Despite a tight race, the entire Queen’s cross-country team put the Gold in Queen’s Tricolour this weekend.
On Oct. 25, the Gaels’ women’s and men’s cross country teams both took home first place at the OUA Cross Country Championship, hosted by Queen’s at Fort Henry. Additionally, star Jude Wheeler-Dee, ConEd ’26, earned gold in the individual event, adding to Queen’s trophy cabinet.
The double wins were sure to put a smile on every Gaels’ face, but the story of the morning came from the underdog women’s team. Ranked as the fourth-best OUA team in U Sports rankings entering the event, it was clear that many foresaw an uphill battle for the Gaels. When it became clear that key runner Olivia Baggley, ArtSci ’27, was unable to compete, though, the hill only got steeper.
What followed was a team effort for the ages in as tight a competition as one could imagine.
Elizabeth Vroom, Sci ’26 and Hannah Goodjohn, Nurs ’26, represented the Gaels with top-10 finishes, finishing 6th and 7th, respectively. Caleigh Pribaz, Sci ’26, finished 14th, and freshman standout Madison McDermott, ArtSci ’29, placed 17th.
Queen’s fifth-place finisher was first-choice alternate Hannah Pushka, Sci ’26, who stormed to 26th out of 94 runners despite being thrown into action amid Baggley’s absence.
Team scores are calculated using a school’s best five placements, and this year, Queen’s and the Windsor Lancers’ top five tied with a score of 70, just one place ahead of the Western Mustangs’ 71. It all came down to the tiebreaker—the team with the fastest 6th-place runner. What appeared to be an insignificant result suddenly became the key to victory for Queen’s, as Jasmine Stokes, Nurs ’26, ran just 0.4 seconds ahead of Windsor’s Maren Kasunich. Just two seconds faster, and Western’s fifth-place finisher, Juliana Hendrikx, would have leapfrogged both, which would have earned the Mustangs gold.
The weight of the victory wasn’t lost on Queen’s head coach Mark Bomba. “Shocking,” Bomba told The Journal in a media availability after the win. “I have no words. In my life, this is unprecedented—to ever see three teams that close, literally separated by seconds.”
Shocking, maybe, but it would be hard to call Vroom surprised by her team’s efforts. “I think some of our previous races didn’t really show all the work we’ve been putting in behind the scenes,” she told The Journal in a post-win media availability. “It’s nice to finally have the opportunity to show that and show everyone what we can do.”
Still, the win was a huge moment for Vroom and the team. “I was really excited,” she said. “I just saw everyone running toward the group, and then someone screamed, ‘We won!’ Everyone was jumping up and down. It was such a good moment.”
After the event, McDermott was given the nod as OUA Women’s Rookie of the Year, Vroom and Goodjohn were named OUA First Team All-Stars, and Pribaz was named to the OUA Second All-Star Team.
On the men’s side, a purely dominant team performance allowed them to defend their OUA title. Wheeler-Dee’s time of 23:26.7 was 5.6 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack, stacking his trophy cabinet with individual gold, the team gold, and a nod as OUA Men’s Runner of the Year.
Veterans Roman Mironov, Comm ’26, and Tanner Hueglin, ArtSci ’26, earned top-10 finishes, placing 7th and 9th, respectively. Strong performances from Angus Skinner, ConEd ’28 and Peter Neill, Sci ’27, put them at 13th and 20th, respectively, as the Gaels’ score of 50 was 19 places ahead of the runner-up Guelph Gryphons. With such strong performances from their top five runners, the scorecard didn’t even have to include Ethan Rashid-Cocker, Comm ’27, and Owen Danby, ArtSci ’27, who put up strong finishes at 21st and 28th among 107 racers.
A nonchalant reaction from Wheeler-Dee, though, indicates that the defending OUA champions have their eyes on the next prize. “It feels good, obviously,” Wheeler-Dee told The Journal in a post-race interview. “The goals were always set for U Sports this year, so it’s nice to take care of business today and have a bit of confidence going into the next two weeks.”
The Gaels are looking to defend their national title, having won gold at the U Sports Cross Country Championship last year. That doesn’t mean that Wheeler-Dee is taking the journey for granted in his final year, though. “It’s taking care of business, but also taking it all in,” he said. “It’s my last go-around, so I’m trying to soak in every race and every workout.”
Even if winning was business as usual, a win in his hometown in his final year as a Gael is something Wheeler-Dee will hold close to his heart. “I didn’t think much about it before the race,” he said. “But seeing family, friends, and alumni out there made it one of the events I’ll remember a bit longer than others.”
Both the Queen’s men’s and women’s teams will travel to Sherbrooke, QC., to compete at the U Sports Cross Country Championship on Nov. 8.
Tags
Elizabeth Vroom, Hannah Goodjohn, Hannah Pushka, Jude Wheeler-Dee, Mark Bomba, OUA Cross Country Championship, Roman Mironov
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