The Queen's Gaels No.1 women's and No.5 men's cross country teams will once again be looking to finish atop the podium of both the OUA and U SPORTS championships in 2019. The Gaels had a statement year last season, as the women's team won the OUA Championship and placed second at the U SPORTS Championship for the third consecutive season. The men's team impressed with a silver medal at the OUA championship and were fifth at U SPORTS in Kingston.
For the women, Brogan MacDougall burst onto the scene and earned both U SPORTS and OUA MVP honours in 2018 while taking home rookie of the year awards at both levels.
The Gaels will also return two-time All-Canadian and 2018 OUA individual silver medalist Branna MacDougall and 2nd Team All-Canadian in 2018 Makenna Fitzgerald. A strong mix of returnees, including OUA All-Star Kara Blair, and top recruits will make the Gaels a national contender all season long.
The men's program stole the show at the OUA championship last season, taking the silver medal and finishing fifth at U SPORTS. The Gaels will see U SPORTS All-Canadian Mitchell de Lange and rookie of the year Ruben Sansom back in the fold along with OUA All-Stars Mitchell Kirby and Matthew Flood. Robert Kanko and Nathan Dehghan round out the team's top five, with a strong recruiting class that will help the Gaels in their pursuit of the podium this fall.
This past offseason a number of Gaels competed in high-level competitions across the globe. Fitzgerald was busy competing for Canada in February as she finished third overall at the 2019 North American, Central American and Caribbean Cross Country (NACAC) race in Trinidad and Tobago and then teamed up with Brogan at the U20 International Association of Athletics Federations World Cross Country Championships in Denmark, where Fitzgerald finished 31st in the World in a time of 22:46 over 6km, while Brogan placed 47th in a time of 23:18.Â
Brogan then hit the track in the summer at the Pan American U20 championship in Costa Rica, running to a gold medal for Canada in the women's 3,000-metre final in a time of 9:23.23.
In July at the Canadian Track and Field Championships Brogan MacDougall added a sixth national title to her trophy shelf in the U20 women's 1,500m. Meanwhile, Branna MacDougall finished 5th in the senior women's 5,000m race. MacDougall's final time of 15:56.79 put her 10 seconds behind winner Jessica O'Connell, who set the national indoor 3,000m record in February. Incoming rookie Victoria Bouck also had a strong showing, coming 2nd in the U20 women's 5,000
On the men's end, cross country captain Robert Kanko and Mitchell de Lange finished 12th and 13th in the senior men's 5,000m, respectively. Incoming recruit Miles Brackenbury rounded out Queen's male contingent in the 3,000m steeplechase, finishing in 6th.
The U SPORTS season will once again conclude this November at Fort Henry Hill, as Queen's is set to host the U SPORTS Championships for the second consecutive year this fall on November 9.
The Gaels kick off their season this Saturday in London, ON, for the Western Invitational. The women are scheduled to start at 10 am, while the men race at 10:50 am.
Recent Success: 2018 U SPORTS Silver Medalists (Women), 2018 OUA Champions (Women), 2018 OUA Silver Medalists (Men), 2018 U SPORTS Silver Medalists (Women), 2017 OUA Champions (Women), 2017 OUA Bronze Medalists (Men)
Full Schedule: CLICK HERE
Head coach Steve Boyd enters his 10th season as head coach of the Queen's Cross Country teams. Under Boyd's tenure, the Gaels have steadily improved each season, culminating with consecutive OUA Championship victories and three straight U SPORTS Silver Medal finishes for the women's team.Â
Steve Boyd
- 2017 and 2018 OUA Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year
Quote from Head Coach
"We've got the best one-two in maybe the history of the league and a very solid three and four and we just have to sort out our five through seven and we should have a better idea of that this weekend at Western. We have five strong guys coming back from last year they're a little bit fitter than they are last year. We have three solid guys who can fill gaps for us if something happens to the first five but we really need them all to be firing on all cylinders and so far they look good."
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