The 2022 Canadian Cross-Country Championships (ACXC22) are taking place this Saturday, November 26 at Mooney’s Bay in Ottawa.
For all details related to ACXC22 (from parking options and shuttle bus schedules to AC merch options and bib pick up dates) visit our ACXC22 Event Page. You can also consult the athlete start list here, and find the live webcast on athleticscanada.tv here.
The women’s open 10k promises to be one of the most captivating races of this year’s Canadian Cross-Country Championships, as four Olympians, a defending Canadian 10,000m champion, and Canada’s top young marathoner will face off for glory on the hills of Mooney’s Bay.
The absence of three-time defending champion Geneviève Lalonde from the start lists gives a dozen of contenders a shot at a first-ever national cross-country title. In the team race, expect two new favourites to give the 2021 champions Club Athlétisme Université Laval a serious run for their money. Meet the top individual and team contenders below.
Individual Race
Maria Bernard-Galea – University of Calgary Athletics Club
Last year’s runner-up has made every ACXC podium since 2018, and last year was the only athlete who covered Lalonde’s move early in the race. The Calgary athlete has shown great form all year, racing to a 33:00 10km in April, and then placing second at the Bell Canadian Track and Field Championship 5,000m in a PB of 15:51.63.
Alycia Butterworth – Pacific Track Club
Last year, the 30-year-old steeplechase specialist from British Columbia enjoyed a large breakthrough over the barriers: she made her first Olympic team and now stands as the third-fastest 3,000m steeplechaser in Canadian history. A year of setbacks kept her out of the racing scene for most of 2022, but she is on the comeback, and has recently laced the spikes for a few tune-up races.
Natalia Hawthorne - Vancouver Thunderbirds
Like Butterworth, Hawthorne became a first-time Olympian in 2021. Also like Butterworth, she has not been a familiar presence at recent editions of this championship: her last appearance was in 2018, when she finished fifth overall. Since then, she has re-written her personal bests on the track, which currently sit at 4:04.20 for 1,500m and 15:05.91 for 5,000m.
Jessy Lacourse – Club d’Athlétisme Université Laval
Lacourse finished 13th at last year’s championship and was instrumental in CAUL’s team victory. Yet, her placing does not reflect her comfort on cross-country courses: the Laval runner won the U SPORTS cross-country individual title in 2021 and placed second this year. In this year’s field, she is one of just two women who have broken the nine-minute barrier over 3,000m.
Branna MacDougall – Physi-Kult
The Kingston athlete first became known for being a standout high-schooler, then a varsity conference champion, and now Canada’s top young female marathoner. In June, the 24-year-old ran to a stunning time of 2:28:36 in Duluth, etching her name in the pantheon of great Canadian marathoners. She will come to the race with a recent victory at the Ontario Cross-Country Championships, and an aerobic engine only matched by Leslie Sexton.
Leslie Sexton – Vancouver Thunderbirds
One of two 2:28 marathoners in the field, Sexton further proved her savvy this summer by placing 13th at the World Athletics Championships marathon. The Vancouver resident and defending 10,000m champion has also lowered her 10k personal best to 32:04 in the last year and should not be counted out of the individual race.
Julie-Anne Staehli – Unattached Ontario
After a breakout year that saw her break the 15-minute mark for the first time over 5,000m, Staehli spent much of the spring in a walking boot. But the Luckenow, Ontario native bounced back quickly enough to represent Canada at the Commonwealth Games, and recently put up two solid 5k results, including a victory at the Sugar Run 5k in Tennessee in 15:33.
Team Race
The defending champions at CAUL will have a difficult time defending their title in the absence of their top finisher of 2021 Catherine Beauchemin. Their other three scorers (Lacourse, Jade Bérubé and Sarah-Pier Paquet) will have to contend against a top-heavy Vancouver Thunderbirds team led by Sexton, Hawthorne and U SPORTS bronze medalist Kiana Gibson. Meanwhile, Royal City Athletics Club have four athletes capable of a tiny spread inside of the top 25 in Sasha Gollish, Charlotte Prouse, Olivia Roussel and Jazz Shukla.
