University of Victoria Athletics

1996 University of Victoria Men’s Cross-Country
   
 
Men’s Roster
 

NAME

Phil Aguirre

Neal Beattie

Jens Borge- Andersen

Collin Bullock

Graham Cocksedge

Alex Coffin

Mark Crerry

Mark Cryderman

James Davison

Thomas Eberle

Lucien Ervington

Jim Finlayson

Jason Juteau

Jody Lee

Sean McCartney

James Morrison

Adam Muddiman

Chad Pawson

Ian Scott

 
Brent Fougner (Head Coach)
Kelly Harris (NCI Coach)
 
 
Biography
The 1996-97 University of Victoria men’s cross-country program produced four top-10 finishes at the national championships en route to claiming their third-straight national title. “As far as I’m concerned we are not going to the CIAU’s [Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union] to defend a championship. The only thing that remains the same from last year is that it will be a team effort and as a team we must go out and do our best,” said Vikes head coach Brent Fougner ahead of the championship meet.
 
The Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) headed into its second season adopting the new championship format of no qualifying meet prior to nationals. Therefore, the UVic Vikes only had two competitions leading up to the big championship meet. At the 1996 Vikes Invitational UVic’s Graham Cocksedge led his team and the pack crossing the line in first place. Teammate James Davison placed fourth, followed closely by Alex Coffin with a fifth-place finish. The Vikes then competed in the B.C. Provincial Championships. Once again running strong for the Vikes was Cocksedge whose fifth-place finish pushed the Vikes ahead of their mainland rivals from the University of British Columbia. UVic finished in third place at B.C’s.
 
Following the provincial championships the Vikes travelled east to Montreal, Quebec for the 34^th annual CIAU National Championships, hosted by McGill University. The teams competed at Mt. Royal Park in wet, cold and windy weather. Cocksedge, along with a small group of runners, managed to pull ahead away from the majority of the pack, each taking a turn at pacing the group. In the last 1500-metres Cocksedge surged ahead of the leading group only to be tracked down by University of Sherbrooke’s Eric John. John went on to win the individual race. Keeping his composure, Cocksedge crossed the line in second place for a silver medal.  
 
Cocksedge's efforts were complimented by teammates Jody Lee, James Morrison, Coffin and Davison who finished fifth, seventh, eighth and 11th respectively. The Vikes scored a low 33 points on the reverse scoring system, producing a then-CIAU victory margin record of 72 points over second-place Queens University(105 points). Rounding off the top three schools was McGill who scored 108 points.  Head coach Fougner was named CIAU coach of the year for the third consecutive year at the conclusion of the meet.
 
At the end of the season the 1996 Vikes men’s cross-country team said goodbye to graduating student-athlete Neal Beattie.  Beattie’s contributions to the program helped create the Vikes mini-dynasty of success over the past three seasons.
 
 
Season Summary  
Vikes Invitational:

• Graham Cocksedge – 1^st
• James Davison – 4^th
• Alex Coffin – 5^th

 
BC Provincial Championships:  Bronze (3^rd)

• Graham Cocksedge – 5^th

 
Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union National Championship: GOLD (1^st)
 
                 CIAU Team Results

RANK	SCHOOL	POINTS
1.	Victoria	33 (2-5-7-8-11)
2.	Queens	105
3.	McGill	108

 
 
       

RANK	ATHLETE	SCHOOL
2.	Graham Cocksedge	Victoria
5.	Jody Lee	Victoria
7.	James Morrison	Victoria
8.	Alex Coffin	Victoria
11.	James Davison	Victoria
21.	Neal Beattie	Victoria
28.	Lucien Ervington	Victoria

 
CIAU Coach of the Year: Brent Fougner