ANTIGONISH, N.S. - Second-year runner Ava Stefanovich-Thomson led the Axewomen cross country team this past weekend in the AUS season-opening meet hosted by STFX this past Saturday afternoon.

Stefanovich-Thomson posted a 12th place time of 33:06 on the 8km course.

In the women's 8km race, STFX placed eight of the top ten racers to claim the team title with 18 points. Dalhousie was second with 58 points, followed by Moncton (83) and UPEI (85).

Paris Buchanan and Ella Campbell finished 20th and 21st respectively. Jenna Simpson finished 27th.

"I really excited about this new group of athletes. The individual athletes placed well today, but we didn't have enough athletes to get a team score. There are several athletes out with colds and minor injuries. We are looking forward to the next meet in Moncton and hopefully, we will have a complete scoring team," noted head coach Ralph Williams.

Next on the AUS schedule is the Moncton Invitational on Saturday, October 1st.