Past, present Gaels qualify for World Cross Country Championships

On Saturday, several Queen’s cross country runners took to the hills of Fort Henry for the Canadian Cross Country Championships. It was the fourth and final year Kingston hosted the event.

Gaels rookie Brogan MacDougall, coming off a U Sports Championship win two weeks earlier, won the women’s under-20 race for the second consecutive year. She finished the six kilometre race in 20:20.7, beating out the second-place competitor by 12 seconds. It was the 18-year-old’s fifth gold medal of the fall season—she went undefeated in her first season with Queen’s.  

Meanwhile, fellow teammate and rookie Makenna Fitzgerald raced to fifth place among an 83-woman field in her first career Canadian Championships. She ran the race in 21:08.6, eight seconds ahead of the sixth-place finisher.

MacDougall and Fitzgerald’s finishes qualified both women for the 2019 Cross Country World Championships in Denmark. 

In the senior women’s race, Queen’s alum Claire Sumner placed third. She ran the 10km race in 35:16.8, falling 29 seconds behind the first-place finisher.

She won the race last year.

With her third-place finish, Sumner also qualified for the upcoming World Championships—she competed at the event last year coming off her winning performance.

Ryan Bechmanis named interim head coach of Queen’s football

After the resignation of former Queen’s football Head Coach Pat Sheahan last week, Assistant Coach and Defensive Coordinator Ryan Bechmanis was appointed the team’s interim head coach on Monday morning.

Bechmanis returned to Queen’s last winter after spending six years on the Carleton Ravens’ coaching staff. He played for the Gaels from 2001 to 2005, and joined the program as a defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator upon graduating. He was a member of the coaching staff during Queen’s historic 2009 Vanier Cup win.

As acting head coach, whether Bechmanis will fulfill the position next season is undetermined. Queen’s Athletics is currently conducting a national search for a new head coach, though they haven’t yet said when they’d conclude their search. 

The Gaels’ new head coach will be the fifth the program’s seen in the past 70 years. Sheahan had occupied the position the past 19 years.