Canada Track & Field and Cross Country News
OTTAWA- The 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships take place this Saturday November 24th in Jericho Park Vancouver, B.C., serving as the selection meet for both the 2013 NACAC (North America Central America and Caribbean) Cross Country Championships and IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Jessica Smith ran a personal best in the 800 metres of 1:59.86 last summer at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic, qualifying for her first Olympic Games. In London, she placed second in her heat, and then seventh in the third semi-final (2:01.90). The 23-year-old is now finishing the last semester of her degree at Simon Fraser University with a criminology major and an education minor. At the BC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 27 she placed eighth. She has competed in cross country regularly, and at last year’s national meet she placed 10th.
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Mohammed (Mo) Ahmed of St. Catherines, Ontario is a distance runner who has run 10,000m as fast as 27 minutes and 34 seconds, the third fastest in Canadian history behind number two Cameron Levins, with his 27:27 and Simon Bairu’s 27:23. His talent however, may be overshadowed by Levins. The 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships may be an opportunity for Ahmed to step out front.
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Twenty-three year old Kelly Wiebe from Swift Current, Saskatchewan will be competing in the 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships Saturday, November 24th in Vancouver, BC. He is fresh off the CIS Canadian Cross Country Championships win, where he finished in the time of 30 minutes and 21 seconds. Wiebe helped his University of Regina Cougars to a 7th place finish overall.
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Jim Clifford
The entries have closed for Athletics Canada's 2012 Cross Country Championships that takes place in Vancouver, BC on Saturday, November 24th at Jericho Beach. The fields for this event are outstanding; the deepest in many years.
Cameron Levins Southern Utah University (via athleticsillustrated.com)
"...it’s got a few hills, and there is mud; it’s the best. I am quite an advocate for "adventure” terrains, so the rougher the conditions the more I enjoy cross-country."
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Twenty-one-year-old Moncton, New Brunswick native Genevieve Lalonde, is a steeple chaser (3000msc) who will be competing for one of the top positions in the 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships that take place on November 24th in Vancouver, BC.
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Former University of Victoria Vikes athlete Cliff Childs, who is originally from Kelowna, BC, continues to train full-time in Victoria. He has set his training plans towards competing in FISU 2013 (International University Sport Federation Championships). On October 27th he raced the BC Cross Country Championships, finishing in fourth overall and just 26 seconds behind winner Chris Winter. Childs will be competing in the Canadian Cross Country Championships, Saturday, November 24th.
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Cameron Levins’s form is coming around just in time for him to compete in the 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships. Levins’s form was off as he suffered from an illness around the time of the Olympics, which may have been caused by a combination of a heavy training and frequent high-level racing. However, his famous big mileage training program, which included running volumes of up to 240-kms-per-week, paid great dividends.
Winner of the masters division at the BC Cross Country Championships.
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Middle-distance runner Rachel Cliff of Vancouver, BC is preparing to race the National Cross Country Championships Saturday, November 24th at nearby Jericho Beach. She is glad to be back home after being away for six years and is looking forward to competing with the top athletes. “I moved back to Vancouver this August and started a master’s Degree in Occupational and Environmental Hygiene at UBC. I grew up in Vancouver, but I did my undergrad at Guelph and then stayed an extra year and a half after that. It’s been six years since I lived on the west coast so it’s great to be back!”
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Twenty-seven year old Megan Brown of Guelph, Ontario will be competing in the Canadian Cross Country Championships. She will be looking to make the Canadian team that will compete at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Cross Country Championships in Jamaica as well as the IAAF World Cross Country Championships that happen March 24th in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Nike Oregon Project athlete Simon Bairu of Regina, Saskatchewan has a monkey on his back. He has yet to complete a marathon in a satisfactory time. He has demonstrated great talent in setting the Canadian 10,000m record in the time of 27:23, won seven Canadian Cross Country Championship titles, finished 12th at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, excelled as a Wisconsin Badger in the NCAA and has run the half-marathon distance as fast as 62:08. But marathon success has so far eluded him.
© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Canadian steeplechaser Chris Winter, of Vancouver, BC is aiming to do well at the 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships that take place in his home town, just blocks from where he lives. The championships happen Saturday, November, 24th at Jericho Beach. If he does well at Nationals, then he may be off to *NACACs and potentially the 40th annual (now semi-annual) IAAF World Cross Country Championships that take place in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Sunday, the 24th of March 2013. First things first, he needs to hurdle nationals. He will have good competition having to compete with 2012 London Olympians Cameron Levins, Mo Ahmed as well as Kelly Wiebe and potentially Simon Bairu (undecided at this time) who was set to run the New York City Marathon, until it was cancelled.
Levi crossed the line first, but teammate Joel gets the win, as Levi is from Manitoba. They both represent Trinity Western University.
BC Cross Country Championships Women's Race.
Post-race interview with Natasha Fraser, winner of the BC Cross Country Championships, Saturday, October 27th.
Interviews with various youth athletes at BC Cross Country Championships, Saturday October 27th 2012
© Copyright - Athletics Illustrated - 2012
Dave Scott-Thomas who coaches the track and field and cross-country teams at the University of Guelph and is the Director and Head Coach at
Speed River Track Club, will be sending a few athletes to Athletics Canada's 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships. The championships will take place Saturday, November 24th in Vancouver, BC at Jericho Beach. Scott-Thomas told Athletics Illustrated, "We’ll be sending junior teams. Of our elites, Chris Winter, who is currently training back home in Vancouver, will race. We have some very strong juniors from Speed River and the University of Guelph whom we expect to contend for places on the national team."
Maureen "Mo" de St. Croix is Co-Director of the Canadian Cross Country Championships, is an athlete, coach and board member with BC Athletics, the provincial arm of Athletics Canada, serving British Columbia.
(via athleticsillustrated.com)
North Vancouver's Jessica Smith competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games in the 800m distance. She raced the 2012 BC Cross Country Championships and will be competing in the Canadian (National) Cross Country Championships. She is interviewed here post-race at BCs.