BENSON TO REPRESENT CANADA AT IAAF WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
LANGLEY, British Columbia – TrinityWestern’s Fiona Benson (Dawson Creek, B.C.) will don theMaple Leaf for the first time as a senior athlete as she was namedto the Canadian team that will compete in the 41st edition of theIAAF World Cross Country Championships, which take place inGuiyang, China on Mar. 28, 2015.
Benson earned her spot on the Canadian side after finishingseventh overall at the 2014 Canadian Cross Country Championshipsthis past November in Vancouver. The fifth-year Spartans athletecompleted the eight kilometre route in 29:52.
This is the second time in the last three years that Benson hasearned an opportunity to represent Canada at the World CrossCountry Championships. In 2012, she finished sixth amongstCanadians in the senior race at the Canadian Cross CountryChampionships, but elected to compete with TWU at the 2013 CanadaWest and CIS Championships rather than represent Canada.
This year, with both the Canada West track and fieldchampionships (Feb. 27-28) and the CIS championships (Mar. 12-14)scheduled one week later than usual, Benson will be able torepresent both Canada and TWU.
“We are really excited that Fiona has earned thisfantastic opportunity and we’re glad that she is going to getthe chance to compete for Canada,” said Spartans coachLaurier Primeau. “This speaks to our believe that TrinityWestern track and field isn’t just about success in the CIS,but it’s about putting athletes on provincial and nationalteams.”
Prior to the World Championships the Canadian athletes willcompete at the Panamerican Cross Country Cup in Barranquilla,Colombia, Feb. 21-22. NACAC area champions will be determinedthrough separate scoring of NACAC nations within the PanamericanCup.
Benson previously wore the Red and White in 2011 as a juniorathlete when she earned a silver medal at the NACAC Championships(North America and Caribbean). She then went on to represent Canadaat the World Championships in Spain, where she was fifth amongstthe Canadian junior runners and 65th overall.
Team Canada
Senior Women
Name Hometown
FionaBenson Dawson Creek, BC
LindsayCarson Whitehorse, YK
JillianForsey Kippens, NL
RachelHannah Barrie, ON
NatashaLabeaud Kelowna, BC
NatashaWodak Vancouver, BC
Junior Women
Name Hometown
JennieBaragar-Petrash Winnipeg, MB
NicoleHutchinson West Vancouver, BC
BrannaMacDougall Kingston, ON
MirelleMartens Grande Prairie, AB
ClaireSmith Ottawa, ON
HannahWoodhouse Clarksburg, ON
Senior Men
Name Hometown
BarryBritt Hampton, NB
RyanCassidy Grande-Digue, NB
MattJohnson Regina, SK
KevinTree Tottenham, ON
KellyWiebe Swift Current, SK
Junior Men
Name Hometown
JulesBurnotte Sherbrooke,QC
JustynKnight Vaughn, ON
RoryLinkletter Calgary, AB
JeremiahOrt Carman, MB
BenjaminPreisner Milton,ON
NathanTadesse Surrey, BC
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-TW-