Axewomen finish home hosted meet in fourth place

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – On a course that challenged the runners a bit more than usual, the StFX X-Women and X-Men topped all other teams participating in today's second AUS Cross Country meet  of the season with a sweep in the team standings.

The X-Women edged out Memorial for first place with an average time of 32:03 and 27 points, while the Sea-Hawks accumulated 75 ponts with a 34:03 minute average per runner.

Host Acadia finished fourth overall with 86 points, while the UPEI Panthers grabbed the third spot with 82 points and an average runner's time of 34:40.

Senior runner Sarah Lavallee finished 1oth overall with a time of 33:36, and rookie Ava Stefanivich-Thomas recorded a time of 34:00 on the home course.

First-year runner Siona Chisholm, from Antigonish, N.S. led the pack from the opening starting horn, wrapping up the race with a time of 29:57. Memorial's Jade Roberts finished second with a time of 31:18 and UPEI's Paige Chisholm grabbed the last spot on the podium with a time of 31:23.

Chisholm finished first in the first AUS meet of the season at StFX on September 18. When asked about the course in today's race, Chisholm noted the differences.

"It was very different. At StFX it is all trails, whereas this one is all grass. Plus it was my first time ever racing an 8 k. I tried to stay conservative at the beginning and see how I felt and progress from there and just feel it out. There were hills but they all were very gradual and nothing too extreme. It was a good balance between up and down," noted Chisholm.

On the men's side, StFX captured the title as meet champion with two runners placing in the top three individuals. The X-Men posted 27 points and had an average of 27.22 for the 8km race. Saint Mary's landed second overall with 40 points and Memorial had 77 points for third place in the team standings.

Huskie Andrew Peverill delivered today's best time on the 2km loop – 8km course with a time of 25.58. The fourth year, Lower Sackville, N.S. native added his second win of the season, after capturing top honours on September 18 in Antigonish.

Peverill was followed by two StFX X-Men. Graydon Staples finished second with a time of 26:26, while teammate Luc Gallant tagged behind at 26:51.

"It was a really good course. I loved it. It was just the perfect kind of balance for cross country. Mainly grass and got some good hills in there," noted Peverill.

Peverill took the lead from the starting blocks and maintained a good buffer between he and second place Staples.

"It's usually my race plan. My coach wanted me to take more of a training approach today and not go full out but still get a good effort day and a solid type of tempo effort," said Peverill about his early lead.

The next AUS meet is set for Saturday, October 16 in Fredericton, N.B. hosted by UNB and St. Thomas.