1. Guelph – The only negative thing you can say about the Guelph women is that they're not quite as dominant as the Guelph men. Even so, they have dispelled any notion of a Guelph-Mac rivalry by vanquishing the Marauders with ease at OU's. The Gryphons had their 5th scorer finish 8th at OU’s. That doesn’t leave much hope for other teams. We'll take Pearo for the individual title, but on the team side the Gryphon gang is going to continue to grow its banner collection. They’ve got a strangle hold on the CIS, and they’re not giving it up. In fact, with Driedger poised to be this year’s ROY, it looks like they’re only tightening their grip.
2. McMaster – What a season for Jess Pearo! She had a convincing win at OUA’s and is well on track for another win at CI’s. With 3 runners in the top 7 at OU’s, this Mac squad looks very good. But, as much as we’d like to see a real Guelph-Mac rivalry going into CI’s, there’s just no way the Gryphons will be beaten. Like the Washington Generals, the Marauders are a great team, but a great team that will never do better than second. We should congratulate Victoria Coates, who was 37th at last year’s OUA Championships and 4th this year. If the Marauders can consistently deliver that sort of athlete development, the Gryphons’ reign of terror will soon be ended.
3. Victoria – The Vikes had a nice run down in Washington a few weeks ago, with a simple but effective tactic: get your top runner out front for a low stick finish, and then let 2-5 pack run. With Tschantz running very well, and the rest of the squad not too far behind, the Vikes should be able to get the bronze medal that alluded them last season. We expect both Tschantz and Calgary’s Macdonald to finish very well, leaving the depth runners to battle it out for this podium spot. The battle for third will be a duel, a dogfight, a showdown, and more. None of these teams can afford to make any mistakes. Just one runner’s bad race could be the difference between glorious victory and shameful, humiliating defeat.
4. Calgary – Calgary pummelled Alberta at the Stewart Cup, putting four runners in front of Alberta’s top scorer. Macdonald looks very strong, and the supporting cast is solid. It would take some serious bad luck for this team to finish worse than fourth. They’ll be going after the Vikes for the final podium spot, and it will be close. Emma Hann: you need to run faster; the fifth place runner is the lynch pin of a cross country team; everything depends on you. Macdonald is golden; Stenning and Querengesser are both capable of big things; Kary’s doing what she needs to do. Put a fifth runner up with those four, and CI’s will be like a real life version of Jurassic Park: Dinos running wild, terrorizing their victims, crushing their enemies.
5. Queen’s – The Gaels snatched an OUA medal with some very solid running in Guelph. Windsor was not far back, but we think the Gaels will be able to beat them again in Quebec. The problem for Queens is that they were a long way back from McMaster; there are going to be a couple of teams from other conferences fighting for that third spot, knocking the Gaels down the rankings. Without a low stick, this team has no shot at a medal. Still, they had a tight spread at OU’s, and a few of their runners have a lot of upside; we’re going to take a chance on them and pick them for fourth. Either Larocque or Hulse is capable of stepping up for a big race this weekend; as always, its just a question of who can run to their full potential on the day. Big shout out to Tatlow and Keenleyside who in their last season with the Gaels have shown maturity and wisdom beyound their years.
6. Alberta – We’ve been waiting all Fall for Findley, but we’re starting to lose hope. Their pre-CIS write-up is playing coy, calling her a “possible inclusion.” For now, we’re writing her off as a no-show. We were impressed a few weeks ago to see this team handily dispatch McGill at the Laval Open, but things are looking a little less rosy after their complete rout at Stewart Cup. In response, we’re knocking Alberta and McGill down the list, giving that fifth place spot to our Gaels. It could be that this squad was just taking Stewart Cup easy, waiting to go hard at CI’s. In that case, Pandas, prove us wrong. Until then, it’s easy to say you were tempo-ing; not always so easy to show up two weeks later and beat the people who finished 30 seconds ahead of you. But who knows? Maybe you’ve got a feisty triathlete waiting in the wings, giving you a powerful low-stick. If that’s the case, this team will suddenly challenge for a CIS medal.
7. McGill – McGill was dominant at QSSF, easily beating Laval for the title of Quebec National Champions. All well and good, except that not much has changed since Alberta flew in a few weeks ago to put the Quebecers in their place. Knowing that Alberta beat McGill quite easily a few weeks ago, and then seeing Alberta get trounced at Stewart Cup, we don’t have a lot of faith in the Martlettes. McCuaig is definitely top dog in Quebec this season, after winning the Laval Open and the QSSF Championships (and top Uni runner at the McGill open). Unfortunately, this team doesn’t have the depth to back her up.
8. Windsor – Windsor was only 14 points back from Queens at OUs, which is definitely within striking distance. The Lancers line up pretty evenly with the Geals, except each runner is just a few places back. Corrick’s twelfth place is a good run in this very competitive OUA race, but she’s not enough of a star to carry this team. Kellam and Gill will need to step up to keep this team in the top ten. Who knows? Maybe one of these Lancer ladies is another Pidhoresky, ready to bust a 1:13 half. That would be enough for a pretty good CIS finish, I would think.
9. Dalhousie – Not so long ago, Dalhousie had one of the best XC programs in the CIS. Then they went through a bit of a rough patch. But now it looks like things are turning around. Caroline Schlosser had a breakthrough track season last winter and is now leading a reinvigorated Tiger XC team. Interesting to see Gina Stewart, a former X woman and All Canadian, turn turncoat to be Dal’s fourth scorer. Schlosser, Belliveau, Groves, and Stewart are a very respectable group of runners. Unfortunately, they score 5 runners at CIs, and Dal’s fifth was a minute back from Stewart at AU’s. That will be a lot of places at CIs; too many for the Tigers to be competitive. It’s not a huge accomplishment, to defeat this year’s decimated St F X team; still, we congratulate Dal on their AUS victory. Will this tiger rise again from the East? I hear rumblings.
10. UWO – We assume the Lady ‘Stangs are running at CIS even though they weren’t in the top 3 at OUAs, a requirement the UWO Athletic Department has for National participation. This Mustangs squad is not terrible. In fact, they were only 6 points behind Windsor at OU’s. Becky Pieterson is running well and should be good for top 20 this weekend. Desjardins is not too far behind. But 3-4-5 were in the 30s at OUs, which puts them pretty far back in the field at CIs. There are a few youngsters on this team who may develop into something down the road, but for now they’re barely cracking the top ten. That said, Vigars and co. have done a good job at getting an inexperienced team into the CIS top 10.
Individuals:
Pearo, Cliff, Laurie, Coates, Findley (?), Tschantz, Warkentin
Macdonald, McCuaig, Driedger, Lalonde, MacNeil, Jean, Vanhie
Mitic, Pieterson, Stenning, Qeressenger, Schlosser, Furtado, Moran
Winner: Pearo’s been rolling, and we think she’ll continue for the win at CI’s.
If Findley runs, she takes second. If not, Cliff gets it. Third (or fourth if Findley runs) will be a battle: I’m giving it to Tschantz, to go with her other bronze medals from the track.
ROY: Driedger
No comments:
Post a Comment