Men's Preview: The End of Summer Summary
1. Guelph - The killer bees - Brett and Boorsma - are back, but Queen B Brunsting is gone. They’ve picked up the 2007 Champ in Genest, who was ineligible last year. Nigel Wray returns as do Jackson and mini-Kozi. Transfer Andrew Nixon will be able to run and is good for a sub-31 10000. Having never been ranked outside of number 1 in our polls, this team is again the overwhelming favourite to win in 2010. And if for some reason they aren’t looking good heading into the Championships, DST can choose from any number of former NCAA / CIS stars to insert onto the team and have them run under some mysterious alias. Rumour has it that DST is going to take up quilting, so that he can find a use for the huge pile of banners that he is accumulating.
2. Windsor - Do they have the horses to go after Guelph in 2010?? How should we know? All we can tell you is that Dave “Wild Wild West”on is back, probably running 250 miles a week in preparation for his assault on the individual title – he’s our pick for the win. 3:42 guy Berkis has been imported from High Point; Walters (I don’t know which one, but it really doesn’t matter) had a great summer; and so did Keller (3:44). If the CIS changed the race distance to 1500m I’d bet my life savings on Windsor to beat Guelph. Too bad its 10km. Aguanno is a stalwart on this team, as is 2008 AC Sinclair. Both will add great depth at the 4-5 spots and provide Windsor with an outside chance at ending the Gryphon’s streak. If they manage to take the win, it will be the greatest upset since the invention of sport some 3000 years ago.
3. Calgary - This is the year for the Dinos. They were 5th last year and return all 7 this year. Cloutier ran well in XC and track last year with an 8:36 3000, Scott Nicol ran 3:50 for 1500 this summer and Pootz dropped his 3km to 8:37. While these aren’t earth-shattering statistics, I have faith in these guys simply because they aren’t from the OUA. The Dinos have the luxury of focusing entirely on the CIS meet, building strength through September and October while other teams are wasting energy hammering away at their conference rivals in a vainglorious quest for Conference championships. Calgary may be the armpit of Canada and their hockey team may be awful (thanks for accepting Toronto’s garbage and for giving away DOUBLE-DION!), but this team has the legs to medal in 2010. Dorosz stepped up last year at 60th as did Ryan Russel (52nd) and both will be relied upon to return the CW title to cow-town. One issue this group may have is they have a lot of depth and therefore heated competition for roster spots, potentially causing too much racing in practice.
4. Victoria - Gone is the last member from the golden days of middle-distance dominance by UVic, Dan Mallie, but first-team AC Pieterson is back. Apparently he was hurt this summer, so not sure where his fitness will be at this fall. His instability at the number 1 will be remedied by Rejean “Chainsaw” Chiasson, who comes to UVic with 67 minute half ability. He’s fast, but more importantly, he’s scary. I wouldn’t be ellbowing a guy named Rejean Chiasson around any corners. I heard he got those tats in prison. Dylan Haight (2nd at Nats Jr XC last year) is also in the mix, as is Cliff Childs (3:46 for 1500). That gives UVic 3-4 legitimate AC runners. Of course, as was the case the last two years, they are going to be crapping themselves as they wait for their number 5 to cross the line. Last year it took 35:05 for that fifth man to finish at CIS. If that time can’t be cut by at least 60 seconds this year, the Guelph and Windsor teams will be cooled down, showered, and three beers deep by the time the UVic guys are done running; that kind of spread will most certainly cost them a medal.
5. Alberta - One of the surprises last year, Da Bears of Alberta slotted in at number 6 in Kingston. Weikum is back for his 4th tour of duty and will lead Da Bears in 2010. He’s one of those guys who lay low during the summer, through the most of the fall, and then BAM! He’s a top 15 guy at the big dance. Don’t ask him to babysit for you, ‘cause he’s way too unreliable, but if you need an All-Canadian cross-country runner, JW is your man. “The Beef” Leboeuf is a pure mountain man and loves the grass while the number 3 Ostapowich is an 800m guy (1:48) who somehow extends that speed all the way to 10km. These front three are backed up by a slew of strong depth guys like “GI Joe” Boland, Harry-to-the-Moore, Law, Lauzon, Carver, and Lambert (we’ve heard the U of A has found him some eligibility for this fall). Here’s an idea for all those Ontario coaches looking for training camp ideas: fly your team to Alberta, have them hammer a 6 hour mountain run together through snow and rain and see how cohesive they are at the end of the day. These boys may have picked up pneumonia and a few stress fractures along the way, but they sure do get along (except for that one guy no one likes).
