ASSELSTINE WINS NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY GOLD

BROCKVILLE, Ont. - It was a picture perfect day for the 2015 Canadian Collegiate Athletics Association (CCAA) Cross Country National Championships, hosted by St. Lawrence College (Brockville campus) as the rain for the past two days held off, allowing Canada's best collegiate runners to have a great day for running.

Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) provincial champion, Jessy Lacourse (Cégep de Victoriaville), was the first runner to cross the line in the women's five kilometre race, finishing in 18:33.

"Today felt really good to win gold, after winning silver at the 2014 national championships," said Lacourse, referring to her second place finish at last year's championship, hosted by SAIT-Polytechnic.

"My goal was to stay with the lead, and I kept them in my sights for the entire race. When the last kilometre came, I knew that if I didn't push hard by that point, my chances would have been slim to win the gold."

Jamie Wigmore from GPRC picked up the silver medal, finishing just 10 seconds behind Lacrouse. After winning gold at every Ontario Colleges Athletics Association (OCAA) race this year, Emily Marcolini (Cambrian College) added a CCAA bronze medal to her season, finishing in 19:02.

On the team side, Collège Lionel-Groulx (RSEQ) captured the gold, backed by the fourth place finish from Jade Baerube (19:22), that brought the team average time down to 19:45. UBC Okanagan (PACWEST) finished in a close second (20:23), and Lethbridge College (ACAC) earning bronze, just seven seconds back from UBC.

From the St. Lawrence College (SLC) Kingston campus (OCAA), Viking Rob Asselstine won gold at each OCAA invitational this season, including the provincial championships, and beat the field of over 100 runners to finish first overall in 26:21 at this year's national championship, just one second later than his time at the SLC-Brockville Invitational in early October.

"I wanted to medal at this race. After finishing fifth at last year's nationals, and having some pretty good success this year, I felt that medaling was the only option for me," said Asselstine.

"We used the same game plan as the Invitational back in October, but this one I tried to get a lead with two kilometres to go. But other runners had the same strategy so the pace picked up and I couldn't break free so I got really nervous. The runners really pushed me today."

This is not the first time a Viking runner has gold, as Deng Kuol won gold in 2003 in Windsor, Ont., also winning gold at provincials, also in Brockville.

"Having won gold at both OCAAs and CCAAs is a very humbling feeling. I'm proud that I was able to accomplish this while wearing the SLC colours," said Asselstine.

Seth Marcaccio of Fanshawe College ran a great race finishing in second place, just three seconds behind Asselstine in 26:24. Guillaume Chenard of Cégep de Sherbrooke was the third runner to cross the line, finishing in 26:25.

Led by the bronze medal finish from Chenard, Cégep de Sherbrooke won gold in the team division, nearly 30 seconds ahead of the team average from the silver medal winners from Lethbridge College. The bronze medal was awarded to Fanshawe College

The awards banquet takes place on the same evening where the top 14 runners from each race, teams, all-Canadians, and coach of the year awards will be formally presented.

Source: St. Lawrence College/CCAA