The University of Guelph claimed both the women’s and men’s titles at the 2014 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) cross-country running championships, marking the ninth consecutive year the Gryphons have captured both banners.
The men’s lacrosse team also won the national championship, capturing the Baggataway Cup for the second year in a row.
In cross-country, the women’s squad won its 10th straight team title Saturday, and the men earned their ninth. Guelph has the most successful cross-country program in CIS history, with the most banners — 25 — captured by a single school.
Gryphon runners Carise Thompson and Ross Proudfoot won individual gold medals. The Gryphons had not swept all four CIS titles – individual and team – since 2011. Gryphon runners also won silver and bronze medals. Proudfoot was named Athlete of the Year.
The races were held in St. John’s, Nfld. The weather posed a serious challenge, with winds peaking near 110 km per hour, accompanied by rain and sometimes hail-like conditions. The team altered its strategies as a result and executed them perfectly.
In the women’s five-kilometre event, Thompson won the gold medal with a time of 22:42.2. It marked the third individual gold in four years by a Gryphon female runner.
Katelyn Ayers won the bronze medal (22:55.4) and the Gryphons had six women in the top 18.
On the men’s side, Proudfoot won the individual gold medal, running the 10-kilometre race in 33:47.2 It was the sixth individual gold medal in seven seasons by a Gryphon male runner.
Gryphon Tristan Woodfine won the silver medal (33:54.8), and Guelph had five men in the top 13.
Complete results are available online.
The men’s lacrosse team beat McGill University 15-12 to continue their reign as the Canadian University Field Lacrosse champions. The game was held in Oshawa on Sunday.
Jordan Critch led the Gryphons with an 11-point performance, scoring three times and adding eight assists. Ryan Serville scored five goals and an assist, Curtis Knight had three goals, and Mike Burke claimed two goals and three assists for Guelph.
“We’ve got a solid bunch of lacrosse players who have played this game for a lot of years,” said Sam Kosakowski, head coach.
“We told the guys at the beginning of the year, every practice we want to get a little bit better, every game we want to get a little bit better. And we just keep pushing, pushing, pushing. We knew the end of the season was going to be like this and that’s what we were getting ready for,” he said.