CCAA 50th Anniversary: Cross-Country Running
The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association is highlighting history, programs and student-athletes in each sport during the association's 50th anniversary season.
Three conferences (BCCAA, ACAC, and OCAA), 22 teams and 120 runners competed at the first CCAA Cross-Country National Championship hosted by Red Deer College in 2002. By the end of its first decade, the Championship exploded in popularity, more than doubling the number of teams and runners.
The ACAC was the predominant Conference initially, with teams from Lethbridge and Augustana claiming many spots on the podium across all four disciplines. As participation in the sport grew, SAIT, Red Deer and GPRC (now Northwestern) also emerged as top Alberta programs while the OCAA was represented by strong performances from Fanshawe, Humber and St. Clair. For the past decade, runners from multiple RSEQ programs have claimed many of the sport's top individual and team finishes.
At the launch of the CCAA's 25th Anniversary, the Association recognized a unique honour – Sport Supremacy. This award was a calculation of the aggregate number of points earned by a member institution's varsity athletics program, based on their performances at CCAA National Championships. This season, we are revisiting the idea of CCAA Sport Supremacy by acknowledging the cumulative achievements of the member varsity programs in each CCAA Sport from 1974 through 2024.
CCAA 50th Anniversary – Cross-Country Running Programs
|
1 |
Lethbridge College |
26 |
Cégep André-Laurendeau |
|
2 |
Fanshawe College |
27 |
Loyalist College |
|
3 |
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology |
28 |
Collège Montmorency |
|
4 |
University of Alberta - Augustana (Camrose) |
29 |
Conestoga College |
|
5 |
Red Deer Polytechnic |
30 |
Mount Royal University |
|
6 |
Humber College |
31 |
Cégep Édouard-Montpetit |
|
7 |
Northwestern Polytechnic (GPRC) |
32 |
Redeemer University |
|
8 |
Cégep de Sainte-Foy |
33 |
Collège André-Grasset |
|
9 |
Cégep de Sherbrooke |
34 |
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology |
|
10 |
St. Clair College |
35 |
Sheridan College |
|
11 |
Collège Ahuntsic |
36 |
Cégep de Chicoutimi |
|
12 |
Concordia University of Edmonton |
37 |
Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy |
|
13 |
Cégep Garneau |
38 |
Wilfrid Laurier University - Brantford |
|
14 |
St. Lawrence College |
39 |
John Abbott College |
|
15 |
Champlain College Saint-Lambert |
40 |
Thompson Rivers University (Cariboo) |
|
16 |
Fleming College |
41 |
Cégep Champlain St. Lawrence |
|
17 |
MacEwan University |
42 |
Keyano College |
|
18 |
University of British Columbia - Okanagan |
43 |
Centennial College |
|
19 |
Cégep de Victoriaville |
44 |
Collège de Maisonneuve |
|
20 |
Collège Lionel-Groulx |
45 |
Georgian College |
|
21 |
Mohawk College |
46 |
Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe |
|
22 |
Cambrian College |
47 |
Seneca Polytechnic |
|
23 |
George Brown College |
48 |
St. Mary's University |
|
24 |
Cégep de Trois-Rivières |
49 |
Sault College |
|
25 |
Cégep de Jonquière |
50 |
Crandall University (Atlantic Baptist) |
CCAA Fun Fact
Battling the elements is always a factor for cross-country runners but weather and terrain are the typical obstacles. During the inaugural CCAA Championships the athletes were faced with a more unique impediment when a moose wandered onto the course and had to be encouraged to vacate the route by an advance runner.
Note: The CCAA 50 for 50 – Programs were calculated using an aggregate scoring system.
