Having successfully defended their Canada West title, Stefan Daniel and the rest of the U of C Dinos men's cross-country team are now preparing to defend their USports national title next week.

Daniel finished first at the Canada West cross-country championship, Oct. 26. With four of the top six finishers, the Dinos won their third consecutive Canada West championship.

Daniel quickly grabbed the lead and held on to it for the duration of the race. He finished 30 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor (teammate Russell Pennock) with a time of 31:28:53.

"I never actually thought I would have a chance to win it," he modestly said. "Going into it, I was confident I could get the top five. I guess I felt good that day and raced aggressively."

It was a cold, snowy, and windy day on the Calgary course for the Canada West championship. Many of the runners stay close to stay warm, but Daniel had a different plan.

"At the start of the race, I went out fast. I looked behind me about a kilometre in and saw nobody wanted to go with me. They were all in a big group. I decided not to wait up for them. I just keep on pushing and I was able to hold on somehow."

Most important to Daniel was the team win.

"That's the big goal. We wanted to defend our Canada West title. I'm proud to be part of this tight-knit and strong group."

The Dinos hope tp defend their national title next Saturday. They won their first ever cross-country championship last season after coming into the race as underdogs.

"We're thrilled with the Canada West title, but we're now looking towards USports. That's going to be a big challenge."

"On paper, we have a stronger group this year, but we know that doesn't mean anything. We have to show up on the day. Still, we're confident we can get the job done."

Daniel says they expect tough competition from Guelph, McMaster, and Laval but he doesn't sell short the other university teams.

"You never know. There are good runners on other teams, and if they show up on the day they can be a factor, too."

The nationals were also hosted in Kingston last year.