The Gryphons men's and women's cross country team added another illustrious chapter to their ever growing legacy.  The Gryphons dominated the CIS Country Championships Saturday capturing their sixth consecutive women's team title and their fifth consecutive men's team title

This is the fifth consecutive year that the Gryphons have both team titles.  Overall the Gryphons now have a total of 17 CIS cross country banners including 10 on the men's side and seven women's titles.

In capturing their fifth consecutive title the Gryphon men broke the tie they shared with the Gryphons team from 1999-2002 and the Victoria Vikes team of  1994-1997 , for most consecutive titles.

The Gryphon men claimed their fifth straight banner and ninth crown in 12 years.  The men's team finished the 10-kilometre race with 24 points. Overall the Gryphons finished 1-2-4-6-11. Windsor was second with 57 points and Western third at 147.

Guelph's Kyle Boorsma won the individual title with a time of 31:53.0. Alex Genest of Lac-aux-Sables, this year's OUA Champion earned the silver medal with a time of 32:07.0.  

Boorsma captured his first individual cross country title after finishing runner up the past two years.  The fifth year senior, joined Laurie and Cliff as a five time team champion.   Boorsma led four Gryphons in the top six as teammate Alex Genest was second, Allan Brett fourth and rookie Ross Proudfoot sixth, second year man Andrew Nixon rounded out the Gryphon scorers with his eleventh place finish.  All five were named All-Canadian. 

Proudfoot was awarded the Rookie Of The Year awarded, while Boorsma captured MVP honours.  The Gryphons score of 24 points was the lowest score by a men's team since 1974 an era where there were only 40 competitors at the meet.  The Windsor Lancers finished as the runners-up with 57 points. 

After finishing second at each of the previous two CIS championships Boorsma explained how he was able to pull away from the pack midway through the race.

 

"Kelly and I were close through the first couple of laps, but he made his move and threw it down coming up a hill on the third lap, and I matched him," said Boorsma. "I decided that I would throw it right back at him and he couldn't respond, so at that point I knew I just had to keep my foot on the gas pedal and go hard to the end."

  Guelph's Rachel Cliff of Vancouver, BC led the Gryphons contingent and finished second overall with a time of 17:50.0, just ten seconds shy of the overall winner Jessica Pearo of McMaster.  Guelph's Genevieve Lalonde (Moncton, NB) earned her first ever CIS medal, finishing third with a time of 18:14.0.

The women's race saw the final cross country races of Rachel Cliff and Courtney Laurie's Gryphon careers.  Cliff and Laurie went out with a bang with Cliff capturing her first individual medal finishing second and Laurie capturing first team All-Canadian honours with her seventh place finish.  In the process they both became the first athletes in CIS Cross Country history to capture five CIS team medals.  Cliff also became the first five-time All-Canadian in women's Cross Country history.  

All told the Gryphons had an incredible six of their seven competitors obtain All-Canadian status.  Last year's CIS Rookie Of The Year Genevieve Lalonde joined Cliff on the podium capturing the bronze medal while Jess Vanhie, Lindsay Furtado and Emily Driedger also achieved All-Canadian honors.  Driedger was awarded the Rookie Of The Year award capping off a phenomenal first season for the Georgetown native. 

Overall the Gryphons finished with 33 points the lowest team score since 1999 and easily outdistance the McMaster Marauders who were second with 67 points, the Marauders were led by individual champion Jessica Pearo.

 

Gryphon Head Coach Dave Scott-Thomas was awarded his 18h and 19th CIS Coach of The Year awards making him the most decorated coach in CIS history.

"We have won a lot of team titles over the years, but this is probably our most athletic squad we've ever had," added CIS coach of the year Dave Scott Thomas of Guelph. "Kyle has been on the podium twice before, but it's great to see him finally finish with a gold."

The top seven finishers in the women's and men's races earn first-team all-Canadian status. Finishers eight through 14 are second-team CIS all-stars.

Full results are available at http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/xc/2010-11/files/sched_results 

Individual Awards:

Kyle Boorsma - Men's Athlete of the Year

Emily Driedger - Women's Rookie of the Year
Ross Proudfoot - Men's Rookie of the Year
Dave Scott Thomas - Men's & Women's Coach of the Year
 

 

Guelph Men's Team Summary

Place-Name-Time

1 Kyle Boorsma 31:53.0 - (First Team All-Canadian)

2 Alex Genest 32:07.0 - (First Team All-Canadian)

4 Allan Brett 32:23.0 - (First Team All-Canadian)

6 Ross Proudfoot 32:46.0 - (First Team All-Canadian)

11 Andrew Nixon 33:06.0 - (Second Team All-Canadian)

27 Tommy Mosher 33:41.0

33 Rob Jackson 33:59.0

 

Guelph Women's Team Summary

Place-Name-Time

2 Rachel Cliff 17:50.0 - (First Team All-Canadian)

3 Genevieve Lalonde 18:14.0 - (First Team All-Canadian)

7 Courtney Laurie 18:39.0 - (First Team All-Canadian)

10 Jess VanHie 18:51.0 – (Second Team All-Canadian)

11 Lindsay Furtado 18:53.0 – (Second Team All-Canadian)

14 Emily Driedger 18:57.0 – Second Team All-Canadian)

21 Nadine Frost 19:17.0