these two form a ridiculously strong top 2 that we won’t see in action until Oct. 10th in San Diego. As usual, this group will be running fast times down south and there won’t be much of a reference point with which the rest of the CIS can compare UVic. Cliff Childs and Karl Robertson make this team very deep through 4, but again the 5-man needs to step up to bring the Vikes into the medals. They have the thouroughbreds to be in the hunt for a podium, but to be safe one must hope that Coach Fougner has convinced a former Vike or Olympic triathlete to don the Blue and Gold this fall. If not, I fear the fate of the Vikes will be deteremined by their ability (or inability) to tough it out during the later loops on the famed Fort Henry course. That course will make a man out of anyone… even a Vike!
6. UWO: It’s starting to look like this paper tiger has no claws. Emberley is out for the season with injury. So is Armstrong. The various handsome and talented distance runners seen looping / lurking about Gibbons Park aren't actually running for the team. O’Neil didn’t look great on his home course this weekend, but he ran a solid race and continues to be the real deal in my books. Huff did what he needs to do, but Suda, Komer, and Smith are going to need to step it up in November. Like so many Mustang teams before them, this group has the talent to battle for a medal, but whether or not they can reproduce their early season form when it matters remains to be seen.
7. Da Bears: The Edmonton Thunder message board tells me Da Bears have been putting in the miles and like so many Bears teams before them do not plan on racing in the early season. Perhaps this is the reason why on most occasions these Western teams come into the championships and are able to outperform expectations. While the OUA teams are hammering away at the Thames, Alberta xc runners are nailing 60 minute progression runs and 6x12mins. with 30s rest at 10km pace. No, this is not a lie. We won’t know more about this team, and likely a few other Canwest teams before this coming weekend. If history is any indication, watch for this team to capitalize on the mistakes of some Ontario teams to hold their position in the second tier of the CIS.
8. Laval: Maybe we got the boys fired up two weeks ago with our first report, because Laval impressed at the McGill open. They got some nice scalps by edging out UWO (who were sitting a few top guys) and blowing out Queen’s on Mount Royal. Michaud put his name in the “Prospective All-Canadian” pile with a strong 2nd place and was backed up well by mid-distance man Tommy Lecours. Fournier-Dufour also ran well but the 4-5 men were too far back for this team to move into the top 5. The team battle in the Q is developing with JPC and Baghdad Rachem also having strong runs in the last few weeks for Sherbrooke. For now, the less-weak depth on the Laval squad solifies them as the top team in the Q, and therefore one of the top 10 teams in the country.
9. Queen’s: A big run by Clay Patterson this weekend really helps the Gaels’ prospects. I think that this was a breakthrough race for him, not a one-off, and that his future is bright. As for the rest of the team, Matt Hulse continues to impress, though it would seem that the 6km distance at McGill suited him better than the full 10km at Western. Walmsley suffered a similar fate, fading significantly in the last mile. I prescribe 8 X 1 mile on 1:00 rest to make these boys strong. Potvin looked good just barely being outkicked by archrival Pettes (Toronto), but the Gaels need another runner in the same range as these 4. Supposedly, this triathlete guy they’ve got is going to fill this gap (He’s run 29:45 for 10km in a triathlon, so he’d likely have been under 34 on Saturday…).
10. U of T: A long, mid-distance focused track season this summer certainly does not appear to have damaged Del Monte’s cross country preparations. He came charging hard over the last km to finish second behind Weston. Impossible to say whether that order would be reversed in a most-luxurious-hair competition. But what of the rest of the Blues? Adrian Lambert was spotted amongst the spectators, back from his sojourn in the Italian Alps, with the sunken cheeks, scraggly beard, and piercing stare of the chamois hunter. In his hands, he clutched an enormous bag of gummy bears. “I buy them in bulk,” he explained to me. “It’s more economical.” I do not know how this will translate to XC fitness. Pettes and Nicholl had solid runs at the Thames while rookie Zain Ahmed ran well at Guelph last week. Rumour has it Stephen Douglas was called into the operating room last minute and wasn’t able to race this past weekend as a result. If he doesn’t cut back on the extracurriculars, the Varsity Blues will be in for a tough ride at OUAs with Queen’s making its presence felt at Western.
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