Canada West Communications

KINGSTON, Ont. – For the first time in program history, the Calgary Dinos are men’s cross country national champions.

The Dinos, who topped the U SPORTS leaderboard at Saturday’s national championship hosted by Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., also claimed their second consecutive Canada West title. 

Calgary becomes the first CW team to claim the men’s national title since Victoria in 2015. 

COMPLETE RESULTS

On the women’s side, the UBC Thunderbirds earned the conference banner in their return to U SPORTS competition, after running south of the border for the last two decades in NAIA. 

UBC finished as the top CW team at the national event, which also doubled as the conference championship for the final time, as 2019 will mark the start of a standalone CW championship each season. 

Individually, Calgary’s Russell Pennock led the way among CW men, finishing third overall with a time of 31:16.2.

Pennock was one of three Calgary runners – along with Eric Lutz (9^th – 31:34.1) and Stefan Daniel (10^th – 31:36.7) – to finish inside the men’s top 10, which featured six CW runners. 

Joining Pennock and his Dino teammates inside the top 10 were: UBC’s John Gay (4^th - 31:17.0), along with Trinity Western’s Caleb De Jong (6^th – 31:25.3) and Nick Colyn (7^th – 31:28.3). 

In terms of individual results on the women’s side, Calgary’s Melissa Jones (5^th - 28:28.7) was the top conference finisher, while Victoria’s Alison Irvine (8^th – 28:34.0) also cracked the U SPORTS top 10. 

Click here for the complete U SPORTS men’s recap, and here for the women’s recap.

CANADA WEST TEAM STANDINGS

Men’s:

1. Calgary Dinos, 29
2. Victoria Vikes, 80
3. UBC Thunderbirds, 81
4. Trinity Western Spartans, 88
5. Manitoba Bisons, 114
6. Alberta Golden Bears, 141
7. Regina Cougars, 196

Women’s:

1. UBC Thunderbirds, 61
2. Victoria Vikes, 66
3. Calgary Dinos, 71
4. Trinity Western Spartans, 72
5. Saskatchewan Huskies, 142
6. Regina Cougars, 188
7. Manitoba Bisons, 223

CANADA WEST AWARDS  

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR (Top CW finisher):

• Men’s: Russell Pennock / Calgary Dinos / 31:16.2
• Women’s: Melissa Jones / Calgary Dinos / 28:28.7 

ROOKIES OF THE YEAR:

• Men’s: Max Thiessen, Calgary Dinos
• Women’s: Gabrielle Joffe, UBC Thunderbirds

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE

• Men’s: Daniel Heschuk, Manitoba Bisons
• Women’s: Alison Irvine, Victoria Vikes

COACH OF THE YEAR

• Men’s: Doug Lamont, Calgary Dinos
• Women’s: Norm Tinkham, UBC Thunderbirds

MEN’S FIRST TEAM CONFERENCE ALL-STARS

NAME (U SPORTS PLACE) / SCHOOL / TIME

• Russell Pennock (3^rd) / Calgary Dinos / 31:16.2
• John Gay (4^th) / UBC Thunderbirds / 31:17.0
• Caleb De Jong (6^th) / Trinity Western Spartans / 31:25.3
• Nick Colyn (7^th) / Trinity Western Spartans / 31:28.3
• Eric Lutz (9^th) / Calgary Dinos / 31:34.1
• Stefan Daniel (10^th) / Calgary Dinos / 31:36.7
• Ryan Grieco (21^st) / Calgary Dinos / 32:01.2

WOMEN’S FIRST TEAM CONFERENCE ALL-STARS

NAME (U SPORTS PLACE) / SCHOOL / TIME

• Melissa Jones (5th) / Calgary Dinos / 28:28.7
• Alison Irvine (8th) / Victoria Vikes / 28:34.0
• Courtney Hufsmith (11th) / Saskatchewan Huskies / 29:00.4
• Nicola Symonds (14^th) / UBC Thunderbirds / 29:09.6
• Sarah MacArthur (16^th) / UBC Thunderbirds / 29:15.1
• Veronika Fagan (18^th) / UBCO Heat / 29:18.8
• Chloe Hegland (22^nd) / Victoria Vikes / 29:41.6

MEN’S SECOND TEAM CONFERENCE ALL-STARS

NAME (U SPORTS PLACE) / SCHOOL / TIME

• Daniel Heschuk (28^th) / Manitoba Bisons / 32:14.8
• Josh Kozelj (29^th) / Victoria Vikes / 32:16.4
• Tyler Kiyonaga (32^nd) / Calgary Dinos / 32:24.1
• James Lam (36^th) / Trinity Western Spartans / 32:30.7
• Thomas Broatch (42^nd) / UBC Thunderbirds / 32:37.9
• Riley Stuermer (44^th) / Alberta Golden Bears / 32:39.3
• Simon Berube (45^th) / Manitoba Bisons / 32:41.4

WOMEN’S SECOND TEAM CONFERENCE ALL-STARS

NAME (U SPORTS PLACE) / SCHOOL / TIME

• Gabrielle Joffe (27^th) / UBC Thunderbirds / 30.03.6
• Christina Sevsek (30^th) / Trinity Western Spartans / 30:07.0
• Joeun Chang (31^st) / Trinity Western Spartans / 30:07.2
• Emma Steele (39^th) / MacEwan Griffins / 30:19.8
• Kate Anderson (41^st) / Calgary Dinos / 30:25.1
• Meghan Manor (42^nd) / Calgary Dinos / 30:26.1
• Caitlin Mann (45th) / Victoria Vikes / 30:30.9