VANCOUVER, BC – Point Grey Track and Field Club looks to break onto the national running scene this weekend at the Canadian Cross Country Championships, being held Saturday, Nov. 26, in the heart of the Vancouver neighborhood Point Grey, at Jericho Beach Park. The club has five runners – a full team – entered in the senior men’s 10-kilometre race, and one entry in the senior women’s seven-kilometre race.

Four teams are entered in the men’s team competition: UVIC, Toronto Olympic Club, London Runner, and Point Grey.

Of the Point Grey men, Samuel Pawluk has the best resume from this season, having run under 25-minutes at the Willamette Invitational, then 25:08 for third place at the UBC Invitational, and most recently second place at the BC Cross Country Championships.

UBC graduate Kerry Kazuta has run a season’s best of 25-flat at the Willamette Invitational. The only Point Grey member to race at the Canadian Cross Country Championships last year, Kazuta will use this experience to improve on his 34th place finish from last year. This past summer, Kazuta placed fifth in the 5,000-metres at the Canadian Track and Field Championships.

Former UBC harrier Mark Wilkie raced sparingly this fall but has strung together months of solid training. Last summer he set a new personal best of 3:48 in the 1500-metres at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic, showing that he saves his best performances for when they matter most.

Theo Hunt, who has one season of track eligibility remaining at UBC, is coming off a 66th place (25:26) result at the NAIA Championships last weekend. After missing the first half of the season, Hunt is on the upswing, and has gotten better in every race.

Ben Thistlewood, another former UBC athlete, finished right behind Kazuta at the Willamette Invitational earlier this year, clocking a season’s best of 25-flat. He also ran 26:00 at the UBC Invitational held at Jericho Beach Park in mid-October.

On the women’s side, Jen Moroz, a UBC graduate student, is racing her first Canadian Championships. Moroz recently placed 21st at the BC Cross Country Championships, and was 36th at the UBC Invitational.

Schedule of Events: