The York University Lions cross country teams opened their season on Saturday morning, as they made the trip to London, Ont. for the 34^th edition of the Bill Salter Invitational hosted by Western.
 
Increasing their numbers from years past, the women's team will look to field a competitive squad for this year's OUA championship in late October. Returning veteran Rebecca Wheeler is joined by second-year runner Anna Prouzou, who makes her return after a year hiatus, as well as rookies Carmen Krawczynski Gonzalez, Meaghan Evon, Patricia Rasowski, and Emily Fraschetti.
 
Despite competing in her first season with the Lions, the spotlight wasn't too big for Krawczynski. She crossed the line first for the Lions in a time of 24:49, good for 45^th overall. Under a minute behind her was Prouzou in a time of 25:41, finishing 62^nd, while rookie Evon finished 70^th running 26:02 for the 6km race.
 
The women's team finished 10^th overall as a team, a great showing for their first race of the season considering the rare field of post-collegiate, OUA, and OCAA competition.
 
Representing the men were fresh faces in rookies Maxime St. Jules and Chris Basso. The two first-year athletes finished the 8km men's race seconds apart, as St. Jules ran 30:53 with Basso close behind in 31:07.
 
The cross country squads will take this weekend off as they prepare for the Don Mills Open in Waterloo, Ont., on Saturday Oct. 5^th – a meet they've historically performed well at.