On Sunday, two Vancouver-based athletes dominated the 2024 Canadian Cross Nation Championships in London, Ont. Andrew Davies and Leslie Sexton, each members of the Vancouver Thunderbirds Monitor Membership, captured victories within the males’s and ladies’s 10K races, respectively.
Within the males’s race, Davies bided his time with the lead pack by way of the primary three laps, executing a strategic transfer heading into the ultimate lap. “The plan was to offer it the whole lot, undergo, after which maintain on,” Davies shared about his decisive end. He surged to the win, claiming his first senior nationwide title in 30:38. Max Turek of Whitby, Ont., and Mitch Ubene of Tecumseh, Ont., rounded out the rostrum, ending second and third.
Regardless of freezing temperatures, Davies praised the two.5-kilometre course at Fanshawe Golf Membership. Rising up in close by Sarnia, Ont., he was cheered on by many household and mates. A spotlight of the day for Davies was seeing his former McMaster Marauders teammate, Turek, end proper behind him. “I needed to be cautious to not swear in pleasure,” he laughed. “The very last thing I needed was to have us each disqualified.”
Sexton triumphs in ladies’s race
The ladies’s 10K got here all the way down to a carefully contested battle, with marathoners Leslie Sexton and Rachel Hannah and U Sports activities standout Paige Breedon preventing for place as they entered the ultimate 2.5-kilometre loop. Breedon pushed the tempo, however Sexton, a seasoned 2:28 marathoner, put her energy on show by breaking away to win in 36:33.
Breedon earned her first nationwide podium with a powerful second-place end in 36:45, whereas Alyshia Alkerton of Brockville, Ont., surged on the ultimate lap to safe third place in 36:46.
Having relocated to Vancouver three years in the past to flee southern Ontario’s unpredictable local weather, Sexton laughed on the irony of profitable in snowy, sub-zero circumstances. “I knew right now wasn’t going to be straightforward,” she stated. “However in powerful moments, I remind myself that I’m a marathoner—constructed for races like this.”
The 37-year-old, who lived in London, Ont., for 9 years earlier than transferring west together with her coach and companion Steve Weiler, described her victory as a homecoming. “It felt superb to win right here,” Sexton stated. “I’m completely happy to take the person title and assist safe the workforce championship for the UBC Thunderbirds for the second 12 months in a row.”
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For full outcomes from the 2024 Canadian Cross Nation Championships, click on right here.
