It was a day of growth and optimism for the Brock Badgers men's and women's cross country teams as both squads earned eighth at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championships in Waterloo on Saturday, October 28.
Full Results
For the men, this ties their best-ever finish, which was last achieved in 2007 while the women earn a program-best finish with their eighth-place result. The previous best result for the Badger women was 10th back in 2016.
"Overall, this is the best team-finish we have had in recent history. The future is truly bright for us," said head coach Kevin Moore.
Leading the Badgers men was Isaac Iannarelli, the third-year teacher education major, crossed the line in 33rd with a time of twenty-five minutes, forty-seven seconds and seven milliseconds.
First-year runner Marco De Felice earned the second-best finish for the Badgers, placing 41st (26:22.3).
Behind De Felice was Joseph Dick (26:35.6), Christian Ligtenberg (26:49.4) and Redding Maxwell (27:15.0), with Dick making the Top 50, placing 46th.
Garrett Wager (27:40.4) and Riley Coles (27:58.2) were the other Badgers men who competed in Waterloo on Saturday.
"The men had a strong showing, just finishing shy of 7th," said Moore. "Our top rookie Marco De Felice made a strong push for the OUA Rookie of the Year battle and our veterans including top finisher Isaac Iannarelli ran smart and closed well to be the top Badger."
On the women's side, UBC transfer Madelyn Huston crossed the finish line in 31:21.5, giving her a placing of 36th.
Coming in the Top 50 were two other Badgers that finished side by side in Robyn Adamo (32:11.0) and Lauren Macsai (32:11.5). Lauren's sister Cori came in with a time of 33:38.8 while Elizabeth Gay finished ten seconds later (33:48.3).
Adeline Steiger (35:01.6) and Julie Mak (35:19.4) rounded out the Badgers' performances.
"The women's team established themselves today," said Moore. "They were led by Madelyn Huston and the women defended their positions and pushed on as the race developed."
With these results, the Badgers head into next year with a lot of momentum and hope to further improve on the great program-defining results they achieved on Saturday.
