2016 OUA team finish:  Women: 2nd | Men: 5th
2016 OUA top individual finish: Women: Claire Sumner 1st | Men: Eric Wynands 10th
2016 U SPORTS team finish: Women: 2nd | Men: 8th
2016 U SPORTS top individual finish:  Women: Claire Sumner 1st | Men: Eric Wynands 27th
Home: Fort Henry Hill
Recent Success: Women:  U SPORTS silver and OUA silver in 2016, U SPORTS bronze in 2013 and OUA bronze in 2010. Men: Back-to-back OUA bronze in 2011 and 2012.
Full Schedule: CLICK HERE
 
The Gaels cross country team returns to action on home soil in the Queen's University Invitational this Saturday at Fort Henry with the women taking off at 12 noon followed by the men at 1 pm. The race will be the first meet to open the 2017 season for the Gaels. With a consistent history of OUA and U SPORTS podium finishes, each team will be battling for medal contention this season.

Last year, stellar performances by Claire Sumner (Calgary, Alta.) and Julie-Ann Staehli (Lucknow, Ont.) contributed to a U SPORTS silver medal for the women's team at the national championship meet. The men's side finished with an 8th overall showing for Queen's as they entered the championship as the No.10 ranked team in the country showing a two spot improvement.
 
The women's side will not see Staehli running this season, as the decorated runner closed out her fifth and final season last year. Staehli, last year's PHE '55 Alumnae Award winner, finished her cross country career at Queen's with an unprecedented fifth straight All-Canadian honour, becoming the first Queen's athlete to achieve the accomplishment. The graduate will be a key loss for the Gaels, but Staehli will still be with the team for the 2017 season as she moves into an official assistant coaching role with the Tricolour.

Entering her fifth season, Claire Sumner historically swept both the OUA and U SPORTS cross country championships last season. Coming off a remarkable year as the OUA Female Athlete of the Year and First Team U SPORTS All-Canadian, Sumner has set the bar high for this year. More recently, Sumner returned to the FISU games for her second consecutive appearance. Sumner competed in the women's 10,000m and finished 8^th. The fifth-year veteran will spearhead the Gaels efforts for a U SPORTS medal this season.

Joining Sumner and the rest of the women's team are transfers Branna MacDougall from Iowa State University, as well as First Team OUA All-Star Amy Stephenson from Western. Entering her second year, MacDougall is a Kingston-native and Canadian Junior 5k record holder.

Returning to the men's team this season is fifth-year Alex Wilkie (Almonte, Ont.). Back in 2015, Wilkie ran a 30:43.3 in the men's 10km conference championship - a performance that awarded him an OUA gold medal. Following his championship season, Wilkie suffered a hip injury that eventually led to surgery and was left off the Gaels roster last year. The veteran runner will look to make his comeback debut in 2017. Alongside Wilkie, Wynands is entering his senior year as a top performer for the men's team. Breaking the top ten in last year's conference championship meet, Wynands returns this season as a veteran OUA All-Star. Wilkie and Wynands will look to boost the Gaels in their push for a podium spot at the men's OUA championship this year.
 
Over the last seven years, the Gaels have earned eleven medals at the OUA and U SPORTS level between both teams. On the women's side, the Gaels picked up a U SPORTS silver and OUA silver in 2016, a U SPORTS bronze in 2013 and an OUA bronze in 2010. The tricolour men had back-to-back bronze medals in 2011 and 2012.
 
Quote from the head coach:
"On the women's side, we were close runners-up in 2016. Since we've lost only Julie-Anne Staehli, and gained Branna MacDougall  and Amy Stephenson, we are taking dead aim at the title this year. We are facing thirteen-year defending champions Guelph and strong young teams from Laval and Victoria, but we're confident that we have the superior side in 2017," said head coach Steve Boyd.

"One the men's side, we are looking to break back into the top three at the conference level and top five nationally. We lose none of our scorers from 2016 and regain 2015 OUA Champ Alex Wilkie and add two top 10 provincial rookies in Matt Flood and Mitchell Delange," said Boyd. "As one of the few teams in U SPORTS which has not lost a scorer from 2016, we expect to make big gains in 2017."
 
Head Coach:
Steve Boyd
-Number of seasons as head coach with team (including 2017): 8
-Career OUA team medals:  Women: one silver in 2015 and 2016, and one bronze in 2014. Men: two bronze in 2011 and 2012.
-Career U SPORTS team medals: Women: one silver in 2016, one bronze in 2014 and one bronze in 2013.
 
Two Key Returnees:
Claire Sumner
Alex Wilkie
Eric Wynands 

Key Losses:
Julie-Anne Staehli