Rookie Ross Proudfoot made his Gryphon debut a memorable one as he captured the Western International Cross Country Invitational Saturday morning in London. Despite his tender age, Proudfoot showed veteran savvy, biding his time in the pack for most of the first six kilometres and not taking the lead for good until 800 metres to go. Proudfoot's race highlighted a strong showing for Gryphon newcomers. Andrew Nixon was sixth on the men's side, finishing as the second Canadian, while Emily Driedger was the top female Gryphon rookie, finishing fifth overall. The Gryphon women were led by Rachel Cliff who finished second.
Overall the Gryphon women finished second to McMaster in a very tight team battle. The Marauders won with a team score of 28 while the Gryphons finished with 32 despite having five finishers in the top 10. The Gryphons were without the services of three of their top five runners in Genevieve Lalonde, Courtney Laurie and Melissa Jones. Laurie and Jones raced last weekend at home finishing first and second respectively, while Lalonde is delaying her seasonal debut after a long summer season. All three are expected to be in action next weekend at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University, where the Gryphons will field a full team in the hopes of improving on last year's runner-up finish at one of the largest collegiate cross country meet in North America.
Proudfoot's win coupled with Nixon's strong showing along with Nigel Wray's 12th place finish and Tommy Mosher 14th place finish gave the Gryphons a strong lead four. The Gryphons' fifth runner was well back in 46th place, which proved to be their Achillies' heel., as the Gryphons finished third behind Eastern Michigan and the University of Windsor. As with the women, the Gryphon men rested a number of their top athletes including Kyle Boorsma, Alex Genest, Allan Brett, Rob Jackson and Rob Koziarski all of whom saw action at last week's New Balance Vic Matthews Open. The men were fifth at last year's Paul Short Run.
Chris Moulton
University of Guelph
Track and Field
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