Women look to defend CanWest champion title, place again at Nationals, while men hope to recover after rough previous season
Photo courtesy of Hilary Stellingwerff.
For the upcoming season, the Vikes track and cross country teams will have the hometown advantage at the Canada West (CanWest) 2025 Cross Country Championship, which will be held at Royal Roads University on Oct. 25. Two weeks later, and they’re at U-Sports — the national competition.
The women’s track team is looking to defend their title as CanWest champions, which they earned last year. The men’s track team placed silver last year behind UBC, the biggest competitor of both the men’s and women’s teams. Hilary Stellingwerff serves as coach for both the men’s and women’s track teams. Her goal for CanWest 2025 is for both teams to at least win medals, if not gold.
The women’s team also placed third at the national level in U-Sports last year, and is looking to place again in 2025. The men’s team, meanwhile, had a rough 2024 season, suffering two injuries, and is hoping to regain their placement in the top five from two years ago.
According to Stellingwerff, the main overall goal for the teams is to stay healthy for the upcoming season.
In an interview with the Martlet, Stellingwerff said she is prioritizing “getting everyone healthy … fit, and ready to go” for Oct. 25 and nationals. “We have no problem getting motivated; our athletes are super motivated and excited to be racing this year at home,” she said.
Both teams have already raced once so far this season, at the Vancouver Spirit Run on Sept. 28. This was a “good dress rehearsal for Canada West,” Stellingwerff said. In this run, the teams got to compete against other schools that will be participating in CanWest. Stellingwerff shared that she will make tweaks to training based on their performance in the run.
Some star players on the track team to look out for include Madelyn Eybergen and Jaxon Kuchar. Eybergen, a transfer athlete from the University of Windsor, was ranked third nationally in track in 2024 and placed first in the women’s open 8-kilometre race at the Vancouver Spirit Run.
Stellingwerff said Eybergen is “looking to get on the podium individually, and [will] make a big impact on our team,” describing her as “one of our biggest assets for our team.”
Kuchar, a third-year athlete who missed last season due to illness, placed first in the men’s open 8-kilometer race at Vancouver Spirit. Stellingwerff said Kuchar “has the ability to [rank at the] top, [as an] All-Canadian this year”
“He will likely be our top runner,” she said. “I think he’s looking to get back out there, show what he can do, and really lead our team.”
The track teams have another race on Oct. 4 at the University of Calgary. “All the Canada West schools have agreed to go, and so it’s on a really challenging course, like a really hilly course, which is what [the CanWest] course will be. So I think it will be a good dress rehearsal for how we’ll fare against other schools,” said Stellingwerff.
Given Eybergen and Kuchar’s stellar performances at the Vancouver Spirit Run, it’s looking like the track team is in good shape for CanWest. CanWest also has two community races coming up, including a superhero kids run, in honour of Halloween, and a four-by-two relay.
“Cross country really is a team sport at this level because you’re scoring as a team,” said Stellingwerff. “You’re running team tactics as a pack, which makes it really fun. [For] anybody who doesn’t know much about cross country, I would recommend they come out and watch and CanWest if they can, because it’s going to be a unique experience to see it.”
