It looks to be a little of the old and a little of the new as the Laurentian Voyageurs' men's cross-country team look to work their way towards a goal of a top-seven finish at the OUA Championships this fall.

Competing at the 50th running of the Vigars and Salter Western Invitational this past weekend in London, the Voyageurs were led, once again, by fifth year standout Keon Wallingford (26:23), who ran to a 27th place finish (in a field of 120 athletes) at the Thames Valley Golf Club course.

That performance, combined with another encouraging effort from rookie Braedan Estabrooks (51st - 27:23) allowed the Laurentian lads to earn an eighth place finish with 13 university teams on hand.

Also contributing to the Vees team score were sophomore Alan Wilkin (70th - 28:18), senior Patrick Leroux (72nd - 28:21) and local freshman Shiloh Sauve (95th - 29:30).

Very much in a rebuild at the moment, the Voyageurs' women's team continues to be buoyed by the continuous improvement of local talent Abby Lanteigne (53rd - 32:50).

Rounding out the contributors to the team score of 375 (11th) for the Laurentian ladies were a quartet of runners, all of whom are in either their first or second year at L.U.: Valerie Vaillancourt (77th - 34:50), Georgia Lepage (83rd - 35:42), Charlotte Grenier (85th - 35:55) and Charli Borak (87th - 36:32).

"Braeden Estabrook's time today was one of our fastest in school history for a rookie on this course," noted head coach Darren Jermyn. "Abby Lanteigne was also solid in leading our women today as we look to develop this young team over the next few years."

The Vees are racing again next weekend, covering a six kilometre course at the Don Mills Open at the University of Waterloo.

Men's Scores
1. McMaster – 34 points
2. Western – 72 points
3. Windsor – 82 points
4. Guelph – 85 points
5. St. Francis Xavier – 145 points
6. Toronto – 244 points
7. New Brunswick – 251 points
8. Laurentian – 315 points
9. Waterloo – 341 points
10. Laurier – 384 points
11. Nipissing – 447 points
12. York – 462 points

Women's Scores
1. St. Francis Xavier – 48 points
2. Windsor – 72 points
3. McMaster – 82 points
4. Guelph – 96 points
5. Western – 154 points
6. Toronto – 159 points
7. New Brunswick – 163 points
8. Waterloo – 226 points
9. Laurier – 293 points
10. York – 368 points
11. Laurentian – 375 points