GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's and women's cross country teams return to action for a new season, starting with the Vigars & Salter Western Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 21). The event will mark the first of five scheduled events on the 2024 calendar, with the season culminating in Kelowna, B.C. as UBC Okanagan serves as the hosts of the 2024 U SPORTS Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 9.
The Gryphons men's cross country team enters the new season as the defending OUA champions, having captured their conference-record 30th provincial banner in program history. The women will look to improve one spot on the podium after finishing as silver medalists at last season's OUA Cross Country Championships. Both teams will also eye a spot on the national podium, with the Gryphon men and women both finishing in 4th-place in the overall team standings at the U SPORTS Cross Country Championships a season ago.
The 2024 OUA Cross Country Championships will take place on October 26, 2024 in North Bay, with Nipissing University serving as hosts. The format of cross country in the OUA and U SPORTS sees both men and women competing in 8km races, with team standings determined by the top five finishers (with a maximum of seven runners per school allowed to enter at OUA and U SPORTS championships).
"In late August, we headed back to Collingwood for a five-day training camp to kick off the season," says head coach
Terry Radchenko of the Gryphons cross country team, entering his fourth season in charge of the program. "We spent a significant amount of time focusing on team culture, setting goals, staying positive, and emphasizing the importance of the little things for maintaining health, happiness, and consistency. By the end of the camp, we emerged as a tightly bonded team, ready to work hard, train smart, and enjoy ourselves along the way. We're united and geared up for the season ahead. The crew has been looking strong in training, and both the team and I are excited to get the season underway."
Gryphons Women's Cross Country
With the departure of their top three standout runners from last season in
Julia Agostinelli,
Cameron Ormond and
Nina Whitford, the Gryphons women's cross country team will look to some new faces to help lead the way in 2024.
Jardine Lam-Colling, one of the Gryphon runners on the 2023 OUA silver medal-winning team last season, returns and will serve as one of the team captains in 2024. Lam-Colling, who majors in environmental biology, was Guelph's third-best scorer at 2023 OUA Cross Country Championships. Third-year runner
Maeve Pestonji, also part of the OUA silver medal-winning team last season, returns after placing in 20th overall at last year's OUA Cross Country Championships.
Laura Yantha (Barry's Bay, ON) and
Michelle Gray (Mississauga, ON) are two top returnees back with the Gryphons. Yantha, who is pursuing her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Guelph, returns for her final season as a Gryphon, while human kinetics major
Michelle Gray returns after featuring in the Gryphon squad that ran at the 2023 U SPORTS Cross Country Championships at Western. Also returning from the team that competed at nationals is biomedical engineering major,
Alexandra McDougall. The third-year student from Port Perry was the team's second-best scorer at the 2023 U SPORTS Cross Country Championships finishing in 26th overall in the individual results.
Haley Davis, an environmental management major from Goderich, returns to share team captain duties alongside Lam-Colling. Four rookie runners (
Kristina Etezadi,
Jocelyn Giannotti,
Grace McCarthy and
Mackenzie Gallagher) also join the team for this upcoming season, as the Gryphons begin their pursuit of a 19th OUA title in program history.
Gryphons Men's Cross Country
The U of G men's cross country team has five returnees from their 2023 OUA Championship team, as
Max Davies,
Jack Lehto,
Gaetano Pocchi,
Adam Schmidt and
Christian Rachner all return looking to help the Gryphons defend their OUA title.
The team is led by OUA Athlete of Year and the University of Guelph's Male Athlete of the Year,
Max Davies. Davies, a management major from Toronto, finished in 2nd overall at last year's OUA Cross Country Championship, before going on to earn U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian honours with his 14th-place finish at the 2023 U SPORTS Cross Country Championships in London.
Jack Lehto, going into his third-year, is looking to build off a strong summer where he finished 2nd at the provincial championships at 5k in July of 2024.
Christian Rachner, a two-time OUA Second Team All-Star during his Gryphon career, is back for his senior season with the team after earning a Top 10 finish at the 2023 OUA Cross Country Championships.
Adam Schmidt (Guelph, ON) returns for his last season as a Gryphon and will serve as team captain in 2024. Third-year human kinetics major
Gaetano Pocchi (Scarborough, ON) will look to build off last season where he placed 15th provincially and 26th nationally.
Dylan Ferri, a biomedical engineering major from Oakville, heads into his third year with the program, looking to carry over strong summer results which saw him place 3rd in the 1500 at provincials.
Brock McKenzie (Guelph, ON) will share team captain duties with Schmidt, with McKenzie entering his final season as a Gryphon while pursuing his Masters in management at U of G.
Eric Campbell (St. Catharines, ON),
Charlie Mills (Toronto, ON) and
Charlie Shaw (Petrolia, ON) support one of the deepest rosters in all of OUA men's cross country. The Gryphons men's cross country team also add six incoming rookies (Nico Belan,
Luke Feltham,
Aaron Smith,
Willem De Gooyer,
Jadyn Warren and Jaden Odriscoll) into the fold for the 2024 season.
