One final race on the docket for the Laurentian Voyageurs cross-country team may have been nice for some, but with injuries and academic conflicts also in the mix, a good number of team members were better served with a bit of rest, with OUA Championships set for October 28th in Callander.

"We are a bit banged up on the women's side so we decided to rest several of our top runners to ensure we are healthy for the OUA Championships in two weeks", noted head coach Darren Jermyn.

Of those who competed, fifth year runner Angela Mozzon led the way (51st - 32:00), followed by local freshman Georgia Lepage (103rd - 34:32), senior Claire Scholl (106th - 34:38) and rookies Maeve Blake (122nd - 36:52) and Ariel Gibbons (124th - 37:50).

The Laurentian team was competing at the McMaster Invitational at Kay Drage Park in Hamilton, a venue which featured an eight kilometer course consisting of four laps of a two kilometre grass loop with several tight turns and some challenging footing.

The Laurentian men, meanwhile, ran to an 8th place team finish and were again led by veteran Keon Wallingford from North Bay (36th - 26:21). Up next for the Vees was local Brandon Radey (55th - 27:03), with Patrick Leroux (80th - 27:40), Owen Roney (94th - 28:15) and Travis Annett(113th - 28:48) all a little further back.

"The men were solid but we definitely weren't at our best today," said Jermyn. "We had a planned recovery training block with the Thanksgiving break and it couldn't have come at a better time."