HAMILTON, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphon women won the team title Friday at the Marauder Lakefront Invitational, beating four nationally ranked opponents, including two of the top four teams in the country, on the course that will host next month's U SPORTS Championships. Jack Lehto added his second straight individual win as the Gryphon men grabbed the team silver.

"We saw a lot of what we want Gryphon cross country to look like today," said Gryphons head coach Kyle Boorsma. "We're running with ambition, competing without fear, and really committing to the way we want to race. The women put together a great team performance to earn the win, led by Alex in third, and Jack took the individual win while helping the men to a strong second-place finish. We're excited to take this momentum into the championships."

The No. 9-ranked Gryphon women scored 52 points to edge No. 6 McMaster (55). They finished ahead of No. 2 Windsor (82), No. 4 Queen's (84) and No. 8 UNB (152).

Fifth-year Alexandra McDougall led the way, taking third in 27:39.1. Rookie Mikala Ryan followed in fifth (28:02.1), and fifth-year Michelle Gray was seventh (28:17.9), putting three Gryphons in the top seven. Third-year Jocelyn Giannotti was Guelph's fourth finisher, placing 16th in 29:04.4. Maeve Pestonji (22nd, 29:25.8) completed the scoring. Anna May (25th, 29:30.0) and rookie Abbigail Silvera (42nd, 30:08.5) rounded out the top seven. On the men's side, Lehto, a fifth-year from Burlington, ran 23:42.8 over 8km and won by 27 seconds over McMaster's William Weist. Right behind him was third-year Luke Feltham, who took bronze in 24:13.1. The Stratford native finished just three seconds behind Weist for second.

The seventh-ranked Gryphon men placed second with 49 points, behind No. 1 McMaster and ahead of No. 4 Queen's (77) and No. 6 Western (88). Fifth-year Owen Lloyd was Guelph's third finisher in 11th (24:27.7), and fourth-year Charlie Mills placed 18th (24:38.5). Second-year Nolan Buie completed the scoring in 24th (24:49.0). He led a tight Gryphon pack in which Charlie Shaw (25th, 24:49.8) and Willem De Gooyer (26th, 24:49.9) crossed within a second of him.

Next up for the Gryphons are the OUA Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31 in Windsor. The team then returns to Hamilton for the U SPORTS Championships on Nov. 14.