Lalonde posts best Canadian result at cross-country worlds
Moncton native finishes in 20th at Aarhus, Denmark race
Genevieve Lalonde was the top-performing Canadian and had the best result by a North American on a wet and muddy course at the IAAF world cross-country championships in Aarhus, Denmark on Saturday.
The 27-year-old from Moncton had the best Canadian senior women's finish in 15 years, closing in 20th in the 10-kilometre race with a time of 38 minutes 10 seconds.
Emilie Mondor was the last Canadian woman to end up in the Top 20, with an eighth-place finish in 2004.
She was followed by compatriots Natasha Wodak (43rd) of Surrey, B.C., Katelyn Ayers (57th) of Orillia, Ont., Claire Sumner (66th) of Calgary, Jessica O'Connell (72nd) also of Calgary and Natalia Hawthorn (86th) of Bracebridge, Ont.
Hellen Obiri of Kenya had the quickest time of 36:14, closing ahead of Dera Dida (36:16) and Letesenbet Gidey (36:24) both from Ethiopia.
In the men's senior 10-km race, Ben Preisner of Milton, Ont., was the top Canada in 77th with a time of 35:01.
He was trailed by Calgary-born Rory Linkletter (82nd), Yves Sikubwabo (91st) of Ottawa, Ehab El-Sandali (97th) of Toronto, John Gay (102nd) of Kelowna, B.C., and Mike Tate (108th) of Heatherton, N.S.
Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo, both of Uganda, finished in first and second, respectively. Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya grabbed bronze.
Canada also came seventh in the 4x2 km relay. Ethiopia captured gold, followed by Morocco and Kenya.