Colford And Cull Lead Reds At AUS Championship

(HALIFAX, NS) UNB's Michael Colford (Fredericton, NB) raced to a fifth place finish in the men's 10-kilometre race at the 2018 Subway AUS Cross Country Championships, in Halifax, on Saturday.

Colford finished 1:30 behind winner Angus Rawlings, of the St FX X-Men, and ten seconds ahead of teammate Isaac Cull (Pubnico, NS), who finished in seventh.

"I started the race in a pretty good spot and was able to work my way up from there," said Colford. "I feel the team performed well today. We had a race plan and executed it with confidence."

Other Reds finishers included Ian Verschoor, in 20^th, Mitch Spragg, in 23^rd, Dawson Nancekievill, in 26^th, Aidan Donnelly, in 37^th, Alex Clemis, in 48^th, and Josh Cummings, in 49^th.

Eight Atlantic University Sport schools sent 50 runners to the start line.

The Reds finished third in the men's standings.

"The team coming third today really shows that the program is headed in the right direction," said Colford.

"All eight men had their best performances of the season, on the biggest stage of the season," said Reds head coach Chris Belof. "The results today are testament to their hard work and the talent that we have in our men's group."

Colford and Cull were both named AUS Cross Country All Stars, and both will represent the Reds at the U SPORTS Cross Country Championships, at Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, on November 10^th.

In the women's eight-kilometre event, Hannah Cormier (Fredericton, NB) was the top Reds finisher, in 14^th.

Cormier finished more than two minutes back of winner Michelle Reddy, of the Dalhousie Tigers.

"I'm proud of the way I was able to work my way up throughout the race," said Cormier. "Both of our teams ran really hard today, and I'm excited about the future of the program."

Other Reds finisher included Emmanuelle Martin, in 34^th, Caroline Burpee, in 35^th, Jill Lamb, in 36^th, Jana Giles, in 37^th, Kasadie Giilck, in 41^st, and Emma Towers, in 50^th.

Nine AUS schools sent 56 runners to the start line.

"We have a young group of women and they leave this meet having learned a lot about themselves as athletes and people," said Belof.

The UNB women finished in fifth in the team standings.

"Hannah took some nice steps to becoming the runner she can be. We'll build around her leadership," Belof said.

Dal took first place in the women's team competition, while the St FX claimed the men's title.

The championships were hosted by Dalhousie University, at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: Dal Athletics