The University of Victoria Vikes women and Queen’s University Gaels men won the 2025 U Sport Cross Country Championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec, on Saturday.

The women

It was the first win for the Victoria women since 2001, when Brent Fougner was the head coach. Hilary Stellingwerff is now the coach, and for her efforts, she earned the Bib Vigars Coach of the Year honours. She had just won the CanWest Coach of the Year award two weeks prior — her second. Fougner, who mentored her, won the Bob Vigars award four times in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.

It was the Vikes’ Madelyn Eybergen who took the overall win. She finished in a time of 27:10. She traded positions with Lauren McNeil from the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Heat. At CanWest, McNeil took the win with a strong sprint to finish ahead of Eybergen.

In the post-race interview with Athletics Illustrated (after CanWest), Eybergen indicated that she will be more tapered and will employ different tactics at nationals. She did.

Asked how the race played out, Eybergen said, “The race played out exactly as planned. I learned from the CanWest race two weeks prior and used that to plan on holding back longer from trying to pass the front runner. Until I was fully confident, I created a gap and did not give the other competitor a chance to catch up with me. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it felt to execute that.”

McNeil clocked in at 27:24, and the third-place finisher was Alexandra McDougall in 28:06.

Asked how it feels to be the national champion, Eybergen said, “It is a feeling of pride in myself. It is unbelievable yet believable, based on what I have been through. I’m just proud that all my hard work has paid off and I can show at U Sports.”

It was just two years ago that Eybergen started running. She was previously a high jumper. The Kincardine, Ontario native joined the Vikes for the 2024 and 2025 school year after competing for the Windsor Lancers.

The Vikes team won with 99 points. St. Francis Xavier X-Women were close behind with 117 points. Taking third was the UBC Thunderbirds with 138 points. The host team, Sherbrooke Vert & Or, with 307 points, finished in 13th place of 22 teams.

The Vikes placed all five of their scoring runners within the top 40. Madisha Thompson supported Eybergen’s win with a sixth-place finish. Erin Owens finished in 18th, Ella Lane 41st, and Elissa Frielink in 45th.

The men

It is back-to-back national titles for the Queen’s Gaels men’s team.

Jude Wheeler-Dee led the Gael’s to the win with his third-place individual finish in 24:24. But it was Philippe Morneau-Cartier who took the individual win for Laval Rouge et Or in 24:14. Finishing second was Thomas Laviolette in 24:19. He was representing the University of Montreal Carabins.

Coach Mark Bomba earned the Fred Foot Award for Coach of the Year.

Bomba told Athletics Illustrated, “[We employed] nonspecific team tactics except to get out good and run our own race from there. We also knew we were going to need one of our 5-7 guys to step up. That guy was Peter Neill (24th at OUAs and 24th at USport).” Neill is a West Point Grey Academy graduate from Vancouver.

“We began this process essentially the day after the last game of the season, so it’s been ongoing since then. We had a team leadership meeting early in September, and said this would be the last time we’d talk about repeating. And that message, moving forward, was all about how we were going to get there again.

“As far as results, two stuck out: Peter Neill, as already expressed, and Angus Skinner’s last mile as he tied Morcar with the fastest last mile split. With a mile to go, we were only 11 points up and Sherbrooke was closing every split, but by the end we won by 21.”

The host Sherbrooke Vert & Or took second, and the Guelph Gryphons finished third. They had 80 and 132 points, respectively.

Results

2025 U Sports men’s cross country championship

At Sherbrooke, Quebec.

First Team All-Canadians

1. Philippe Morneau-Cartier, Laval — 24:14.00
2. Thomas Laviolette, Montreal — 24:19.00
3. Jude Wheeler-Dee, Queen’s — 24:24.00
4. Nolan Turgeon, Sherbrooke — 24:32.00
5. Félix Quirion, Sherbrooke — 24:37.00
6. Jack Lehto, Guelph — 24:37.00
7. Max Davies, Guelph — 24:42.00

Second Team All-Canadians

8. Roman Mironov, Queen’s — 24:44.00
9. Jaxon Kuchar, Victoria — 24:45.00
10. Jared Howse, UNB — 24:46.00
11. Angus Skinner, Queen’s — 24:47.00
12. Rudy Saal, Laval — 24:50.00
13. Christian Rachner, Guelph — 24:52.00
14. Samuel Patrick, McMaster — 24:54.00

Final Team Scores

1. Queen’s Gaels — 63
2. Sherbrooke Vert & Or — 8
3. Guelph Gryphons — 132
4. Laval Rouge et Or — 134
5. McMaster Marauders — 153
6. Victoria Vikes — 209
7. Windsor Lancers — 216
8. UNB Reds — 258
9. Western Mustangs — 259
10. STFX X-Men — 261
11. Regina Cougars — 309
12. UBC Thunderbirds — 327
13. McGill Redbirds — 339
14. Lakehead Thunderwolves — 369
15. Manitoba Bisons — 389
16. Saskatchewan Huskies — 391
17. Montréal Carabins — 415
18. Toronto Varsity Blues — 440
19. Dalhousie Tigers — 464
20. UQTR Patriotes — 503
21. UQAM Citadins — 511
22. UQAC Inuk — 708
23. ETS Piranhas — 715

Major award winners:

Athlete of the Year: Philippe Morneau-Cartier, Laval
Rookie of the Year: Henry Bristol, Victoria
Fred Foot Award (Fox40 Coach of the Year): Mark Bomba, Queen’s
Student-Athlete Community Service: Alexander Webster, Saskatchewan

2025 U Sports women’s cross country championship

First Team All-Canadians

  1. Madelyn Eybergen, Victoria — 27:10.00
  2. Lauren McNeil, UBCO — 27:24.00
  3. Alexandra McDougall, Guelph — 28:06.00
  4. Julia Agostinelli, Toronto — 28:22.00
  5. Sophie Courville, McGill — 28:30.00
  6. Marisha Thompson, Victoria — 28:35.00
  7. Elisa Tripotin, UQAM — 28:46.00

Second Team All-Canadians
8. Caroline Ash, STFX — 28:47.00
9. Olivia Cooper, Alberta — 28:47.00
10. Maria Linton, Western — 28:50.00
11. Sophie Coutts, Western — 28:59.00
12. Leane Baril, Laval — 29:01.00
13. Laurence Gauthier, Sherbrooke — 29:01.00
14. Samara Quanz, Windsor — 29:02.00

Final Team Scores

  1. Victoria Vikes — 99
  2. St. Francis Xavier X-Women — 117
  3. UBC Thunderbirds — 138
  4. Queen’s Gaels — 169
  5. Laval Rouge et Or — 190
  6. Western Mustangs — 194
  7. UNB Reds — 218
  8. McMaster Marauders — 226
  9. Windsor Lancers — 240
  10. UBC Okanagan Heat — 276
  11. Calgary Dinos — 298
  12. Guelph Gryphons — 302
  13. Sherbrooke Vert & Or — 307
  14. Alberta Pandas — 347
  15. Montreal Carabins — 349
  16. Dalhousie Tigers — 378
  17. Toronto Varsity Blues — 414
  18. UQAM Citadins — 417
  19. Saskatchewan Huskies — 497
  20. Brock Badgers — 526
  21. York Lions — 605
  22. UQAC Inuk — 666

Major award winners:

Athlete of the Year: Madelyn Eybergen, Victoria
Rookie of the Year: Léane Baril, Laval
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Sarah White, Toronto
Bob Vigars Award (Fox40 Coach of the Year): Hilary Stellingwerff, Victoria

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