Joanna Williams

Trinity Western’s Joanna Williams (Campbell River, B.C.) captured a Canada West bronze medal at the conference championships Saturday in Calgary, leading the Spartans women’s team to a second-place team finish overall.

On a snowy morning, the fifth-year Williams, who finished first in both of her races earlier in the year, crossed the line in 30:44 over eight kilometres.

The result, which earns her a Canada West First Team All-Star honour, saw Williams take a huge leap up the leaderboard after finishing 25th in Canada West last year.

Following Williams, Mikaela Smart (Maple Ridge, B.C.) finished 12th overall in 31:31 to earn a Canada West Second Team All-Star nod. Rounding out TWU’s top five scoring runners were Christina Sevsek (Surrey, B.C.) who was 18th in 31:52, Jouen Chang (Langley) who was 23rd in 31:58, and Julie Sevsek (Surrey), who was 28th in 32:27.

The second place team result improves on last year’s fourth place finish for the TWU women’s side.

On the men’s side, fifth-year Nick Colyn (Langley) led the way for TWU, finishing fifth overall in 32:26. He was followed by first-year Josh Woolgar (Ladner, B.C.), who finished 23rd in 33:57 and fellow rookie Levi Osterwalder (Camrose, Alta.) who was 60th in 36:04.

For Colyn, the result marks his second straight top five finish in the conference after finishing fourth in Canada West 2018.

This was Canada West’s first standalone cross country championships since the 1993. In the more than two decades since, the conference titles have been determined based on results at nationals.

FULL RESULTS

SPARTAN RESULTS
WOMEN
3rd – Joanna Williams – 30:44
12th – Mikaela Smart – 31:31
18th – Christina Sevsek – 31:52
23rd – Jouen Chang – 31:58
28th – Julie Sevsek – 32:27
36th – Cassidy Hutchison – 32:49
49th – Natalia Wazny – 33:44
64th – Rachel Ward – 35:19
74th – Maddie Gibson – 37:58

MEN
5th – Nick Colyn – 32:26
23rd – Josh Woolgar – 33:57
60th – Levi Osterwalder – 36:04
81st – Kaelan House – 37:56
84th – Nathanael Fehringer – 39:11
85th – Connor Byrne – 39:31

QUOTABLE
Shane Wiebe– TWU Director and Head Coach – Track & Field and Cross Country
“Joanna was very strong today and I think she even has more that we might see at the U SPORTS championships. She ran a great race and was really strong and smart and confident and just did really well. Obviously Mikaela was also very strong and I was also especially impressed with the Sevseks. They have improved tremendously and their performances were among the main reasons for our second-place finish.

“On the men’s side, Nick had a very strong race. We thought a top five finish was realistic and, in tough conditions, that’s exactly what he did. Josh and Levi were very good, with Josh running a very tactical race to earn him a result that put him amongst the best freshmen in the conference. Across the board, I think we saw the work the team has put in pay off and it was a strong day for our teams.”

NEXT UP
The Spartans will now prepare for the U SPORTS Championships Nov. 9 in Kingston, Ont.