North Vancouver runner Charlie Dannatt claimed his first win in an NCAA cross-country race last week, taking top spot in the San Francisco State Invitational.
The Handsworth grad finished first in the eight-kilometre race in what was a dominant performance for the Simon Fraser University men’s team on Friday (Oct. 7). The first five runners across the finish line were all Red Leafs, giving SFU a perfect score of 15 points in the team event. Dannatt clocked a time of 24 minutes 42.7 seconds to record the win.
It was another impressive result for Dannatt, who raced to fame in 2017 when he smashed a 42-year-old record in the 3,000-metre race at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships, beating the old mark by more than six seconds.
Last year, Dannatt won bronze at the GNAC men’s cross-country championships, helping the Simon Fraser University men’s team claim the conference title for the first time in team history.
A North Shore runner also paced the SFU women’s team at last week’s San Francisco State Invitational, with West Vancouver Secondary grad Megan Roxby finishing sixth, helping the Red Leafs earn a third-place showing in the team competition.
The next competition for the Red Leafs will be the NCAA Division II Pre-Nationals meet on Oct. 22 at the Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place, Wash. It will be SFU’s final regular-season race before the Great Northwest Athletic Championships on Nov. 5 in Monmouth, Ore.
