Lobay, Spickerhoff show well at USport cross country nationals

Quebec City, QC—Two members of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack cross country teams showed well at Saturday (Nov 12)’s running of the 2016 USports Nationals.  They were held on the ‘Fields of Abraham” in Quebec City and hosted by the University of Laval.

Rachel Lobay (2nd year, Kelowna, BC) finished 46th in the six kilometer run. Her time was 24 minutes 9.4 seconds.

Conlan Sprickerhoff (4th year, Williams Lake, BC) wound up 146th in the 10 kilometer distance. His time was 35 minutes 47.6 seconds.

“The fields were super deep again this year,” said TRU head coach Carmin Mazzotta who was with his runners. “The level of competition in CIS/USports continues to grow. Rachel was again in the top half of the field with a gutsy effort. Conlan ran a similar time to last year but on a much tougher course.”

“Bigger field this year and more competition but I tried to stay in the mix. I tried to finish strong. It was my best effort and it was all I could ask for,” Lobay says.

“I started out where I wanted, faded a little bit in the middle of the race, but ended up finishing with a strong kick. Next year, with us ramping it up mileage wise a bit more, as we do every year: it’ll put me in a better spot for success. I’m more of a rhythm runner who benefits from flat and fast courses. Today was a grind,” Sprickerhoff says. 

Next year’s USports Nationals will be held in Victoria, B.C. The WolfPack are hoping to have a bigger contingent of runners there.