Things got a little more intimate than usual for Wilfrid Laurier Universityโs cross-country team this past weekend.
With a number of teams in Chicago last weekend for other engagements, Laurier and the University of Waterloo (UW) renewed familiarities as two of four universities taking part in the Don Mills Open at UW on Saturday.
Usually up against stiff competition like Western, Guelph and McMaster, the two cross-town rivals met head on in the Ontario University Athleticsโ second open.
And emerging first overall from the kicked up gravel and dust was the underdog Laurier menโs squad.
โWe had a couple guys injured so itโs great to get the win,โ said team captain Brett Cameron.
A program that is learning to walk before it can run, Laurierโs cross-country teams are using an immediate measuring stick by juxtaposing themselves to their neighbours down University Ave. who won the same open last year.
โ[One of the goals this year] was that we were really hoping to beat Waterloo, so it was encouraging to beat them this weekend but we still have OUAs and CIS [Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championships] to look forward to.โ
Head coach Peter Grinbergs is also the coach of the Tri-City Track Club in K-W, so a little vengeance on familiar faces was in the cards with runners competing for their schools as well as the area club.
Last yearโs UW menโs squad finished ninth in the OUA while Laurier came in at 11th out of 16 teams.
Despite a few injuries to team stars Sohaib Ikram and Brent Meidinger, the team had Ikramโs brother Shoaib finish fourth overall with Jonathan Gascho and Ian Turnbull making tremendous strides since the start of the year, along with typical high performer Alex Garriock finishing 14th.
The womenโs teamโs performance was nothing to sneeze at either.
They finished seventh, five places behind Waterloo.
โWe started off really strong together and there was a couple times where the girls were talking to each other; encouraging each other to move up,โ said team co-captain Lindsay Wright. โOur teamwork was much better.โ
The Don Mills Open takes place over very flat terrain, something the teams arenโt particularly used to.
โSpeed definitely plays a role. Itโs different because we train in Bechtel Park which is really hilly,โ said Wright. โLots of the girls really like trail races … dirt paths more than grass paths.โ
The womenโs team isnโt excluded from the injury bug. Co-captain Catherine Sukkau is out with a season-ending injury, effectively bringing to a close the fifth-yearโs Laurier career. But she did show up on Saturday to provide her runners with advice.
Merely being on the team is a huge commitment, let alone the risk of injury factor, said Wright.
โWe train all-year-round… We work our butts off all the time and weโre fully committed,โ he explained.
โCatherine and I had a couple goals [heading into this year]. We would like to see the womenโs team placed in the top 10 in the OUA and make nationals,โ said Wright.
โWe may not be a team many people have interest in now, but I think there will be in the next little while. Youโll see a huge improvement.โ