Pascale
Gendron |
Pascale
Gendron apparently made the most of her time away
from OUA cross-country competition.
The 22 year old fifth
year Laurentian University student appeared in her
first race as a Voyageurs since 2019, participating
in the Ramsey Tour last weekend and proceeded to
break a 19 year-old team record that was established
by a former all-Canadian athlete at L.U.
Finishing first in
the 5km distance with a time of 18:01, Gendron was
more than 90 seconds ahead of the second place woman
(teammate Kristen Mrozewski - 19:35), bettering
the mark that was set in 2003 by Collège
Notre-Dame graduate Leila Angrand.
"I'm super happy
to be back," said Gendron, who continued to
train with Toronto West Athletics and coach Gary
Westgate while she studied from home the past few
years. "I am coming off a really great track
season."
That said, she also recognizes the
inherent challenges that each venue presents, suggesting
that her favourite distance on the oval is also
a 5000 metre race. "Cross-country and track
are both hard, but they're hard in different ways,"
explained Gendron.
"Cross-country is hard physically
with the constant change of terrain but track is
so much more mental. It's so redundant."
Battling the self-imposed
pressure that comes with the ability to perform
at a very high level, Gendron appreciated the fact
that these feelings were offset, to a great extent
last Sunday, by an appreciation for all that comes
with being part of a varsity sports team.
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"Just to be back in
the team atmosphere and racing and having everybody around;
it's such a great support system," she said.
If Gendron grabbed the spotlight for the
L.U. women's team, the same could be said about incoming
freshman and Halton Hills native Seamus Doherty.
Not only did the 18 year old first year
student in Sports Administration finish second only to
local speedster and former Cambrian College standout Eric
Leishman, but Doherty also registered the second fastest
time for a Voyageur rookie in the race since the program
was reintroduced bac in 2015.
While it wasn't an absolutely perfect
summer of preparation, Doherty was pleased with the fact
that there was far more good than bad as he looks to his
first fall season of OUA racing.
"I felt pretty good," said Doherty.
"I was running upwards of 85 km/week coming into
August but then had a little knee issue - but it kind
of disappeared."
"I'm just trying to get a feel for
the first year of university - it's a little stressful.
Hopefully I will have some personal bests and compete
at the highest level."
Doherty (16:53) finished exactly one minute
back of Leishman, but was 11 seconds faster than third
place finisher Ethan Aarts from the Nipissing Lakers.
As a grade 10 student at Christ the King Seconday School,
Doherty participated at the 2019 OFSAA cross-country race
hosted at Kivi Park only to lose a shoe in the first 100
metres and still battle his way to a mid-pack placement.
This time around, he was sure to learn
all that he could about the course that the race would
cover last weekend.
"We had a practice Friday night on
the course so I kind of got a breakdown on how the first
three kms go and the last two kms, which are uphill,"
said Doherty.
Following are top finishers for both the
5 km event at the tradition that is the Ramsey Tour, but
also the half-marathon:
5 km - Men's Division
1st - Eric Leishman - 15:53
2nd - Seamus Doherty - 16:53
3rd - Ethan Aarts - 17:04
4th - Sam Rice - 17:14
5th - Owen Dobson - 17:29
6th - Tyler Rowles - 17:41
7th - Brodie Pennie - 17:42
8th - Noah Sullivan - 17:53
9th - Nicholas Lambert - 17:59
10th - Cameron Heinz - 18:09
11th - Patrick Leroux - 18:10
12th - Brandon Radey - 18:11
13th - Liam Lacroix - 18:17
14th - Travis Annett - 18:27
15th - Kaeden Ward - 18:34
5 km - Women's Division
1st - Pascale Gendron - 18:01
2nd - Kristen Mrozewski - 19:35
3rd - Emmy Passi - 19:37
4th - Maren Kasunich - 19:44
5th - Angela Mozzon - 20:10
Mixed Half Marathon
1st - Ryan Marsaw - 1:37:37
2nd - Lindsay Moreau-Verlaan - 1:37:49
3rd - Nicholas Wolynsky - 1:39:46
4th - Marc Cayen - 1:42:56
5th - Helen Francis - 1:46:56
6th - Steven Gonder - 1:47:19
7th - Matt Pentney - 1:47:36
8th - Daniel Proulx - 1:55:06
9th - Jean-Luc Larouche - 1:55:30
10th - Konrad Wiltmann - 2:05:18
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