Cross Country teams off to CIS Championships

The men’s and women’s cross country teams are headed to the CIS Championships at Western University in London, Ontario this weekend.

The women’s team won their third AUS championship in four years on October 26 in Moncton, finishing first by a 27 point margin.

Ellen Chappell, Emily Clarke, Vanessa Linton, Brittany MacArthur, Michelle Reddy, Natalie Sachrajda and Anna von Maltzahn will represent the Tigers on the women’s side and have looked dominant this season thus far, winning all three of their exhibition meets before winning the AUS championship. Four members of the team (Chappell, Sachrajda, von Maltzahn and MacArthur) were also named AUS all-stars this year.

Chappell has led the way for the Tigers all season, finishing second at the AUS championship with a time of 23:06.09, 14 seconds off Melissa Hardy, the gold medal winner from StFX.

 “This is the best team we've had in my time at Dalhousie, both as an assistant coach and as a head coach. Not just the seven that will be on the line on Saturday; our entire roster from 1-12 has been incredible this year,” said head coach Rich Lehman.

The men’s team placed second at the AUS championship and will be sending three runners to Western, including three-time AUS all-star Matt McNeil. McNeil finished second in all three of his races this year, behind only John Kuto from Saint Mary’s.

Oliver Hatheway and Matthias Mueller will also represent the Tigers and were both named AUS all-stars in 2013. Hatheway placed fifth at the AUS championship with a 33:38:44, while Mueller placed eighth with a time of 34:24.97.

“Matthias Mueller has been fantastic for us all year. In just three years he's gone from not being on the team, to being our seventh guy last year, to being our captain and heading to a national championship this year,” added Lehman.

The women kick things off at 12:00pm EST in London on Saturday while the men race at 1:00pm EST. Be sure to check out our website following the races for complete results.