Expectations were high for the Varsity Blues cross-country team this year, after they upset last year’s provincial champs and won the silver medal at the CIS championship. Despite losing OUA all-star Sasha Gollish to injury, the Blues were the team to be reckoned with, as they added OUA all-star Jackie Sandoz and 1997 CIS bronze medallist Tambra Dunn to their already impressive roster.

They did not disappoint at last weekend’s tournament, winning the 25th annual OUA women’s cross-country championship. The Blues once again defeated the defending champs Guelph Griffons and the Waterloo Warriors, Ontario’s number-two ranked team.

U of T runner Tambra Dunn earned an individual silver medal, running the five-kilometre course in 18 minutes and 0.8 seconds. Powered by Dunn’s second-place finish, the Blues placed third in the top 10 and sixth in the top 15 at the championship.

In fact, the seventh runner, Nicole Van Beurden (an Ontario triathlon champion) placed 22nd in a field of 12 other teams. This put her in the number one spot among six teams. Dunn’s bib number seemed to be an appropriate assessment of her performance: she wore the number 1.

The women’s team, along with Dunn, Sandoz and Van Beurden, was also made up of Elizabeth Ben-Ishai, Sandy Wells, Jacquie Steele and Suzanne Garrett. According to plan, the women started the race in a pack. It became clear that the Blues were planning on taking control of the race in its early stages. By placing their top six in front of their opponents’ pack, which included Guelph’s number two runner, U of T dealt the Griffons their first defeat since 1998.

As the CIS championship quickly approaches, hopes are high that the Blues will continue to dominate. But defending CIS champions the Victoria Vikes and the Manitoba Bison (both in a tie for second in the rankings) may have something to say about it.

“I don’t particularly care about ranking. You have to perform on the day of the meet,” said coach Ross Ristuccia.

On the men’s side, this was a year to rebuild. Having lost four of their top five runners to graduation, this year’s team was composed of very young, yet solid runners.

Matt Leduc finished 23rd with a time of 34 minutes 22 seconds. He was followed by teammates Chris Van Beurden (28th), Thomas Ringer (32nd), Andrew Smith (34th), Geoff Webb (40th), Matthew Godfrey (52nd), and Gregor Kranjc (54th) for a total team score of 156. The future of the men’s team looks bright, even though their seventh-place finish eliminated them from the CIS championships in London.

“With a couple of additions this could be a very strong team in the next three, four years,” said Ristuccia.