McGill women win Quebec cross-country crown

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McGill women win Quebec cross-country crown

Published: 29 October 2011

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CHICOUTIMI, Que. - 听Jessica Porfilio of Longueuil, Que., finished fourth overall and was named rookie of the year as McGill captured the R茅seau du sport 茅tudiant du Qu茅bec women's cross-country running championship at Parc de la Rivi猫re du Moulin, Saturday.

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It was the second straight conference title for the Martlets, who missed the provincial crown in 2009 after winning it for 20 consecutive seasons from 1988 to 2007.

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The Martlets finished first of eight teams with 38 points overall, placing runners in fourth, fifth, eighth, 10th and 11th.

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Laval was second with 51, followed by Sherbrooke (65), Concordia (102), UQTR (168), UQAC (171), UQAM (173) and Montreal (incomplete).

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Laval runner Catherine Cormier finished first of 73 runners, completing the five-kilometre course in 19 minutes flat. Joining her on the podium was teammate Manon Letourneau (19:18) and Concordia's Dominique Roy (19:41).

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"I was hoping that we would have someone on the podium but our top three runners have had some leg and foot issues to overcome," said Dennis Barrett, in his 27th season as head coach at McGill. "Nonetheless, it's great to take the team title again. You never get tired of winning. The key thing is that we have good depth this year, which helps big time when you run into injury issues. Hopefully we will be fairly healthy and firing on all cylinders for the Nationals in two weeks time."

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Porfilio, a freshman in nursing who has been McGill's top runner in all five meets to date, was clocked in 19:51. Other Martlets in the scoring included junior Sarah McCuaig (5th, 20:03) of Waterloo, Ont., senior Charlene Puel (8th, 20:23) of Lyon, France, freshman Jullien Flynn (10th, 20:27) of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and Catherine Drouin-Audet (11th, 20:43), a fifth-year senior from Repentigny, Que.

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All five have qualified for the CIS national championship in Quebec City on Nov. 12. Two other McGill runners who also made the cut are junior Madeleine Cummings (13th, 20:50) of Toronto and freshmen Madeleine Williams (14th, 20:52) of Edmonton.

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The top seven finishers in the race automatically earned all-conference status while McCuaig received the conference's citizenship award.

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On the men's side, Jean-Samuel Lapointe finished first of 70 entrants, leading his Laval Rouge et Or to the RSEQ banner. He completed the 10k course in 34:08. Sherbrooke's Olivier Lavoie was second in 34:12, followed by Laval's Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (34:22).

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Laval finished first of eight teams with 19 points, followed by Sherbrooke (53), McGill (108), Concordia (116), UQTR (124), UQAM (131), UQAC (190) and Montreal (incomplete).

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McGill's top five scorers were Mike Abramson (18th, 36:47), a freshman from Westmount, Que., sophomore Ian Forbes (20; 37:21) of Fredericton, freshman Josh Hnizor (21st, 38:02) of Grantham, N.H., freshman Alexander Ray (22nd, 38:08) of Montreal and Laurent Gervais-Robert (27th, 38:52), a junior from Brossard, Que.

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2011 RSEQ CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP WOMEN'S STANDINGS

1. McGill, 38 pts

2. Laval, 51 pts

3. Sherbrooke, 65 pts

4. Concordia, 102 pts

5. UQTR, 169 pts

6. UQAC, 171 pts

7. UQAM, 173 pts

8. Montreal, (incomplete)

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2011 RSEQ CROSS-COUNTRY WOMEN'S ALL-STARS