The revamped University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas cross-country program gained some valuable experience at the 2012 CIS cross-country championship, held Nov 10 at the Thames Valley course in London, Ontario, and hosted by Western University.

Under the guidance of Associate Director of Athletics Programming Wes Moerman, the U of A sent just four runners to the national championship with Jessie Lilly, Jackie Trautman, Tom Fleming and Buddy Brown representing the U of A in London.

Off the start of the women's 5 km race, Lilly, a freshman, and Trautman, a fifth-year student-athlete, found themselves to the far outside and had some work to do to cross the field in order to establish positions. Trautman established herself in the middle of the pack early on, and remained in good mid-range position through most of the race. She finished with a very respectable time 19:12, while following right behind her was Lilly.

In the men's race, Kelly Wiebe from Regina, the eventual CIS cross-country athlete of the year, set a new course record as he literally ran away with the men's individual title. Similar to Trautman's performance, Brown set himself up in the middle of the pack after the first kilometre, with Fleming following suit, and eventually finished with a time of 34:34.

"As a coaching staff we were impressed with the professionalism, and the eagerness of our young team at the CIS championships," said Moerman. "All four student-athletes came focused to put their best foot forward in a very challenging context."

The next CIS cross country championships take place on Saturday, November 9, 2013, also hosted in London, Ont. by Western University.

NOTE: Today’s championship marked 50 years of CIS cross-country running on the men’s side. The inaugural CIS men’s championship was held in 1963, while female runners had to wait until 1980 to make their CIS debut.

Complete results: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/xc/2012/files/sched_results

Here is a full list of Canada West cross country team standings, awards and All-Stars, including individual placing by each runner:

MEN’S TEAM

1. Victoria Vikes                      36        2-3-6-11-14 17-19
2. Regina Cougars                    53        1-5-8-18-21 25-32
3. Calgary Dinos                       55        7-9-10-13-16 23-27
4. Trinity Western Spartans       116      4-12-22-38-40
5. Saskatchewan Huskies         133      15-24-30-31-33 35-39
6. Manitoba Bisons                   137      20-26-28-29-34 36-37

WOMEN’S TEAM

1. Victoria Vikes                      36        2-5-6-11-12 13-27
2. Calgary Dinos                       43        3-7-8-10-15 18-20
3. Saskatchewan Huskies         88        9-16-17-22-24 26-28
4. Trinity Western Spartans       92        1-4-25-29-33 34
5. Manitoba Bisons                   107      14-19-21-23-30 31-32 

MEN’S INDIVIDUAL

With placing, name, year of eligibility, school and time:

Canada West First Team All-Stars

1 Kelly Wiebe              5          Regina              30:21.4*
2 Dylan Haight             3          Victoria            31:55.7
3 Ryan Cassidy            2          Victoria            32:04.7
4 Blair Johnston            2          TWU               32:15.7
5 Matt Johnson              3          Regina              32:28.4
6 Doug Oxland              4          Victoria            32:29.4
7 Matthew Cloutier       5          Calgary            32:36.7 

Canada West Second Team All-Stars

8 Iain Fyfe                    5          Regina              32:48.2
9 Brad Bickley              4          Calgary            33:05.7
10 Gareth Hadfield       3          Calgary            33:07.4
11 Thomas Riva           3          Victoria            33:09.7
12 Joel Deschiffart        1          TWU               33:12.9
13 Curtis Merry            3          Calgary            33:23.2
14 Forest Simpson       2          Victoria            33:26.7 

CIS Men’s First Team All-Canadians (top 7 finishers)

1. Kelly Wiebe, Regina, 30:21.4
2. Ross Proudfoot, Guelph, 31:05.4
3. Aaron Hendrikx, Guelph, 31:09.9
4. Andrew Nixon, Guelph, 31:17.7
5. Dylan Brown, Lakehead, 31:22.2
6. Mat Walters, Windsor, 31:35.4
7. Yves Sikubwabo, Guelph, 31:40.9 

CIS Men’s Second Team All-Canadians (finishers 8-14)

8. Emmauel Boisvert, Laval, 31:51.2
9. Dylan Haight, Victoria, 31:55.7
10. Ryan Cassidy, Victoria, 32:04.7
11. Lionel Sanders, McMaster, 32:06.9
12. Nick Falk, Windsor, 32:13.4
13. Blair Johnston, Trinity Western, 32:15.7
14. Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, Laval, 23:17.2  

Canada West WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL

With placing, name, year of eligibility, school and time:

First Team All-Stars

1 Fiona Benson            3          TWU               17:35
2 Brittany Therrien        5          Victoria            18:04
3 Karissa Lepage         4          Regina              18:06
4 Grace Kary               4          Calgary            18:12
5 Alison Jackson          3          TWU               18:15
6 Jenna Van Vliet         2          Victoria            18:15
7 Avery Westberg        2          Regina              18:40 

Second Team All-Stars

8 Rachel François                     2          Victoria            18:44
9 Bridget Pyke                         2          Calgary            18:47
10 Alana Skocdopole               1          Calgary            18:48
11 Brittany Elliott                      2          Saskatchewan  18:56
12 Emma Cook-Clarke            1          Calgary            18:59
13 Madeline MacDonald          4          Victoria            19:03
14 Alison Hooper                     1          Victoria            19:06 

CIS Women’s First All-Canadians (top 7 finishers)

