Pascale Gendron apparently made the most of her time away from OUA cross-country competition.

The 22 year old fifth year Laurentian University student appeared in her first race as a Voyageurs since 2019, participating in the Ramsey Tour last weekend and proceeded to break a 19 year-old team record that was established by a former all-Canadian athlete at L.U.

Finishing first in the 5km distance with a time of 18:01, Gendron was more than 90 seconds ahead of the second place woman (teammate Kristen Mrozewski - 19:35), bettering the mark that was set in 2003 by Collège Notre-Dame graduate Leila Angrand.

"I'm super happy to be back," said Gendron, who continued to train with Toronto West Athletics and coach Gary Westgate while she studied from home the past few years. "I am coming off a really great track season."

That said, she also recognizes the inherent challenges that each venue presents, suggesting that her favourite distance on the oval is also a 5000 metre race. "Cross-country and track are both hard, but they're hard in different ways," explained Gendron.

"Cross-country is hard physically with the constant change of terrain but track is so much more mental. It's so redundant."

Battling the self-imposed pressure that comes with the ability to perform at a very high level, Gendron appreciated the fact that these feelings were offset, to a great extent last Sunday, by an appreciation for all that comes with being part of a varsity sports team.

"Just to be back in the team atmosphere and racing and having everybody around; it's such a great support system," she said.

If Gendron grabbed the spotlight for the L.U. women's team, the same could be said about incoming freshman and Halton Hills native Seamus Doherty.

Not only did the 18 year old first year student in Sports Administration finish second only to local speedster and former Cambrian College standout Eric Leishman, but Doherty also registered the second fastest time for a Voyageur rookie in the race since the program was reintroduced bac in 2015.

While it wasn't an absolutely perfect summer of preparation, Doherty was pleased with the fact that there was far more good than bad as he looks to his first fall season of OUA racing.

"I felt pretty good," said Doherty. "I was running upwards of 85 km/week coming into August but then had a little knee issue - but it kind of disappeared."

"I'm just trying to get a feel for the first year of university - it's a little stressful. Hopefully I will have some personal bests and compete at the highest level."

Doherty (16:53) finished exactly one minute back of Leishman, but was 11 seconds faster than third place finisher Ethan Aarts from the Nipissing Lakers. As a grade 10 student at Christ the King Seconday School, Doherty participated at the 2019 OFSAA cross-country race hosted at Kivi Park only to lose a shoe in the first 100 metres and still battle his way to a mid-pack placement.

This time around, he was sure to learn all that he could about the course that the race would cover last weekend.

"We had a practice Friday night on the course so I kind of got a breakdown on how the first three kms go and the last two kms, which are uphill," said Doherty.

Following are top finishers for both the 5 km event at the tradition that is the Ramsey Tour, but also the half-marathon:

5 km - Men's Division
1st - Eric Leishman - 15:53
2nd - Seamus Doherty - 16:53
3rd - Ethan Aarts - 17:04
4th - Sam Rice - 17:14
5th - Owen Dobson - 17:29
6th - Tyler Rowles - 17:41
7th - Brodie Pennie - 17:42
8th - Noah Sullivan - 17:53
9th - Nicholas Lambert - 17:59
10th - Cameron Heinz - 18:09
11th - Patrick Leroux - 18:10
12th - Brandon Radey - 18:11
13th - Liam Lacroix - 18:17
14th - Travis Annett - 18:27
15th - Kaeden Ward - 18:34

5 km - Women's Division
1st - Pascale Gendron - 18:01
2nd - Kristen Mrozewski - 19:35
3rd - Emmy Passi - 19:37
4th - Maren Kasunich - 19:44
5th - Angela Mozzon - 20:10

Mixed Half Marathon
1st - Ryan Marsaw - 1:37:37
2nd - Lindsay Moreau-Verlaan - 1:37:49
3rd - Nicholas Wolynsky - 1:39:46
4th - Marc Cayen - 1:42:56
5th - Helen Francis - 1:46:56
6th - Steven Gonder - 1:47:19
7th - Matt Pentney - 1:47:36
8th - Daniel Proulx - 1:55:06
9th - Jean-Luc Larouche - 1:55:30
10th - Konrad Wiltmann - 2:05:18