The U: Recent Episodes
The XC
A podcast about collegiate cross-country and track world, both in the NCAA and Canada's USports. Hosted by Alex Cyr, and a part of The XC network of running-focused podcasts.
Last year, we produced a regular podcast called The U - it was a look into Canada's varsity running scene. The podcast, much like the entire U SPORTS circuit, entered hibernation in the spring, around the time COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. But this week, we are bringing it back. After all, had sports not been cancelled, the U SPORTS championship would be happening this weekend.
Here, our guests tell host Alex Cyr how training is going, how they both overcame pretty serious injuries, and who they think would have won the U SPORTS race this year, had it taken place. Aside from the running fodder, Hufsmith talks about why she chose to embark on a 100-day social media hiatus, Lutz talks about the time he met Scottish singing superstar Lewis Capaldi, and the trio shares what they each think about American media franchise High School Musical.
Via The XC
On February 8, Michael Doyle and The Globe and Mail reported that former University of Guelph head cross-country coach Dave Scott-Thomas groomed Megan Brown, one of his former athletes, for sex, from the time she was 17.
In the month following the allegations, Guelph alumni have been criticized by online posters for being complicit in the culture of silence that their coach created.
In this episode, Alex Cyr explores this idea of complicity, by talking with three guests:
Robyn Mildren
A Guelph alumna and Ph.D candidate in Neurophysiology at University of British Columbia, Mildren was in shock when she heard about the allegations against her coach. She made a Facebook post in support of other alumni who, likely, were feeling the same way. In just a few hours, the comments section of her post was riddled with comments about whether or not Gryphon athletes and alumni should be considered complicit in the apparent win-at-all-cost culture that existed at Guelph. Here, she tells us why she finds this assumption of complicity unfair, and urges us to focus the conversation on the betterment of running in Canada.
Dr. Gretchen Kerr
Kerr is the Vice Dean of Programs at University of Toronto's School of Graduate Studies and Professor, specializing in athlete maltreatment, coaching practices and women in coaching. Here, she speaks to the danger of victim blaming, athletes’ perceived powerlessness in the face of toxic culture, and the future of safe sport in Canada.
Jennie Biewald
A member of the Gryphons cross-country team between 2009 and 2013, who came back to be an assistant coach between 2016-2018, Biewald shares her experience running under Scott-Thomas. She tells us why it was difficult for a varsity athlete at Guelph to recognize that something was wrong.
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This column is part of a network of newsletters by The XC - a new running publication. Feel free to follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our original newsletter.
The U SPORTS 2020 championship begins this Thursday, and two running nerds go head-to-head in a prediction contest.
Contestant 1 - Angus Rawling
St. FX alumnus
U SPORTS 3,000m CHAMPION (2018)
2018 Trackie prediction contest champion
Lived in a closet for a full year just so he could have a room in a runners’ house at St. FX.
Contestant 2 - Alex Cyr
St. FX and Windsor alumnus
U SPORTS 1,500m finalist (2017)
Thinks about running a ton
Knows how to pronounce Marcel Scheele’s last name
The Rules
Team Rawling and Team Cyr take turns selecting U SPORTS participants until each team is complete
Teams must consist one (1) male and one (1) female in each event from the 600m to the 3,000m, for a total of eight (8) runners.
Teams then take turns selecting their dark horse picks. Each team gets two (2) dark horse picks, so that teams consist of 10 runners.
A dark horse pick can be competing in any event. They must, however, be ranked outside the top six on the performance lists.
In each race, the runner who finishes highest among selected runners earns one point for his or her team.
A runner can only score for his or her team in the event in which they are selected. For example: if Cyr selects Lucia Stafford in the 1,000m, her placing in the 1,500m will not earn Cyr points.
If a dark horse beats the other team’s top 8 runner, he or she earns his team two (2) points. Ex: Rawling selects Aidan Goslett as his dark horse pick. Goslett goes on to beat Cyr’s 1,000m pick, Kevin Robertson. Two points Rawling.
The team with the most points wins.
The Wager
The loser buys the winner one (1) growler of Halifax beer. The winner chooses the type of beer.
