Silver Showing for Thunderbirds at Canadian XC Nationals

It was a silver lined day for the blue and gold at this past Saturday's Canadian Cross Country National Championships. Held under clear skies and cool conditions, the 21 Thunderbird Athletes left their mark on the course, headlined by a pair of team sliver medal showings from the U16 Women and Senior Men.

First on the course was the combined men's and women's U16 race, where a 5-strong contingent of Thunderbird women kicked things off in style with a strong silver medal showing. Leading the way for the 'Birds was club veteran Maya Baechler, whose clocking of 15:04 was good for 14th place in the 4km race. Rounding out the scoring for the quintet were Eva Kriebel, Nannette Novak-Klotz, Esmee Ko, and Allison Lee-Meyer.

Not to be outdone by their counterparts in the U16 race, a strong contingent of athletes from Coach Cindy Crowther's intermediate endurance group represented the club well in both the men's and women's U18 races as well. Seeing a strong legacy of excellence forming with this burgeoning group, Coach Crowther remarked that "this first national experience was a glimpse into the future, built excitement for the larger competitions and helped us to visualize and align goals for the years to come. This experience was invaluable for the athletes who competed and my hope is that next year we’ll have a much larger crew."

In senior competition the T-Birds were once again in the mix amongst the top teams in the nation. Under the tutelage of long-time Senior Endurance Coach Chris Johnson, the 10km men's event was highlighted by a second trip to the podium in as many years, as the experienced men's squad edged out perennial powerhouse Speed River of Guelph, ON for the silver medal spot, just back of first time champions Back Road Bandits of London, ON. Long time Thunderbird (and JD East Head Coach) Braeden Charlton highlighted the showing with an inspired 11th place performance, taking a leap into the upper echelons of Canadian XC competition and showing there is much to look forward to this upcoming track season. Similar anticipation surrounds the senior women's trio of Sandra Kilmartin, Julia Howley, and Madelyn Brunt, whose slew of top-30 performances proved the Vancouver club is one to watch moving forward.

In all, the this years iteration of ACXC proved to be a memorable one. While many of the 'Birds now take a well deserved respite from training, excitement has already begun to build for an exhilirating year ahead as the athletes and coaches set their sights on even greater heights in 2020.

#GoThunderbirdsGo

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