When recruitment season ended within the OUA (Ontario University Athletics) cross-country circuit, Laurentian Voyageurs head coach Darren Jermyn was one very happy man.
This past Sunday, the fruits of his labour were on full display, notably on the men's side of the draw at the Ramsay Tour 5km race at Laurentian.
A young and very fast contingent of L.U. lads not only dominated the university / college division that also included the Nipissing Lakers and Cambrian Shield, but also fared well against the field of runners, at large, who tackled the shorter distance, with the traditional half-marathon also held simultaneously.
Former Laurentian standout Keon Wallingford captured first place in a time of 15:46, with Elliot Lake native Jacques Tiessen right on his heels at 15:51.
Right behind them and leading the post-secondary charge was Voyageurs' sophomore Braeden Estabrooks from Timmins (16:01 - though it sure looked like a sub-16 clocking to the naked eye), with freshman teammates Christian Myers (16:10) and Natnael Mulugeta (16:13) and Sudbury native and Nipissing rep Kelly Thompson (16:21) all closely packed in his wake.
Continuing with the university - college division, Laurentian rookies Owen McDougall (16:36), Ben Walker (16:40) and Raphael Belzile (16:44) were bunched in with returnees T.J. Green (16:42) andShiloh Sauve (16:52) as coach Jermyn saw his top seven male runners all cross the line with less than a minute of separation.
The influx of young talent will see Estabrooks enjoying something of a different perspective as a more senior athlete in an environment that he thoroughly enjoyed last year. "Our team in high-school (E.S.C. Thériault) was close, but not as close as these guys," said the 18 year-old second year Sports Administration major.
"You might be having a bad day with training, but some of your teammates are having a good one and they will help push you to go just as hard as you can. I've got some teammates who, in a workout, will get ahead of me and make me work so hard to catch up to them."
The early September event represents something of a low-key introduction to the OUA cross-country season at Laurentian, with the Voyageurs set to attend the Vigars & Salter Westren Invitational on September 26th.
Hosted at the Thames Valley Golf Club, the course is a much different challenge than the Ramsay Tour loop - much to the dismay of Estabrooks. "I am from Theriault in Timmins and we did a lot of hill training there," he said.
"Some guys down here think this is a really hilly course but I'm a fan because of the hills - and we've trained on it a lot."
Returning home to complete her Teachers' College degree in French, Kylee Fowler kicked off her final year of OUA eligibility on a winning note, posting a time of 18:54 to show the way among all female participants, with Laurentian graduate and Sudbury nurse Kristen Mrozewski less than ten second back (19:01).
The Laurentian women also packed eight of their runners into the top ten in the university / college division, a group that included Georgia Lepage (3rd - 19:29), Misaki Diavolitsis (4th - 19:31), Lily Bignucolo (5th - 19:45), Charli Borak (6th - 20:12), Chloe Casselman 7th - 20:21), Makenzie Bailey (8th - 20:23) and Charlotte Grenier (9th - 20:23).
"This is the deepest men's team we have had in the past ten years - and the women are also much deeper this year," said coach Jermyn. "It was great to see Kylee take the victory at home in her final year of eligibility."