The Matchups
Women’s 600m
Sadie-Jane Hickson - Guelph (RAWLING) VS Jenna Smith - Guelph (CYR)
Men’s 600m
Sebastian Saville - Laval (RAWLING) VS Jack Berkshire - Toronto (CYR)
Women’s 1,000m
Lucia Stafford - Toronto (RAWLING) VS Avery Garrett-Patterson - Toronto (CYR)
Men’s 1,000m
Eric Lutz - Calgary (RAWLING) VS Kevin Robertson - Montreal (CYR)
Women’s 1,500m
Kate Current - Western (RAWLING) VS Lucia Stafford - Toronto (CYR)
Men’s 1,500m
Kevin Robertson - Montreal (RAWLING) VS Jean-Simon Desgagnés - Laval (CYR)
Women’s 3,000m
Jessy Lacourse - Laval (RAWLING) VS Kate Current - Western (CYR)
Men’s 3,000m
Alex James - Calgary (RAWLING) VS Jean-Simon Desgagnés - Laval (CYR)
Dark Horses
Team Rawling
Jane Hergett - St. FX - 1,500m
Aidan Goslett - Dalhousie - 1,000m
Team Cyr
David Gendreau-Fillion - Laval - 1,000
Isaiah Frielink - Western - 3,000m
The tally will be posted in the next newsletter by The U.
Subscribe to The U here:
And be sure to subscribe to all our weekly podcasts!
Our main podcast, featuring interviews, stories and conversations about what matters most in running right now.
Subscribe to The XC here:
Subscribe at usportsthexc.substack.com
This column is part of a network of newsletters by The XC - a new running publication. Feel free to follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our original newsletter.
Queen’s university recently fired XC coach Steve Boyd, pictured here with athletes Branna MacDougall and Mitch DeLange. Photo: Kingston Whig Standard
He is the reigning 2019 U SPORTS women’s cross-country coach of the year, he has decades of distance running experience, and he is out of a job.
In December, Steve Boyd was told by the Queen’s University athletic direction to refrain from making public comments about Dave Scott-Thomas, the former Guelph head cross-country coach who became known as an alleged sexual predator on February 8.
Leslie Dal Cin, Queen’s University executive director of athletics, provided him with a verbal warning. “She said I couldn’t talk about Dave Scott-Thomas,” said Boyd, “or the University of Guelph in any matter – I could think about it, and that’s about it.”
On February 10, two days after the allegations against Scott-Thomas were published in the Globe and Mail, Boyd shared a heated debate with various Guelph alumni. In the comment section of an alumna’s post, he argued that Guelph’s cross-country team titles won under Scott-Thomas should be vacated.
Soon after, Queen’s fired him. The university stated that Boyd “has repeatedly engaged in public commentaries that do not reflect the values expected by representatives of Queen’s University.”
Here, Boyd tells us why he felt compelled to talk, to whom he’d like to apologize, and why he would accept his old position of Queen’s head coach again, if given the chance.
Later, we hear from first year cross-country and track and field runner at Queen's Miles Brackenbury, who is leading an athlete protest against the university's decision to fire their coach.
Related (via Queen’s Journal): cross-country student-athletes are challenging the university’s decision by threatening an exodus.
Subscribe to The U here:
And be sure to subscribe to all our weekly podcasts!
Our main podcast, featuring interviews, stories and conversations about what matters most in running right now.
Subscribe to The XC here:
Subscribe at usportsthexc.substack.com
This column is part of a network of newsletters by The XC - a new running publication. Feel free to follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our original newsletter.
Making predictions about the U SPORTS conference championship never gets old. Do you know what else never gets old? This photo.
Lewis Kent annihilates some poor chump in a shortened beer mile on The Ellen Show
Sure, it was taken in, like, 2014, but how many people can say they’ve been on The Ellen Show?
I did not ask Lewis Kent to guest star on this podcast for his close connection to A-list celebrities like Ellen Degeneres and Charles Philibert-Thiboutot. Rather, I asked him to chat with me because he had a few interesting takes about who would emerge on top this weekend. Here, we each share ONE STORY and ONE SLEEPER per conference.
That’s right, the AUS, the RSEQ, the OUA, and Canada West. We have it all.
Note: Catch Lewis, myself and Evan Ubene (Mr. Hot Takes, himself) on the live stream microphone at the OUA championship. We can’t wait to nerd it out with you for a few days.
Best of luck to all this weekend.
Subscribe to The U here:
And be sure to subscribe to all our weekly podcasts!
