Their season has just commenced but Queen’s Cross Country is already finding ways to earn golds.
The Gaels have their first two events underneath their belt after starting a weekend later than normal this fall. For their first event, the team travelled on Sept. 19 to Canton, New York, to take part in the Ronald C. Hoffmann Invitational at St. Lawrence University (SLU). The second event took place on Sept. 26 when the team competed in the Capital XC challenge put on by the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club.
In their first official competition at SLU, the Gaels swept the gold in both men’s and women’s event. It was utter dominance for both teams, although particularly for the women, who captured the first five spots and eight of the top 10 in the event. They were led by Olivia Baggley, ArtSci ’27, with a time of 22:04.8 in the six-kilometre event. On the men’s side, they captured six of the top 10, highlighted by Saul Taler Kin ’29, placing first with a time of 25:31.4 in the eight-kilometre event.
The second event of the season in Ottawa was more of the same for the women’s side as they captured a second team gold. In the six-kilometre race, Baggley finished fourth with a time of 23:04.13. Rosalyn Barrett, HealthSci ’27, finished right behind her, placing fifth, with a time of 23:10.79.
The men’s side was led again by an impressive performance by Taler who finished in third place, earning the squad a second-place finish.
To discuss the performances as well as upcoming expectations, The Journal sat down with Head Coach Mark Bomba.
Bomba is overall content with his teams start but is cautious to overstate knowing that there can be inconsistencies early on in the season.
“Generally, it’s been good, but I don’t raise too much of a priority early on,” Bomba said.
When asked about travelling to the United States, Bomba was candid and appreciative of how accommodating SLU has been to them in the past and have continued to be.
“They’re very good to us, and they’re very supportive of us as a Canadian team,” Bomba said.
Originally on the schedule, the team was supposed to compete in Lehigh, Pennsylvania, this upcoming weekend but chose not to go due to the United States political climate.
Despite not attending, Bomba isn’t worried about missing the event.
“We try to put our athletes of higher calibre in these high stress environments, but we’ve got a pretty veteran crew and know how to prepare both mentally and physically.”
Going into this year, the men’s team are missing their golden boy in Jude Wheeler-Dee, ArtSci ’26, who is an OUA and U Sports champion. However, Bomba is confident the program they have built has made the transition easier.
READ MORE: Jude Wheeler-Dee ends illustrious career with double gold at USports National Championships
“There’s a huge leadership and mentorship factor,” he said. “I think the athletes coming into our program now, they know there’s an expectation of being a good teammate, committing to the process, and putting the work in.”
As for expectations, the standard still stands, they’re looking to win.
“I’m not gonna sit here and say they’re favourites to win [the OUA], but I trust they’re going to show up on the day and be ready to go,” Bomba said.
The Gaels will have one final event at McMaster on Oct. 16 before the OUA Championships on Halloween in Windsor.
Tags
cross country, Queen’s Cross-Country
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