1. Andrea Seccafien, Guelph, 17:23.4
2. Carise Thompson, Guelph, 17:30.7
3. Victoria Coates, McMaster, 17:31.4
4. Geneviève Lalonde, Guelph, 17:31.7
5. Fiona Benson, Trinity Western, 17:35.9
6. Madeline Yungblut, Guelph, 17:36.2
7. Lindsay Carson, McMaster, 17:45.2

CIS Women’s Second All-Canadians (finishers 8-14)

8. Joanna Brown, Guelph, 17:47.2
9. Nadine Frost, Guelph, 17:47.23
10. Jen Corrick, Windsor, 17:47.9
11. Amanda Truelove, Western, 17:53.7
12. Frida Aspnaes, New Brunswick, 17.55.2
13. Maddy McDonald, McMaster, 17:55.4
14. Julie-Anne Staelhi, Queen’s, 17:58.7

CIS WOMEN’S RESULTS (5 km)

Team standings
1. Guelph, 21 points
2. McMaster, 62
3. Western, 107
4. Victoria, 161
5. Calgary, 195
6. Windsor, 197
7. McGill, 199
8. Dalhousie, 245
9. Toronto, 260
10. Waterloo, 265
11. Queen’s, 273
12. StFX, 274
13. Trinity Western, 336
14. Laval, 366
15. Saskatchewan, 366
16. Sherbrooke, 391
17. Manitoba, 415 

Individual honours

Athlete of the year: Andrea Seccafien, Guelph
Rookie of the year: Madeline Yungblut, Guelph
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Bridget Pyke, Calgary
Coach of the year: Dave Scott Thomas, Guelph  

CIS MEN’S RESULTS (10 km)

Team standings
1. Guelph, 38 points
2. Laval, 101
3. Windsor, 104
4. Victoria, 131
5. Queen’s, 161
6. McMaster, 172
7. Regina, 189
8. Calgary, 207
9. Western, 266
10. Lakehead, 271
11. StFX, 285
12. Wilfrid Laurier, 299
13. Waterloo, 306
14. Trinity Western, 372
15. Sherbrooke, 430
16. McGill, 459
17. Saskatchewan, 469
18. Manitoba, 486 

Individual honours

Athlete of the year: Kelly Wiebe, Regina
Rookie of the year: Dylan Brown, Lakehead
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Connor McGuire, StFX
Coach of the year: Dave Scott Thomas, Guelph

ALL-TIME TEAM CHAMPIONS

Women

2012 Guelph (at Western)

2011 Guelph (at Laval)

2010 Guelph (at Sherbrooke)

2009 Guelph (at Queen’s)

2008 Guelph (at Laval)
2007 Guelph (at Victoria)
2006 Guelph (at Laval)
2005 Guelph (at Dalhousie)
2004 Dalhousie (at Guelph)
2003 Calgary (at Moncton)
2002 Toronto (at Western)
2001 Victoria (at Sherbrooke)
2000 Victoria (at Toronto)
1999 Victoria (at RMC / Queen’s)
1998 Victoria (at Waterloo)
1997 Guelph (at Western)
1996 Waterloo (at McGill)
1995 Windsor (at Western)
1994 Victoria (at Western)
1993 Calgary (at Dalhousie)
1992 Calgary (at McGill)
1991 Toronto (at Victoria)
1990 Western (at Ottawa)
1989 Western (at UBC)
1988 Western (at Laval)
1987 Victoria (at Victoria)
1986 Victoria (at Western)
1985 Victoria (at Sherbrooke)
1984 Western (at Guelph)
1983 Western (at Laurentian)
1982 Western (at Laurentian)
1981 Western (at Lethbridge)
1980 Victoria (at Guelph)

Men

2012 Guelph (at Western)

2011 Guelph (at Laval)

2010 Guelph (at Sherbrooke)
2009 Guelph (at Queen’s)

2008 Guelph (at Laval)
2007 Guelph (at Victoria)
2006 Guelph (at Laval)
2005 Windsor (at Dalhousie)
2004 Windsor (at Guelph)
2003 Windsor (at Moncton)
2002 Guelph (at Western)
2001 Guelph (at Sherbrooke)
2000 Guelph (at Toronto)
1999 Guelph (at RMC / Queen’s)
1998 Windsor (at Waterloo)
1997 Victoria (at Western)
1996 Victoria (at McGill)
1995 Victoria (at Western)
1994 Victoria (at Western)
1993 UBC (at Dalhousie)
1992 Sherbrooke (at McGill)
1991 Toronto (at Victoria)
1990 Ottawa (at Ottawa)
1989 Manitoba (at UBC)
1988 Manitoba (at Laval)
1987 Ottawa (at Victoria)
1986 Ottawa (at Western)
1985 Western (at Sherbrooke)
1984 Queen's (at Guelph)
1983 Queen's (at Laurentian)
1982 Toronto (at Laurentian)
1981 Queen's (at Lethbridge)
1980 Alberta (at Guelph)
1979 Queen's (at Toronto)
1978 Toronto (at Toronto)
1977 Toronto (at Queen's)
1976 Western (at Guelph)
1975 Toronto (at Victoria)
1974 Toronto (at Guelph)
1973 Étoiles OUAA (at RMC / Queen’s)
1972 Étoiles OUAA (at RMC)
1971 Western (at UNB)
1970 Western (at UBC)
1969 Guelph (at MacDonald)
1968 Saskatchewan (at Dalhousie)
1967 Toronto (at Guelph)
1966 Toronto (at Guelph)
1965 Toronto (at Guelph)
1964 Manitoba (at Guelph)
1963 McMaster (at Guelph)