Brittany Elliott led the pack of Huskies cross-country runners in the
national championship race Nov. 10.

Brittany Elliott had the University of Saskatchewan’s top finish at the Canada West and CIS cross-country championship race Nov. 10.

Elliott, who is in her third-year as a Huskie athlete but first as a cross-country runner, finished the five-kilometre race held at Western University in London, Ont. in a time of 18:56. Her efforts warranted 11th place in the Canada West conference and granted her a conference second team all-star mention.

The same race counted as the final results for CIS standings, and Elliott managed 48th in the nation among female runners. It was a solid showing for Elliott, who spent the first two years of her university sport career as a track and field athlete.

“She did fantastic because it was a very challenging course, and for her to finish that high up in her rookie year in cross-country is very good,” said cross-country coach Joanne McTaggart.

Courtney Sjodin and Rachelle Edwards had the next-best finishes for the Huskie women’s team, clocking in at 19:44 and 19:50, respectively, to finish 19th and 20th in the Canada West and 79th and 83rd in the CIS.

As a team the Huskies women finished third in the Canada West and 15th in the CIS. The Guelph University Gryphons took the CIS women’s team title and had the top finisher in Andrea Seccafien, who won CIS gold, clocking in at 17:23.

On the men’s side second-year Davis Guenther had the Huskies’ best individual finish. Guenther finished 15th in the Canada West and 60th in the CIS, running the 10-kilometre men’s race in a time of 33:32.2.

Guenther is also rooted in track and field, and more used to running the 800 metre race.

“There’s quite a difference between running the 10km [race] and the 800 metre,” McTaggart said. This year “he has been learning to pace himself” for the longer distance.

Rookie Robert Bigsby finished next-best for the Dogs’ men, finishing 25th in the Canada West and 103rd in the CIS with a time of 35:08.4. Bigsby was one of four of the Huskies men’s rookies who competed in the national race, with their only previous experience running at the high school level.

It was Regina’s Kelly Wiebe who ran away from the pack in the men’s race, winning the Canada West and CIS men’s title. Wiebe finished the race 44 seconds ahead of the next closest runner and clocked in with a time of 30:21.4, averaging just over three minutes per kilometre.

As a team, the Huskie men’s finished fifth in the Canada West and 17th in the CIS. Guelph captured the men’s team title, their seventh straight national banner.

Individually, the Gryphons had the CIS silver, bronze and fourth place finishers in Ross Proudfoot, Aaron Hendrikx and Andrew Nixon.

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Photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf