Moncton, NB - The Crandall Chargers men's and women's cross country teams opened their season at home on Saturday, hosting the conference's best at Mapleton Park. The clear skies and warm temperatures made for excellent race conditions, and resulted in strong performances from the Chargers.
In the women's 6K race, Laura Fonseca led the way with a 2nd place finish, crossing the line in a time of 27:21. Lydia MacArthur crossed the line 10th in 29:06, and was followed by teammates Lydia Bodechon and Faith Benjamin, who placed 13th and 15th with times of 31:06 and 33:24, respectively.
The Mount Allison Mounties won the women's team title with 23 points, followed by the Mount Saint Vincent Mystics with 34, and the Chargers close-behind with 38.
In the men's 8K race, the Chargers put their scoring team through in quick succession. Luke Purdy placed 2nd with a time of 28:19, followed by Jackson Culberson in 3rd (29:25), Luc Blanchette in 4th (29:53), and Declan Andrews in 6th (32:59). Justin Reimer placed 13th with a time of 36:03, while Nicholas Fletcher followed close-behind, crossing the line 15th in 36:50.
The Chargers won the men's team title with 15 points, followed by the Mount Allison Mounties with 30, and the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus Rams with 44.
"Simply put, everyone did awesome today," said Head Coach Brandon LeBlanc. "Our women are very much in a rebuilding year, and so for them to come away with an individual silver, a narrow third-place team finish, and to all cross the line in the top-15, is fantastic and encouraging of big things to come. For our men's team, this year is very much focused on carrying the momentum of past years and improving on our national positioning – I think today's results show we're on the right track."
The Chargers will be in action again in two weeks' time (Saturday, Sep. 28th), as they compete in the second meet of the regular season, hosted by St. Thomas University in Fredericton, NB.