Mountaineers varsity highlights – November 1, 2024
The Mohawk Mountaineers women’s cross country team won the OCAA Championship this past weekend. It is the programs first provincial gold medal since 1988.
Currently, nationally ranked No. 2 in the CCAA, the women’s team had three runners complete the 6km race in the top-10. Annie Sterenberg placed fifth, Zoe Thibault was seventh and Tori Hendriks finished eighth. Additionally, Raina Hartnell placed 13th, Lauren Snider finished 15th and Addison Cann was 27th.
The No. 5 nationally ranked men’s cross country team won the silver medal in their 8km race. It was a close result for second-place as Mohawk and the Conestoga Condors tied for 59 team points each. The Mountaineers edged the Condors in the tiebreaker based on the position of each team's fifth place finisher.
Santiago Mendoza was Mohawk's fifth runner, placing 27th, two spots ahead of Conestoga's fifth runner. But what stood out about Mendoza's run was that he ran on an injured leg for six kilometres of the 8km race. Faced with the adversity, Mendoza's gritty performance was the difference between Mohawk winning silver and potentially missing the podium all together, as the first-year runner also received the OCAA Fair Play Award.
Albert Lanting also brought home an individual silver medal after finishing the race second. It’s the first-time since 1994 a Mountaineer runner has won the OCAA silver. The rest of the men’s team included Sage Sulentic at 14th, Yassin Saleh finishing 19th, Thomas Spring at 24th and Will Summers placed 34th.
Other individual awards included Hendriks being named the OCAA cross country female athlete of the year. Hendriks, Seterenberg, Thibault, Lanting and Sulentic also received All-Ontario team honours.
Mohawk women’s volleyball picked up two victories this past week to improve their record to 4-0. They defeated the Conestoga Condors and Niagara Knights. Mohawk men’s volleyball also defeated the Condors and Knights for their first two wins of the season, improving their record to 2-2.
This past week the CCAA released their first nationally rankings for court sports and the Mountaineers men’s basketball team was represented at No. 7. Men’s basketball this past week had a win over the Sheridan Bruins and lost to the Humber Hawks, bringing their record to 3-1.
Women’s basketball is also 3-1 following a victory over the Bruins and a loss to the Hawks.
Mountaineers Athletes of the Week
Annie Sterenberg – Cross Country
The third-year runner led her team with a fifth-place individual finish and earned a spot on the OCAA All-Ontario First Team. Sterenberg has consistently excelled, having been named to the All-Ontario First Team at every OCAA Championship she has participated in since 2021.
Albert Lanting – Cross Country
Lanting delivered a standout performance, achieving the best individual finish by a Mountaineer at the OCAA Championships since 2018 with a second-place result. This marks the first time since 1994 that a Mohawk athlete has claimed OCAA silver. The second-year runner outperformed all five returning athletes who finished ahead of him last year.
To keep up to date with Mountaineer scores and upcoming games, visit the websites composite schedule. For more information, make sure to follow the Mountaineers on social media.