Lancers cross county takes big step forward

A year after finishing seventh at the OUA Championships, the University of Windsor women’s cross country team made a major leap, earning a silver medal last weekend in Kingston.

The podium finish marks the fourth medal in program history. Leading the way for Windsor was Samara Quanz, who placed third overall—the best finish of her four-year university career.

“The best I’d ever done before was 10th,” Quanz told Powerplay Sports.

Back for teacher’s college after taking a season off, the Port Elgin native capped her return with a career-best result. She previously placed 10th at the 2021 OUA Championships.

Quanz credited her teammates for helping her elevate her performance this season.

“We have such a strong group running together, so I think that’s helping everybody,” she said.

The team standings couldn’t have been tighter—just one point separated the top three teams. Windsor tied Queen’s with 70 points but settled for second place after a tiebreaker, while Western finished close behind with 71.

Assistant coach Sydney Pattison praised the team’s consistency and preparation.

“Over the last year we’ve seen a great commitment to training—getting on top of all the little things like rest, recovery, nutrition, and strength training,” she said, noting that seven of the ten runners Windsor brought to provincials are local athletes.

Both the women’s and men’s teams will send eight runners each to the national championships.

On the men’s side, James Wheeler, a first-year runner, was the top rookie finisher, placing 30th overall and earning OUA Rookie of the Year honours.

“I was very excited at the end,” Wheeler said. “I really wanted to be Rookie of the Year since the middle of the summer when I first signed. I trained hard, and I got it.”

Head coach Jordan Collison said Wheeler’s progress has exceeded expectations.

“He’s really started to build and gain momentum through the season,” Collison said. “He’s one of those guys we didn’t necessarily expect to score right away, but he’s been scoring for us in almost every race.”

The Windsor men improved on last year’s fifth-place finish by moving up to fourth, powered by strong results from Jacob Fitzpatrick and Noah Costa, who placed fifth and sixth, respectively.

photo credit: Mark Campbell/ @digitalmediawindsor

Both teams now turn their focus to the U SPORTS National Championships, set for November 8 in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The women’s 8K race begins at 1:00 p.m., followed by the men’s race at 2:15 p.m.