6. Queen’s - 7th place in 2009 and returning 5 of their top 7. Losses are severe in Walmsley and Klaus, but the return of Hulse for a fifth year will help this squad tremendously. In his first year, Hulse was a pure football player who ran track for “fun”. Now four years later he’s running 3:42 and moving his name up the list of elite milers in this country. Backing up Hulse is Patterson, who ran 3:59 indoors and was 39th last year. If he can sort out his horrific dietary problems he’ll likely morph into a stud this fall. Courchene is running on glass legs, but has lots of potential, as does Nishiyama (65th in 09) and Hatheway (56th in 09), the pride of Lunenberg, Nova Scotia. Boyd has brought in some fast young guys in Nick McGraw and Jeff archer. This team might not have the legs for a top 3 this year, but is one to watch down the road. After years of sharpening his rapier wit on the message boards, Boyd is finally taking to the CIS field, fully intending to cut the Gordian knot that is Guelph’s stranglehold on Canadian distance running.
7. McMaster - What does 2$ million get you? A full-time coach and more kegs of beer at team parties. Larry Abbott leads this squad into the 2010 season, returning from a near-miss AC run last fall (15th). Andrew York has “been training in Europe with some of the world’s best triathletes” which obviously means he’ll see large improvements in XC. Taylor Reid, another triathlete (I just puked in my mouth a little) and Cory “Rico Suave” McCurry will provide ample ammunition as well. It appears that Coach Sneyd is getting frustrated with his men’s squad’s steady improvement over the last few years. Unlike the women from MAC who have seen massive improvement since 2006, the men have slowly climbed the ranks. To remedy this and propel them to the top faster, Sneyd has brought in expensive and proven vets Braden Novakowski and Deng Marial. They likely aren’t running in 2010, but will be the franchise players in 2011. Until then, they can both be counted on to contribute maturity and wisdom to the group.
8. St. FX - What is happening in Antigonish? This group medaled the past two seasons and is likely returning a good chunk of that roster, though Gerych is done. Is Doubravsky back? If the answer is Yes, X will catapult up a few spots on our list. If not, then X will be bumped down to the lower tier of the top 10. McCarron, Addison, and Mclean return, hoping to keep X in the top 10. Leave it up to Bernie to bring in some more “recruits” and this squad may have the legs to take down Calgary for the bronze. If he’s relying entirely on homegrown talent this year, X is going to be in a battle with a number of teams from Ontario to see who can win the second-tier race from 6th to 10th.
9. UWO - On paper, this is a pretty good team. They’re led by Kyle ”Blue Steel” O’Neill, who’s pretty much a lock for All-Canadian (10th last year, and 2nd in the 3000 last winter). Ryan Huff, a 3:53 / 8:30 man, should make a capable second (31st last year). After that, you’ve got Ryan Armstrong, a one-time sub-15 5k guy, who’s done nothing recently to prove his fitness. Will Komer was a 17:35 5km runner this summer, which is a far cry from his 23rd place CIS finish in 2008. Brent Smith struggled with over-training and anemia this summer; he’s back and looking fast now, but if he falls back into the over-training cycle he’ll be one to watch for at the UWO intersquad, maybe the first km of OU’s, and that’s about it. If everyone on this team ran to their potential, they could be top 5. Realistically, they’ll barely crack the top 10. It is worth noting that Vigars looks to be preparing to hand over the reigns to former Mustang stud Guy Schultz.
10. Toronto - Lambert (to the U of A) and Del Monte (to the EU) are gone. Pettes is back after a productive summer on the circuit where he worked on his tan and lowered his personal bests. RR is relying heavily on this youngster’s ability to guide an even younger contingent of cross-country teammates. For once, Toronto isn’t full of high-priced veterans, but of younger more inexperienced recruits to lead the charge. Behind Pettes, they’ve got a great group of sophomores in Davenport, Denault, Woloshyn, and Ahmed. Cruicktank, Snicholl, and Kennedy will provide the veteran leadership on both the course and in the bars as this team prepares to do something no Toronto team has ever done: actually have a presence at the after party. As for the running, this group have all run at or under 4 minutes for 1500, 9 minutes for 3000, and 34 for 10km xc - probably enough to sneak into the top 10.
Notes: Regina lost ROY Wyatt Baiton to UBC and the NAIA and Wiebe is starting the year hurt, so they drop right out of the top 10 given they lack the depth to replace their front two from last year. The QSSF will be competitive between Laval, McGill, and Concordia, but on paper these teams don’t have the legs to crack the CIS top 10. Sherbrooke has lost just about everyone from last year’s 10th place team.
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