Cross-Country, Rugby, Field Hockey Teams Win Gold
October 31, 2009 - Campus Bulletin
It was a quadruple gold-medal weekend for the University of Guelph, with its women's and men's cross-country teams, women's rugby team and women's field hockey team winning the 2009 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships.
The cross-country championships were held in St. Catharine's at Brock University Saturday. Guelph has now captured six-straight OUA cross-country women's titles – an OUA record for the most consecutive titles – and five straight on the men’s side.
The men’s team put together the best team performance in OUA history, winning the meet with a record-setting score of 17 points.
U of G runners captured all three podium positions. Allan Brett won the men's individual title for the second year in a row, finishing the 10-kilometre course in a time of 30:08. Kyle Boorsma, the 2007 OUA champion, finished three seconds behind Brett to win the silver medal. Matt Brunsting, the defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) champion and OUA silver medallist, took the bronze with a time of 30:18. In all, seven Gryphon men were named OUA All Stars.
The women’s team also had a record-setting afternoon. They won the OUA title with a score of 30 points, and three Gryphons placed in the top five in the five-kilometre race. Rachel Cliff won the bronze medal with a time of 17:47, while Courtney Laurie was fourth (17:52) and Genevieve Lalonde was fifth (17:54). Lalonde was the top rookie in the competition and named OUA women’s Rookie of the Year. Six Gryphon women were also named OUA All-Stars.
The women's rugby team defeated the Western Mustangs 39-7 in the OUA final Saturday in Guelph, capturing their second straight OUA title and finishing the season undefeated. Guelph has won nine OUA women’s rugby titles in the past 14 years.
OUA All-Star Brittney Benn led the Gryphons in scoring with a pair of tries and converts. Fellow All-Star Jacey Murphy and Brittany Sammut added two tries, while Caitlin Beaton chipped in with a try.
The women's rugby team now advances to the CIS Championships Nov. 5 to 8 at the University of British Columbia. Last year, the Gryphons finished third at the CIS tournament.
On Sunday, the women's field hockey team beat the beat the University of Toronto to capture the OUA title and finish the season undefeated.
Tegan Stairs tipped in a shot from her sister, Brienne, less than two minutes into the match, and that goal held up as the game winner. Just last week, the sisters both captured major OUA awards, with Brienne Stairs receiving the OUA Player of the Year prize and Tegan Stairs being named named Rookie of the Year.
The Gryphons will travel to Victoria next weekend for the 2009 CIS Championships. For the first time, U of G will enter the tournament as the favourite. It's the team's third trip to the CIS tournament. It captured the silver medal in 2007 and finished fourth in both 2005 and 2008.
