Cross Country Vies for National Title Saturday

GRAND PRAIRIE, Alb. – The Humber cross country team is heading to Alberta for the 2019 CCAA Cross Country Championships, held at Muskoseepi Park in Grand Prairie. The women's 6k race will begin at noon (2 p.m. EST) on Nov. 9 and the men's 8k race will follow at 1 p.m. (3 p.m. EST).

Humber at Nationals
The women's program captured a national title in 2011 when Vicky Siemon led the program to its first and only team title while claiming an individual silver medal with a time of 18:12.

The men's team followed with a title in 2014 when Daniel Bright led Humber to its first championship. The program's top individual showing in the event came in 2005, when All-Canadian Colin Murray-Lawson placed second overall in the Peterborough, Ont., finishing with a time of 27:33.

About Nationals
15 teams and nine individuals will compete for a title on the women's side, while 17 teams and nine individuals will compete on the men's side.

Muskoseepi Park Course
The 2019 CCAA Cross Country Championships will be contested over a 2 km loop in Grande Prairie's Muskoseepi Park.  The venue has been used for a number of cross country running races over the past few years including two ACAC Grand Prix races and the 2017 ASAA Zone XC Championships. 

The race starts in a wide-open grassed area at the bottom of a shallow hill.  The first 150m of the course climbs the hill and then crosses a 2m wide, 30 m long concrete spillway which will be covered in carpet. 

After leaving the spillway, the next 300m of the course winds through a treed area on a wide (2 to 3m) dirt path ending in a short, sharp uphill.  From 500m to 1000m the course is flat and fast on a wide grassed area.  Soon after the 1 km mark, there is a sharp downhill, followed immediately by a moderately steep uphill.

From there, the course again follows flat, grassed areas until the 1650m mark.  At that point, the course crosses a 35m long wooden bridge (3m wide, it will be carpeted).  After leaving the bridge there is a long, steep uphill followed quickly by a shorter, steep downhill.

Last Time Out
Competing at the 2019 OCAA Championships in Windsor, the men's team, led by Cole Czuchnicki, narrowly missed a podium finish in fourth place.

Kayleigh Bush finished in ninth place and was named a second team all-star, while the team finished in sixth place.