Guelph, ON, November 28th, 2010
Track North Athletic Club's Ross Proudfoot (Lively, ON) won his first national championship this weekend by taking the gold medal in the Junior Men's (19 and under) ASGI Canadian Cross-Country Running Championships in Guelph, ON.
Competing on a snow covered 8 kilometre course, Proudfoot made a decisive move with just over 1.5 kilometres left in the race to take the lead and eventually win the race in a time of 24 minutes and 27 seconds. Luc Bruchet of British Columbia finished 2nd, 10 seconds behind Proudfoot and Rob Denault of Newmarket finished 3rd.
As a result of his finish, Proudfoot claimed a spot on the national team that will compete at the NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean) Cross-Country Championships next February in Trinidad and the World Cross-Country Championships next March in Spain.
Proudfoot commented following the race: "I stuck to my game plan going into the race. I ran with the lead group of runners from the first five kilometres of the race and by that point the lead pack was down to three runners. I knew I didn't want to leave it to a final kick so I made my move with about a mile to go to the finish. I pushed hard over the final 500m of the race and up the final hill to ensure I was clear. I'm extremely happy to have won my first ever national championship and to get another chance to represent Canada at international competitions."
Proudfoot's Track North coach, Darren Jermyn commented: "Ross has had a truly dream season. He was the OUA and CIS rookie of the year and became the first university rookie to ever win the Western International. I've seen him win medals at a lot of major track and cross-country competitions but today's performance was perhaps his most impressive as he not only used his outstanding fitness, but he ran a tactically perfect race. Ross was 14th at this race last year but he has done all the work needed over the past 12 months to claim his first national championship. In fact, he is the first Track North athlete to ever win a national cross-country title."
Emma Tallman, (Mindemoya, ON) capped off her own remarkable season by finishing 23rd in the Junior Women's race. Tallman covered the 5 kilometre race in a time of 18 minutes and 56 seconds. The junior women's race started just after a major snowfall blanketed the course with approximately 8 centimetres of snow. A congested start left Tallman in mid-pack for the first kilometre and having to fight back throughout the race.
"I pushed really hard over the final half of the race and moved from about 38th spot up to 23rd. It's my final competition as a junior-aged athlete so I'm really happy with my result. I can't wait for the indoor track season to start!" commented Tallman following the race.
Other Track North Results include:
Junior Women: Emily Marcolini: 108th
Junior Men: (Team 13th overall): Joe Burke: 117th, Justin McNamara: 139th, Seb Diebel: 154th, Michael Niven: 176th
Senior Men: Eric Leishman: 80th
