Geneviève Lalonde is not here? No problem, Erin Vringer can take over.

For the fourth straight year, New Brunswick saw one of its runners climb to the top step of the podium at the Canadian Civil Cross-Country Championships.

On Saturday, Vringer triumphed in the women’s U20 category in Ottawa. In fact, the runner from Saint-Jean, who dominated the six-kilometer race from start to finish, won.

Vringer, already the 2019 Canadian champion in the U16 division, finished the race in 21:55, 58 seconds better than Quebec’s Marika Couture (22:53) in second place. British-Columbian Ella Ballard completes the podium in 22:55.

Not only did Vringer win individually, she led New Brunswick along with Sierra Rodrigues (23:15), 8th, Hilary Bishop (23:58, 16th), Ivy Bialowas (24:01, 17th), Georgia Bernhard (24: 16, 21), Eve Carreau (25.40, 41st) and Halle May (26.18, 54th), in first place at team level. With the exception of Carreau and May, the five other New Brunswickers all made it into the top 25 of the event.

Vringer, Rodrigues, Bishop, Bialowas, Bernhard and May also led the province to first place in the provincial ranking, still in the U18 division.

Ezabelle Able (28.51, 78th) and Rylee Stanford (30.36, 83rd) also took part in the race.

“I went into the race to be right up front and see how things went from there. I’ve had a good season of training and racing with my team at the University of Utah this fall, so I came here feeling confident. I knew I could race with the best girls in the country. After the first few kilometers I felt very good and knew that I could keep up the pace of the race,” revealed Vringer on Sunday morning.

“It was also a great race day. The course was a little muddy and hilly but it was perfect for cross country. There were several members of my family and friends watching me run, so it was quite fun to share that with them,” says the one who would normally be attending the 2023 U20 World Championships, which is being held in Bathurst, Australia will be February 18th.

“It hasn’t been formalized yet, but normally I should be part of the Canadian team for the World Cup. It’s a big dream that will come true,” she said.

Vringer, who grew up idolizing Geneviève Lalonde, would have liked her to have been in Ottawa on Saturday.

“I saw Geneviève win my first Canadian Championships a few years ago and it inspired me a lot. She is such a great role model for our province and for the country,” she continues.

“I am also very much looking forward to the province. To go for gold for the province and also for the team is very special,” adds Erin Vringer, who will be taking a well-deserved break before returning to competition with the indoor track season early next year.

Remember that Geneviève Lalonde has been crowned in the senior event in the last three editions (2021, 2019 and 2018). Note that the 2020 championships were not presented due to the pandemic.

Cameron Harris (28/09, 37th), Quinn Eberts (28/11, 38th) and Ashton Sing Takhar (28/33, 42nd), all three from Fredericton, made it into the top 50 of the U20 men For his part, Dieppois Luc Blanchette (35min41) finished 78th.

Senior Lee Wesselius turns 27

Lee Wesselius ultimately failed to secure a top 10 finish in Ottawa. The River Glade rider even had to settle for 27th place with a time of 32min12.

“I didn’t have a very good race,” admits Wesselius. It’s hard to recover from a marathon and compete in a cross-country event without training.”

To tell the truth, Wesselius was more impressed with Erin Vringer’s exploits.

“Erin was very impressive. Not only did she win, she destroyed the competition,” he said.

“It would have been nice if Geneviève had been here with us too. It’s been so dominant in recent years,” Wesselius adds.

Stephen Andersen of Fredericton finished the 10K in 36:19. He finished 95th.

It was Ontarian Connor Black who triumphed in 29min38. He beat British Columbia favorite John Gay (29:49) by 11 seconds.

Ontarian Max Turek accompanies them to the podium thanks to a time of 30min01. Completing the top-5 are two other Ontarians, Phil Parrot-Migas (30min05) and Mitchell Ubene (30min08).

In the U18 division, Miramichi’s Madalyn Mackinnon completed the 4K in 17:04, earning her 69th place in the women’s race.

Ella Healey (17min08) and Felicia Mortimer (17min42), both from Saint-Jean, finished 72nd and 122nd.

Among the boys who had to run 6K, Luke Purdy (22min52) from Riverview and Isaac MacLean (23min30) from Moncton came home in 145th and 183rd.

Among the champions (55-59), Kim Roberts of Moncton placed 35th with a time of 48:51 in the 8K. In the men’s, Jim Burns of Hampton placed 97th with a time of 42:58.