Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
April 01, 2002
U of G athletes head to Spain
Two University of Guelph runners are among 11 Canadian athletes traveling to Santiago de Compostela, Spain this week to represent Canada at the 13th World University Cross Country Championships.
Reid Coolsaet and Michaela McClure will take part in the April 7 competition that will showcase some 200 students from universities worldwide. They will be accompanied on the trip by Gryphon head coach Dave Scott-Thomas. The event is organized by the University of Santiago de Compostela. All of the athletes attending the event qualified through the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Cross Country Championships held in November 2001 at the Université de Sherbrooke.
Coolsaet, who was recently named co-winner of the University of Guelph's Male Athlete of the Year and placed fourth at the CIS Cross Country Championships in Sherbrooke, took part in the 1998 Cayman Islands Junior Dual Meet against teams from the Caribbean and Central America. The fourth year marketing management student was also part of Team Canada at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Ireland.
Michaela McClure, co-winner of the Guelph's Female Athlete of the Year and bronze medallist at the 2001 CIS Cross Country Championships, was part of the Canadian Team at the 2001 Beijing, Ekiden. Ekiden is a popular race in Asia resembling a marathon, though run in relay format with four-six participants per team.
Scott-Thomas is an eight-time Ontario Universities Association Coach of the Year, a four-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport Coach of the Year, holds his level 4 NCCP certification and is head of the National Endurance Centre in Guelph.
For more information, please visit the official website at http://www.usc.es/crossuni/ing/indexi.html.
For media questions, contact:
Communications and Public Affairs,
519-824-4120, Ext. 3338.
