Gryphon men win silver at OUA Championships

Feb. 20-21: OUA Nordic Ski Championships

*ORANGEVILLE, Ont*. – The Guelph Gryphon men’s Nordic Ski team won the overall team silver medal at the Ontario University Athletics Championships today at Monora Park in Orangeville. The Gryphon women finished fourth overall.

The Lakehead Thunderwolves women won their sixth straight OUA title, while the Carleton Ravens are the new men's champions after dethroning five-time champion Lakehead.

The Carleton men earned a total of 43 points, ahead of the second-place Guelph Gryphons (95) and third-place Laurentian Voyageurs (117).

Skiers with Top 10 combined individual times earn OUA all-star recognition. Matti Little (Sudbury, Ont.) was the top Gryphon at the Championships finishing 5th overall. He was fourth in the men’s 10km classic and fifth in the 15km freestyle. Also finishing inside the top ten and an OUA all-star was Ian Ritchie (Penetanguishene, Ont.) finishing ninth in the men’s 10 km classic race and 12th in the 15km freestyle.

The Gryphon team of Erin McLean-Purdon (Owen Sound, Ont.), Ritchie and Little took relay bronze in a time of 44:53, with anchor Little only 9 s back of Carleton's Colin Abbot. Waterloo staged the upset of the day, with anchor Henry Reich out-gliding Abbott and Little on the final downhill to the stadium.

Vesta Mather (Wahnapitae, Ont.) was the top Gryphowoman and was named an OUA all-star. She finished eighth in the 10km freestyle race and 10th in the 5km classic. Also named all-star was Laura Hewitt (Orillia ON) after a seventh place finish in the 10km freestyle and 17th in the 5km classic, her best OUA result and a great reward in her graduating year.

Coach Richard Lay said he was so proud of his skiers, knowing the way they had worked together since the first team meeting back in the first week of school in September. "Everything adds up - a roller ski session in the rain tonight, an early morning in the gym tomorrow, a sunny afternoon blasting the hills up north on Saturday. This weekend's results were the past 5 month's results, and the past several year."


Men's Overall Champion: Colin Abbott (Carleton)
Women's Overall Champion: Alana Thomas (Carleton)
Coach of the Year: Hans Fischer (Toronto)

TEAM STANDINGS – MEN
*Carleton 43
Guelph 95
Laurentian 117
Waterloo 138
Lakehead 199
Toronto 251
Queen's 339
Nipissing 380

*TEAM STANDINGS – WOMEN
*Lakehead 58
Carleton 67
Laurentian 82
Guelph 117
Toronto 257
Queen's 291
Waterloo 340

*MEN'S 10 KM CLASSIC
*1. Colin Abbott (Carleton) 28:18.2
2. Evan Odell (Laurentian) 29:17.5
3. Henry Reich (Waterloo) 29:25.5

*WOMEN'S 5 KM CLASSIC
*1. Alana Thomas (Carleton) 16:10.0
2. Mary Thompson (Laurentian) 16:35.3
3. Adele Lay (Carleton) 16:42.7

*MEN'S 15 KM CLASSIC RELAY*
1. Waterloo 44:31.8
(Tim Rhodes, Andrew Jeffery, Henry Reich)
2. Carleton 44:44.8
(Matthias Purdon, André Marchand, Colin Abbott)
3. Guelph 44:53.3
(Erin McLean-Purdon, Ian Ritchie, Matti Little)

*WOMEN'S 7.5 KM CLASSIC RELAY
*1. Carleton 22:57.0
(Zoe Braul, Adele Lay, Alana Thomas)
2. Lakehead 23:20.0
(Britt Bailey, Kara Jaspers, Anna Crawford)
3. Laurentian 23:35.0
(Janel Sauder, Lindsay Anderson, Mary Thompson)

*MEN'S 15 KM FREESTYLE
*1. Colin Abbott (Carleton) 41:45.1
2. Evan Odell (Laurentian) 42:15.9
3. Matthias Purdon (Carleton) 42:55.9

*WOMEN'S 10 KM FREESTYLE
*1. Anna Crawford (Lakehead) 31:09.2
2. Alana Thomas (Carleton) 31:11.2
3. Mary Thompson (Laurentian) 31:13.8

*MEN'S ALL-STARS
*Colin Abbott (Carleton) 1:10:03.3
Evan Odell (Laurentian) 1:11:33.4
Henry Reich (Waterloo) 1:12:32.6
Matthias Purdon (Carleton) 1:12:40.8
Matti Little (Guelph) 1:12:52.5
André Marchand (Carleton) 1:13:46.4
Andrew Jeffery (Waterloo) 1:14:37.4
Logan Potter (Carleton) 1:14:42.4
Ian Ritchie (Guelph) 1:15:07.1
Lee Hawkings (Carleton) 1:15:16.5

*WOMEN'S ALL-STARS
*Alana Thomas (Carleton) 47:21.2
Mary Thompson (Laurentian) 47:49.1
Anna Crawford (Lakehead) 47:54.3
Adele Lay (Carleton) 48:49.7
Janel Sauder (Laurentian) 49:01.3
Kara Jaspers (Lakehead) 49:15.8
Vesta Mather (Guelph) 50:04.9
Britt Bailey (Lakehead) 50:11.4
Laura Hewitt (Guelph) 50:28.6
Daphne Haggarty (Lakehead) 50:54.8