Waterloo, ON - Saturday afternoon (Oct. 31) at the University of Waterloo, the Gryphons Men's and Women's Cross Country teams swept the team titles at the OUA Cross Country Championships. For the Gryphon Women, it marks their 12th straight OUA banner. For the Gryphons Men, it is now 11 straight OUA titles. Of all of those OUA Championships, never has there been one that was this close.

WOMEN'S & MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

MEN'S - TEAM RESULTS

WOMEN'S - TEAM RESULTS

One point!  When it comes to cross country racing, it doesn't get any closer than that. The Gryphons Men's Cross Country team emerged victorious for the 11^th straight year holding off a spirited University of Windsor team by the narrowest of margins.  A tie would have given the Lancers the title based on their fifth place finisher. The race was a three-team battle with Guelph, Windsor and McMaster all in the chase for the title. The Marauders finished with a Bronze in the team standings, just a scant 11 points back of Guelph.

The Gryphons were led by Aaron Hendrikx's fourth place finish and Tristan Woodfine's fifth place finish. The race began quickly with Woodfine building a 20-metre lead on the field in the first 1,000 metres.  By two kilometres, the pack had rolled up on Woodfine and a lead group of 11 formed that included four Gryphons, two Marauders and two Lancers. A third Marauder, Taylor Forbes, would bridge up to the group making it an even dozen. The pack traded shots for most of the next five kilometres, with a variety of runners moving to the front. Behind the lead group, a strong pack of McMaster and Windsor runners comprised most of the chase group with Guelph's Connor Black gradually joining the group towards the end of the second lap. As the runners entered the final lap, the team battle was on and the Gryphons were under stress that they had not faced in over a decade. A lead trio, comprising Alex Wilkie (Queen's), Paul Janikowski (Windsor) and Kevin Tree (Lakehead) broke away from Hendrikx, finishing in that order. Woodfine made a push to capture McMaster's top runner, Blair Mogan, giving the Gryphons two in the top five. An unbelievable blanket finish came next with five runners separated by less than two seconds. The pack included three Marauders, Windsor's second runner and Guelph's Christian Gravel. The finish was so close that it was later reviewed, changing an initial report that had given the Gryphons a three point victory.

Gryphons rookie Benjamin Workman finished in 12th and in the process earned OUA Rookie of the Year honours. With four runners in, the Gryphons had a six-point lead on Windsor and 10 point lead on McMaster.  As is often the case, the race came down to the fifth runner. The Gryphons fifth man was second year runner Connor Black.  Black, the Canadian Junior Champion over 5,000 metres, has battled back from injuries this fall and his addition to the team surprised many. A strong run for Black placed him 22^nd, behind Windsor's fifth man who finished 17^th and one spot ahead of McMaster's fifth. The end result was a 53-54 win for the Gryphons, with the Marauders 10 points in back with 64, matching the closest team battle in OUA history. The win gives the Gryphons the OUA record for most consecutive men's team titles in cross country with 11, eclipsing the previous 100-year-old record of 10 straight titles held by the University of Toronto (1901 to 1911).

Relative to the men's race, the women's race lacked the drama of a team battle as the Gryphons handily won the competition with a score of 38 points to outdistance runner-up Queen's by 44 points. The individual battle at the front was no less exciting as six athletes were battling for podium positions throughout the race. After the initial smaller one kilometre loop, Katrina Allison moved to the front pushing the pace in the hopes of gaining some separation on the field. Allison continued to push throughout the second bigger loop with Toronto's Gabriella Stafford covering the moves along with Julie-Anne Staehli of Queen's. As the runners entered the final lap, Stafford gapped the field with Staehli in pursuit, Windsor's Stefanie Smith charged through the field to grab the bronze. Guelph's Katelyn Ayers came across the line next in fourth, with Allison finishing sixth. The next six runners across the line included four Gryphons; Sophie Watts 7^th, Danielle Jossinet 10^th, Cheryse Mitton 11^th and Sarah Wismer 12^th.  Jossinet was named OUA Rookie Of The Year for her efforts. The win gives the Gryphons 12 straight titles on the women's side. The Gryphons will add in last year's OUA Champion Heather Patrick at the upcoming CIS Championships bolstering their already strong squad. Petrick was held out of the OUA Championships for precautionary reasons.  

In two weeks, the Gryphons will play host to the CIS Championships as the race will be held at the University of Guelph Arboretum on Saturday November 14^th.