(FREDERICTON, N.B.) The UNB Reds are set to host the 2019 Subway AUS Cross Country Championships presented by Keep It Social this Saturday, Oct. 26.
The races will be held at Kingswood Resort in Hanwell, N.B. The women's 8km race begins at noon, followed by the men's 8km race set for 12:45 p.m.
On the women's side, student-athletes representing nine AUS schools will compete. The women's race will feature runners from Acadia, UPEI, StFX, St. Thomas, Moncton, Saint Mary's, Dalhousie, Memorial and UNB.
Teams will look to dethrone the Dalhousie Tigers who have taken home the AUS championship banner the last six consecutive seasons.
Individual runners to watch include StFX's Jane Hergett and Paige Chisholm, Acadia's Madalyn Higgins, Dalhousie's Catherine Thompson and Moncton's Sophie Black.
Hergett has earned two first-place finishes at AUS invitational meets this season, while Higgins has earned a first-place finish and two second-place finishes. Thompson, Chisholm and Black have each reached the podium in an AUS invitational meet this season.
In the men's race, runners representing Dalhousie, StFX, UPEI, St. Thomas, Moncton, Saint Mary's, Memorial and UNB will compete.
In recent years, the Dalhousie Tigers and StFX X-Men have traded championship wins back and forth, with Dalhousie snapping a six-year StFX win streak to claim the AUS banner in 2017 and the X-Men earning their way back on top last season.
Individually this season, StFX's Jacob Benoit has earned a first-place and a second-place finish at AUS invitational meets, while StFX's Addison Derhak topped the podium in the last invitational meet of the season. X-Men Graydon Staples and Paul MacLellan have also raced their way to Top 3 finished this season.
Saint Mary's Andrew Peverill won the first invitational meet of this season, while St. Thomas's Lars Schwarz, Memorial's Levi Moulton and UPEI's Dan Maguire have each made the podium once this season.
Live results for this year's championships will be available at atlanticchip.ca.
Individual and team winners will be crowned at the annual championship awards banquet which is being held at the Radisson Kingswood Hotel and Suites at 3 p.m.
The top seven finishers of each race will be honoured as 2019 AUS all-stars. The major award winners will also be announced including the athletes of the year, rookies of the year, student-athlete community service award recipients, and coaches of the year.
The championship trophies and banners will also be presented to the winning teams.
Qualifying runners will move on to compete in the U SPORTS Cross Country Championships being hosted Nov. 9 by Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.