"Proudfoot Top Rookie at Major NCAA XC Meet"
Track North Athletic Club's Ross Proudfoot, competing for Canada's number one ranked university cross-country running team, the University of Guelph, continued his excellent start to the intercollegiate season with a 22nd place at the Paul Short Invitational contested this past weekend at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
In a large field of 387 runners from 42 top ranked universities in both the NCAA and CIS, Proudfoot was the first rookie to cross the finish line in the rain-soaked 8 kilometre event. Proudfoot's finishing time was 24 minutes and 28 seconds. Sam Chelanga, the defending NCAA Division I Cross-Country Running Champion from Liberty University won the event in a time of 23 minutes and 34 seconds.
Proudfoot's University of Guelph team finished 5th overall in the team competition.
"I felt really good the whole time but maybe started a bit too far back off the start. Although I had a major kick I couldn't quite crack the top 20 but I'm really happy with my time and how my season is going so far", commented Proudfoot following the race.
Proudfoot will next compete at the Bill Dellinger Invitational at the University of Oregon on October 16th.
