Laker's Shine in Cross-Country Season Opener

SUDBURY, ON. - Under overcast skies and ideal running temperatures, the men's and women's Nipissing Lakers’ cross-country teams ran off to their best season opening performance in the six year history of the varsity program.

Capturing the overall individual silver medal and placing five men in the top-10, the men's team were led by 3rd year veteran Benjamin Brzezynski whose second-place 16:49 time over 5km of undulating granite hills surrounding the Laurentian Campus would hold all but one challenger on the day.

Demonstrating a summer of hard work and improvement, Brzezynski was closely followed by veterans Paulo Carvalho (4th, 17:42) and Kevin Gallagher (6th, 17:48) with the trio capturing gold, silver, and bronze in the men's 20-29 age category of this combined university/community road race.

On the women's side, the team was led by Bachelor of Education student and former Laurier XC athlete Ali Farlow, cruising through the same 5km course as the men in 21:16 which earned her the 8th women's spot running in a very competitive field against the Laurentian women's XC powerhouse. Farlow was closely followed by Nipissing veteran Taralynn Ray (11th female, 21:46), who has arrived at the 2009 season opener with impressive fitness. Rookie Laker Felicia Saunders (13th, 22:09) rounded out the top three female Lakers’.

This week, the Lakers’ will challenge themselves and each other at their annual intra-squad race (Thomson Park) on Thursday evening, followed by a trip to the University of Western Ontario International XC Meet on September 26. At the UWO International, the Lakers will face-off against the nation's best teams including perennial national champs Guelph Gryphon’s and a number of top NCAA schools for a true CAN-AM competition. The Lakers’ varsity cross-country running teams are coached by Dr. Graydon Raymer of Nipissing's new 4-year BPHE program, in addition to assistant coaches Tim Uuksulainen and Donna Mae Robins.