Stingers' XC fall preview: women

For the women's preview, I've decided to go with the Olympic champion Canadian women's hockey team as a comparable, with a few local names thrown in from the Montreal Stars.

Dominque Roy: 4:30 1500, sub-18 5k, Dom is easily the fastest woman to lace them up for the Stingers. It is early in our history, but I'm going to throw down the H-bomb on this one: Haley Wickenheiser.

Liz Mokrusa: dropped about 30min off her marathon time (3:15), 17min on her half marathon time (1:27) and about 2 on her 5k (18:52) since last September. She will probably keep getting faster, too, as she just does all the work required, day-in, day-out. She reminds me of Montreal Stars' captain (and Stinger strength-training coach) Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux.

Coralina Tse: probably the top CEGEP recruit this year, Coralina ran 19:10 at provincials last year for St. Lambert. Speaking to her about her training (or how little of it she seemed to have one) leads me to believe she's got enormous potential. CEGEP star, big potential? Sounds like Tessa Bonhomme. (interesting side note: Tessa was the first ever first pick in the women's hockey draft. The first ever first pick in the men's draft was Garry Monahan, brother of Pat Monohan, my high school xc coach. It's true!)

Kelly Hewitt: team captain, was injured last winter, but has had a very good summer of training. Probably sub-20 this fall. She's more of a classic style runner, road racing pedigree. Her background in Communications makes me want to compare her to Cassie Campbell, now of the CBC, who was a pretty good hockey player back in the day, if you recall...

Gabrielle Thompson: a xc skiier, transfer from Ottawa, has great aerobic fitness, like Coralina, tons of potential. Hasn't run a true 5k yet, but ran 43:57 on the very hilly St. Bruno 10k course (which is incidentally right in her backyard!). Someone who might come out of nowhere and win it for the team: Marie-Philip Poulin.

There are a lot of names on the women's side, and a lot of women I've yet to meet. Here's a bit more about some of the names I do know:

Camilla Fitzgibbon, Chanel Savoie and Jennie Mae Roy are all returning members who could find their way into the top seven, depending on how their summers went. I see them as kind of a grind-line, and my lack of knowledge of women's hockey is going to show, but I think that Jayna Hefford, Cherie Piper and Gillian Aps are three players who embody this hard-working style.

Claire Gerin-Lajoie is a CEGEP recruit from Brebeuf who is future captain material. Fitness-wise she was mid 21min last fall, and could go sub-20 if she works really hard, but her biggest contribution to the team will be her enthusiasm. If energy on the ice can be compared to the energy we see from Claire, then maybe Gina Kingsbury is a good comparison.

Other names: Laura Gomez, a transfer from Montgomery College, Amanda Weightman, a transfer from Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Lucy Dykstra, from high school in Calgary, and Megan Anderson, from junior college in B.C., a former elite field hockey player, might all make a name for themselves as well. There are about 10 more names, but I think I will leave it at this. There's tons of depth on the women's side for the Stingers. I hope it turns into tons of medals!