Canadian Operating and Below Armour have teamed up for the 2024 Canadian U Sports activities cross-country season to focus on a number of the high homegrown abilities throughout the nation. Every week, main as much as the 2024 U Sports activities Cross-Nation Championships in Kelowna, B.C., in November, Canadian Operating will choose the highest athlete because the Below Armour Athlete of the Week.
The award will go to a U Sports activities cross-country athlete who achieved a standout efficiency at their meet. These athletes might be featured on Canadian Operating and awarded an Below Armour prize pack that includes the brand new UA Infinite Professional Path shoe. This week we’re masking convention championship weekend, and highlighting Constance Nankivell of Trinity Western College and Philippe Morneau-Cartier of Université Laval for his or her performances on Oct. 26.
Constance Nankivell, Trinity Western College (CanWest)
Ultimately Saturday’s CanWest Championships at Stoney Creek Park in Camrose, Alta., Constance Nankivell of Trinity Western College (TWU) completed her 8K race with no different athletes in sight. The 24-year-old claimed gold with a time of 28:38, successful by a margin of greater than 37 seconds. She’s the primary TWU athlete to win the convention title since TWU alum and now-Olympian Regan Yee gained in 2017.
Nankivell advised Canadian Operating that she feels “so delighted,” concerning the outcome. “It was a kind of races the place all of the exhausting work got here collectively completely,” she says, explaining that the hilly course performed to her benefit. “I simply felt tremendous sturdy and managed to tug away sooner than I anticipated.”
The race marked Nankivell’s third win of the season. In September, she gained the Pacific Lutheran Invitational in Seattle and the Invoice Roe Basic in Bellingham, Wash. At Calgary’s Stewart Cup on Oct. 12, the Spartan was runner-up to UBCO’s Lauren McNeil.
The second-year athlete is from Edinburgh, Scotland; she beforehand competed for Edinburgh College, the place she excelled in nationwide cross-country occasions. Throughout her first yr with the TWU Spartans, Nankivell positioned eleventh on the 2023 CanWest Championships.
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The Scottish athlete seems to be forward to the upcoming U Sports activities Championships, which might be her first time racing U Sports activities athletes outdoors of the CanWest convention. “My goal is to medal,” she reveals. “I’m simply excited to get caught in and see how I can do off the again of this race!”
Philippe Morneau-Cartier, Université Laval (RSEQ)
The RSEQ Championships at Parc Saint-Lazare in Saint-Lazare, Que., noticed Université Laval’s Philippe Morneau-Cartier win his third consecutive title. He clocked 24:28 over the 8K course to beat the sphere by virtually 9 seconds. The reigning U Sports activities champion is to date on monitor to repeat his excellent season from final yr, because the outcome marked his third win in three races this season.
The RSEQ meet doubles because the college convention championships and the Quebec provincial cross-country championship. Morneau-Cartier gained towards athletes in each collegiate and open divisions.
“I really feel fairly good concerning the race,” he advised Canadian Operating. “I’m fairly blissful to stay undefeated this season.” Morneau-Cartier additionally gained the Laval Rouge et Or Invitational on Oct. 5 and the Capital Cross Nation Problem in Ottawa on Sept. 28.
Morneau-Cartier admits the sandy course was exhausting on the legs–however a commanding lead nonetheless gave him the possibility to let up in the course of the closing quarter of the race. “I used to be in a position to draw back from the sphere with a couple of kilometres to go so,” the 23-year-old says. “I took the final two kilometres very simple.”
The La Pocatière, Que., native led his staff to safe a silver medal on the RSEQ championships; nevertheless, the second-place outcome marked the top of a 12-year successful streak for the Laval males.
“For this season, I’m aiming to repeat at U Sports activities with a quick race on a flat course,” Morneau-Cartier says. “Then I’ll practice nicely for a couple of weeks and goal for one more podium on the Athletics Canada Cross-Nation Championships (ACXC).” ACXC is ready for Dec. 1 in London, Ont.
