Cross Country
The women’s cross country team started the season strong, finishing second at the Western Invitational. Gabriella Stafford stood out for the team, winning first overall in the race with a time of 17:43, 10 seconds faster than Western’s Amanda Truelove. Meanwhile, the men’s team placed seventh in the race. They still have three races before the OUA championships at the end of October and the CIS championships at the beginning of November.

Fast pitch: 6-6 — fifth place in OIWFA
The women’s fast pitch team has been smashing it out of the park this season with a 6-2 record going into last weekend. However, the Blues were unable to keep their 5-game winning streak alive after losing two apiece to the top teams in the league: the Western Mustangs and the Windsor Lancers. This upcoming weekend, they play the fourth-place University of Ottawa’s Gee Gees and eighth place Carleton University’s Ravens and are hoping to put some more wins back on the board.

Field Hockey: 7-0 — first place OUA
The field hockey team is continuing its customarily powerful play. The team has scored a total of 36 points and only allowed three against them. Madeline Cho played the majority of the time in net and kept five of the team’s seven games as shutouts. John DeSouza, in his eight years as the team’s head coach, has lead the Blues to 12 OUA titles and three Canadian Intercollegiate Sport (CIS) medals. He and his team hope to compete at the national championship once again this year, in search for another gold medal.

Football: 1-4 — eighth place OUA
The men’s football team has had a slow start this year, winning only one of its last five games. This is a disappointing record after a strong .500 record last season, the best they have had in years. The team has been outscored 207-125, with 70 of their points coming from their sole victory against York University. The team will have to go undefeated for the next three games in order to have any hope of making the playoffs.

Lacrosse: men 3-2, fourth place in CUFLA west; women 2-1-1, fourth place in OUA
The men and women’s lacrosse teams have swung their way into fourth place in their respective division. Leading the men’s team is fourth-year, Jordon Robertson, a Toronto native, who was recently selected in the 2014 National Lacrosse League draft by the Toronto Rock. In just three games, Robertson is leading the team with 15 points. On the women’s side, second-year, Sarah Jamieson, led the team this past weekend, against the Queen’s Gaels, scoring six of the team’s 16 points in a 16-4 win.

Soccer: men: 6-2-1, third place OUA East; women: 5-2-1, fifth place OUA East
After being knocked out of the OUA playoffs in the quarterfinals last year, the men’s soccer team has been looking to kick it into high gear, going into the playoffs. With seven games left in the season, the team is hoping to improve its 6-6-5 record from last year. Meanwhile, the women’s team is being led by new head coach, Stuart Neeley, who previously led the Toronto FC Soccer Academy and had experience working with English and European professional teams. Former Blues, Diana Esteireiro and Laura Machado, joined the coaching staff this year as well.

Elizabeth Benn is a member of the Varsity Blues fastpitch team.