Andrew Peverill wins third consecutive AUS Cross Country Championship
The AUS Cross Country Championships took place Saturday at the Fox Meadow Golf Course in Stratford, P.E.I. hosted by the University of Prince Edward Island. On a dry and fast course, the Huskies rose to the occasion and took three All-Star spots on the men's side, highlighted by Andrew Peverill (Lower Sackville, NS) taking home gold.
Peverill, the fifth-year athlete, was crowned AUS Champion and Male Athlete of the Year for the third consecutive time, becoming the first AUS male athlete to do so since Olympian Paul McCloy did with the Memorial Sea-Hawks in 1984-1986. In the early stages of the race, Jared Howse of the UNB REDS broke away from the main pack of runners after 2km, with Peverill gradually closing the gap over the next km.
The two athletes led the race for the next 5km, with Peverill launching his kick with 800m to go, putting 18 seconds between he and Howse to claim the title in a time of 24:37. Howse would take silver in 24:55 and Jacob Benoit of St.FX with bronze in 25:07.
The Huskies duo of Teagan Scott (Barrington, NS) and Rory McGarvey (Belleville, ON) worked together for the first half of the race and quickly made-up spots to fit into the AUS All-Star spots. With a hard last lap and kick, Scott would take the 12th place position in a time of 26:00 and McGarvey right behind in 14th position with a finishing time of 26:11. Both took 2nd Team AUS All-Star honours, with Joe Stewart (25th, 27:47) and Eli Ford (40th, 30:05) rounding out the five scoring Huskies on the men's side, with the team scoring 91 points to finish just off the podium in 4th place. The Dalhousie Tigers took the AUS team banner with a score of 33 points.
On the women's side, first-year athlete Jacqueline Moore (Dartmouth, NS) led the Huskies with an excellent showing in her first AUS Championships, finishing in 30th place with a time of 34:54, with Gael Cameron closing behind in 34th with a time of 35:10. The women's team would go on to place 8th in the standings with the St.FX X-Women taking the team banner with a score of 23 points.
The Huskies are co-hosting the U SPORTS Cross Country Championships with Dalhousie on Saturday, November 12th at Brunello Golf Course in Halifax. The men's race is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. and women's right after at 1:00 p.m.
Recap by Jonathan Peverill / SMU Huskies Athletics
Photos by Janessa Hogan & Mike Needham / UPEI Panthers Athletics
