One solitary Laurentian Voyageurs representative made the very most of his time at the U Sports Cross-Country Championships on the weekend.

Racing in Sherbrooke (Quebec), Laurentian senior Keon Wallingford cracked the top-30 in the country, placing 26th in a field of 163 competitors with an eight kilometre time of 25:27.

This marked the fourth time in his illustrious career at L.U. that the North Bay native has competed at nationals as student-athletes from thirty-three universities from across the country tackled the challenge of the highly technical course on the university campus.

In reaching his goal of a top-thirty finish, Wallingford was required to make a significant move over the final kilometre, resulting in his best ever finish at nationals and capping a final season of university cross-country.

Over the course of the past few months, Wallingford would win gold at both the Laurentian and Waterloo Open races and also place 15th at the OUA Championships.

"The race went pretty much as planned," said Wallingford commented. "I wanted to get out hard because my spot on the start line was not the best - I didn't want to get boxed in. I settled in really well after that in about 40th position and got into a good rhythm."

With coach Darren Jermyn on hand to provide tactical assistance, Wallingford was in great shape as his opportunity arose.

"He (coach Jermyn) let me know with one kilometre to go that I was just outside the top 30 and that gave me the motivation I needed," Wallingford added. "I put my head down and was able to pass seven guys over the final 600 metres of the race."

"This season, I've had another gear at the end of races so that gave me the confidence to push through the pain."

"Keon is a man of his word," beamed Jermyn. "He told me this year he planned to be top 15 at OUA's and top 30 at U Sports. He put in all the extra work to accomplish both of these goals and we couldn't be prouder of him."

"Keon's results this year are a testament to how our program can develop student-athletes over the long-term, both physically and mentally, to be ready to peak when it counts the most," noted Jermyn.

With the end of the cross-country season behind them, the Laurentian team will shift their focus to the indoor track & field season that starts at the end of November.