On Saturday, October 28, the UTM cross-country team had a great showing at the OCAA Provincials held at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.
Sophie Glanz is a medical student at UTM and a first-time varsity athlete, according to varsity program coordinator Jack Krist. Glanz was also named OCAA Cross Country Rookie of the Year and added to the first team All Ontario. Glanz finished in fifth place with a time of 23:01:05 and now has the “honour of being UTM’s first ever OCAA award winner and the first ever to represent UTM and team Ontario at the CCAA National level,” says Krist.
Stephanie Nevison, also a UTM medical student, finished 12th overall with a time of 24:21:02. Krist says, “Nevison was named to second team All Ontario and will represent UTM at the nationals both as an individual and as part of the UTM team.”
The UTM women’s team finished fourth in Ontario. Andrea Ortiz finished with a time of 26:21:03, Jerusha Colucci with a time of 26:24:08, Rebecca Wong with 28:58:05, and Rebecca Allan with 29:01:08.
The UTM men’s team had two runners, Kale Heino and Haseeb Malik, who finished in the top 20 at provincials. Heino finished 15th overall with a time of 27:55:09, and Malik finished 19th with a time of 28:14:06. Both Heino and Malik have qualified to compete at nationals and represent UTM for the third year in a row. Krist says that, “Jerry Lai finished with a time of 33:23:05 to round out UTM men’s runners at the Provincials.”
Eight out of nine athletes have qualified to compete at nationals held in Québec. Head coach Adam Hassen and assistant coaches Sara Fournier, Ayah Abdeldayem and Sam Dumcum are incredibly proud of their athletes and the results received at provincials. Krist says: “That is every coaches goal at the start of the year, and to send essentially the entire team is an amazing accomplishment for this young OCAA program. The team is now looking to post some strong results in Quebec and finish the season on a high note.”
