Cross Country (M & W) | 10/13/2018 11:58:00 PM
OTTAWA, Ont. --
Elizabeth Hirsch of Melrose, Mass., struck gold Saturday in the nation's capital, leading the McGill Martlets to a near-perfect score at the Jim Howe Memorial cross-country race, part of the National Capital Challenge.
McGill was first of three universities in the women's team scoring, the Martlets third victory in four races this season. They placed runners in first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth-place to earn the team 18 points – only three points shy of a flawless score. They easily out-distanced second-place Ottawa (45) and third-place Concordia (83).
It was the first victory of the season for Hirsch, a 20-year-old biology junior who finished first of 109 women, completing the six-kilometre course in 22 minutes, 22 seconds. The winning time was a 90-second improvement from her 6k race in Sherbrooke two weeks ago. The 5-foot-7 distance runner dominated the field, besting teammate and All-Canadian
Meggie Dargis, who finished four seconds behind in 22:18.
Rebecca Brennan from the Ottawa Gee-Gees claimed bronze in 22:54.
Other Martlets to finish in the scoring were
Sandrine Veillette (23:00; 4th overall),
Morgane Butler (23:44; 5th) and
Murielle Aglot (23:17;6th)
On the men's side, Toronto-native
Santiago Bessai clocked the fastest time for the Redmen. The fifth-year English major finished the race in 19:44 to earn a third-place finish of 149 entries. Joining him on the podium was race winner
Logan Roots from Royal Military College (19:16) and Concordia's
Xavier Grenier-Talavera (2nd, 19:37).
Rounding out the top-four Redmen scorers was
Thomas Csisztu (20:32, 6th),
Simon Bernier (20:40, 9th),
Jack Adams (20:59, 14th), and
Hugo Schutzberg (21:04, 15th)
In the team scoring, Ottawa won the meet with 44 points, three ahead of McGill (47). Concordia was third with 68, followed by RMC (98), Carleton (118) and Trent (135).
Next on McGill's schedule is the RSEQ conference championships on Oct. 27, held for the second year on home turf at Montreal's Parc de Maisonneuve. There, the Martlets and Redmen will compete for a ticket to the U SPORTS championships, slated for Nov. 10 in Kingston, Ont.
