(Cornwall, Ont.– November 2nd, 2008)  With final preparations well underway, the St. Lawrence College, Kingston Campus, is anxiously awaiting the country’s best collegiate cross-country runners for the 2008 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) Cross Country Running Open Championships.

In its seventh year, the annual tournament will receive Thirty-one (31) CCAA member-institutions have confirmed their participation thus far.

“I am looking forward to the CCAA Cross Country Running Championships to be hosted Nov. 7 by St. Lawrence College, Kingston. ,” indicated Brian Stackhouse, CCAA National Cross Country Running Convenor.   The race course at Fort Henry is both scenic and challenging.  This same course will be used for the 2010 World University (FISU) Cross Country Running Championships.  I expect that these Championships will be the biggest and best yet, including for the first time, a College team from Atlantic Canada, St. Thomas University.  The competition will be excellent and I wish all competitors a great race.”

Participating schools are:

British Colombia Colleges’ Athletic Association (BCCAA)

• Selkirk College

Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC)

• Grande Prairie Regional College – Grande Prairie
• Keyano College – Fort McMurray
• MacEwan College – Edmonton
• Lethbridge College – Lethbridge
• NAIT – Edmonton
• Red Deer College – Red Deer
• Augustana Faculty University of Alberta – Camrose

Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA)

• Fanshawe College – London
• Loyalist College – Belleville
• Humber College – Etobicoke
• Sir Sandford Fleming  College – Peterborough
• St. Lawrence College – Kingston
• St. Lawrence College – Brockville
• Cambrian College – Sudbury
• Redeemer University College – Ancaster
• Confederation College – Thunder Bay
• Mohawk College – Hamilton
• Conestoga College – Kitchener

Quebec Student Sport Federation (QSSF)

• Collège André-Laurendeau – Lasalle
• Cégep régional de Lanaudière – Ville de l’Assomption
• Dawson College– Montréal
• Cégep de Sainte-Foy  – Sainte-Foy
• Cégep Limoilou - Québec
• Cégep de Lévis-Lauzon – Lévis
• Collège Ahuntsic – Montréal
• Collège Champlain St-Lambert – St. Lambert
• Collège Françoix-Xavier-Garneau – Québec
• Cégep de Sainte-Foy – Québec
• Collège Montmorency - Laval
• John Abbott College – Ste. Anne de Bellevue

Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association (ACAA)

• St. Thomas University - Fredericton

The 2-day event begins on Friday, November 7th with the 2008 CCAA Cross Country Running Open Championships’ Opening Ceremony at 6:30 p.m. in the St. Lawrence College Dining Hall.  The event will consist of a 5-KM Women’s Race beginning at 12:30 p.m. and an 8-KM Men’s Race at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 8th.  The event will be taking place at Fort Henry  in Kingston.

For more details and/or information, please ensure to visit the official website of the 2008 CCAA Cross Country Running Open Championships - . http://www.stlawrencecollege.ca/xcnationals

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The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) is the national governing body for college sport in Canada, providing high-level competition through intercollegiate sport that recognizes excellence in academics and athletics.