Our main podcast, featuring interviews, stories and conversations about what matters most in running right now.
Subscribe to The XC here:
Subscribe at usportsthexc.substack.com
Credit: @richiebee_
It’s storm season, flu season, stay inside season. Fear not: here comes some entertainment. Alex Cyr hops on the mic (fear not, no singing this time) and catches up with two fantastic podcast guests.
First is Julie-Anne Staehli from Lucknow, Ontario. She's a former Queen’s Gael and a five-time U SPORTS All Canadian. Now a post-collegiate athlete, the 26-year-old Staehli trains out of London with the Backroads Bandits, or as she calls the women's division, the Backroads Bandettes. Just over a week ago, she just popped a massive PB of 8:47:95 in Boston. It was the second fastest Canadian mark of all time, and World Athletics Indoor championship qualifier. Here, Alex chats with Staehli about her move to London, her entrance into coaching, and the key to her staggering consistency.Credit: Athlétisme, Carabins de Montréal
Our second guest is Kevin Robertson, last year’s 1,000 m gold medalist at the U SPORTS championship. The 21-year-old middle distance runner does most of his workouts by himself at the University of Montreal, but his lack of training partners has not stopped him from clocking the fastest 1,500 m and 3,000 times in Canada’s varsity circuit so far this year. In Boston last weekend, he narrowly missed breaking four minutes in the mile, crossing the line at 4:00.25. Here, Kevin talks about the agony of coming just short of track and field’s most mythical barrier, the heartbreak of being a Montreal Canadiens fan, and which race distance he hopes to run at the U SPORTS championship.
Featuring: The Twilight Zone with Julie-Anne Staehli
Sometimes, we keep recording after the interview ends. Sometimes, the conversation just keeps flowing. So, this edition ends with Alex venting to Julie-Anne about student life, missing Windsor, and the craziness of downtown Toronto.
You can listen by subscribing right here:
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We all suspected that UBC’s Kieran Lumb might contend for the win at this year’s U SPORTS championship. He had run 5,000 metres faster than anyone in the field, and the last time he had raced on Fort Henry, he had won the Canadian junior XC championship. Still, he came into the race an underdog.
That’s probably because the 21-year-old applied sciences student had yet to race a U SPORTS championship. We thought he might need a year of seasoning before beating more experienced varsity athletes. But, as Lumb opened his stride, spread the field thin and ran away from everybody with just a kilometre to go, we were collectively reminded that, U SPORTS experience or not, speed is speed.
Here, the newly minted champion tells us more about his first year in Canada’s varsity circuit, his time spent in Singapore of 2018, and his moonlighting as an uphill runner.
By Alex Cyr
With the U SPORTS Championship only two sleeps away, we’ve transformed our weekly newsletter to a podcast for the occasion. In this edition, we feature two U SPORTS athletes who have big goals for the weekend.
This pod will be featured today in our main pod, The XC Podcast. You can download and subscribe to that right here:
On Apple Podcasts
On Google Podcasts
On Spotify
First, we talk with Branna MacDougall. The third-year athlete (fourth year-eligibility) was the bronze medalist at the 2017 U SPORTS championship, and fell to ninth last year after dealing with injury. This year, she placed second at the OUA championship, and will contend for the individual title on Saturday. Her team, the Queen’s Gaels, are poised to win at home, after finishing second last year to Le Rouge et Or de Laval.
Here, MacDougall discusses her team’s chance at finishing on top, how she deals with the constant pressure of being a favourite, , and what exactly goes through her mind on race morning when she faces her rival in the living room.
Our second guest is Josh Martin from the Windsor Lancers. The fourth year athlete from Courtice, Ont. is a leader on a rebuilding Windsor team, recovering from a difficult year. Only three men represented the Blue and Gold at last year’s championship and, just as the young team was starting to make collective strides the following spring, disaster struck. Cross-country head coach Gary Malloy had suddenly passed away.
With no coach and little direction, Martin logged high mileage all summer, and has led the Lancers through the season under new coach Colin Inglis. Martin, the 86th place finisher at last year’s U SPORTS championship, has finished ahead of national team members and varsity All-Canadians multiple times this season, and was 10th at the OUA championship.
Here, the 22-year-old business student tells us about how the Lancers recovered from the loss, supported each other through the season, and now find themselves ranked seventh nationally.
Hope you enjoy!