KINGSTON, Ont. - A sixth-place finish by rookie Julie-Anne Staelhi highlighted a pair of strong performances for the Queen's Gaels at the Western International cross-country meet in London, Saturday. Staelhi, running her second-ever CIS race, finished the 5km course in a time of 18:13, only five seconds out of third place, and 34 seconds behind the race winner, Tamara Jewett of Toronto, who clocked in at 17:39.

The Gaels women, led by Staelhi, finished sixth out of the 15 teams at the event, with 170 points. The men finished in fourth place overall out of 14 teams with 99 points, led by a pair of top-ten finishes. McMaster won the women's event with 45 points, while Guelph's 33 points gave them the men's crown.

On the women's side, the other Queen's scorers were Meghan Tait, who finished 35th at 19:23, Erin Slade (38th, 19:26), Marie Soehl (44th, 19:34), and Ceilidh Stubbs (54th, 19:47).

The men were led by Clay Patterson, who finished in ninth place with a time of 25:46 over the 8km course. Tyson Loney was right behind Patterson at 25:47, while Jeff Costen was 12th with a time of 26:00. The other scorers for Queen's were Jacob Cameron (31st, 26:28) and Josh Potvin (45th, 26:45).

Cross-country's next action is on Friday, September 28 at the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa.