Windsor, ON - The Crandall Chargers cross country team made gains at the national level on Saturday, as they competed in the CCAA Championships for the fourth consecutive year. The Championships were hosted by St. Clair College at Malden Park, the site of countless high-calibre cross country meets, including the 2003 edition of the CCAA Championships which were also hosted by St. Clair. The Chargers were represented by an individual entry in the women's race, and by a team entry in the men's race.
In the women's 6K race, Lydia MacArthur placed 87th in her national debut, finishing with a time of 29:50.
"I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to run this season with such an amazing team," said MacArthur. "The coaches and upper year athletes have inspired me to continue striving for higher athletic performances."
MacArthur repeated her strategy from the Atlantic conference championships, keeping competitors in her sight and making a move on the finishing stretch. In her sprint to the line, MacArthur caught four competitors, who all finished in a span of 3.3 seconds behind her.
"Lydia's performance caps-off what has been a very successful rookie season," said Head Coach Brandon LeBlanc. "To make it to nationals in her first year is impressive, and this experience will be instrumental in preparing her for greater success in the years to come."
"Running at CCAA's was an absolutely amazing and eye opening experience," said MacArthur. I'm excited to continue training and see what I can do next year."
In the men's 8K race, Luke Purdy led the way for the Chargers with a 28th place finish, crossing the line with a time of 26:42. Jackson Culberson crossed the line 50th in 27:41, while Luc Blanchette was 59th in 28:21. Declan Andrews and Justin Reimer both made their national debuts, with Andrews rounding-out the team score with his 75th place finish (29:22), and Reimer displacing opposing teams with his 86th place finish (30:28). All five men recorded personal best times and collectively moved-up 16 placements in the second-half of the race.
"Everyone on the team ran amazing and left everything they had out on the course," said Purdy, co-captain of the men's team.
Purdy's 28th place finish is a new high for the program, dropping 20 spots from the previous best finish by a male Charger at these Championships, which Purdy had set at last year's championships. "Overall the weekend was a huge success," Purdy added.
"Luke had a great race, and has seen a lot of competitive growth over the past year," said Coach LeBlanc. "He's taken a full minute off his time from last year, and today bested numerous athletes who finished well-ahead of him at last year's championships."
The Chargers men placed 14th in the team standings with a score of 186 points, breaking the team's former record point total of 211 that had been set at last year's championships.
"Today's results are a testament to the hard-work that these men have been putting in over the past year," said LeBlanc. "There's a lot of potential in this team, and the guys are already hungry for more."
"The end of this cross country season has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life," said Reimer, following his national debut. "Putting in the work from the beginning of the summer until now and having it all culminate in racing better than I thought possible at the beginning of this season, has been an empowering experience."
In explaining their successful team performance, both Purdy and Reimer pointed to the program's emphasis on team culture.
"Our emphasis on building a great team culture this year has helped push the program to new heights and create a friendly and overall great atmosphere," said Purdy. "During nationals, and all throughout the regular season in fact, our team culture played a huge role in bringing everyone on the team closer together and building each other up."
"The friendships I have built with my teammates are one of a kind and honestly the best thing about running at Crandall," said Reimer.
Asked for some final thoughts, Coach LeBlanc offered words of gratitude. "A big thanks to all those who help make these big things possible. I particularly want to thank assistant coaches Kennedy Albinet, Jonathan Steeves, and Dakota Steeves, who all play an instrumental role in supporting the day-to-day training environment."
The 2025 CCAA Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Holland College in Brookvale, PE.