Canadian Running and Under Armour have teamed up for the 2024 Canadian U Sports cross-country season to highlight some of the top homegrown talents across the country. Each week, leading up to the 2024 U Sports Cross-Country Championships in Kelowna, B.C., in November, Canadian Running will select the top athlete as the Under Armour Athlete of the Week.
The award will go to a U Sports cross-country athlete who achieved a standout performance at their meet. These athletes will be featured on Canadian Running and awarded an Under Armour prize pack featuring the new UA Infinite Pro trail shoe. This week we highlight Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) athlete Elisa Tripotin for her performance at the Laval Invitational in Quebec City on Oct. 5.
Tripotin’s performance on the Plains of Abraham–one of the most rigorous cross-country courses in Canada–marked her second win of the 2024 cross-country season. The 26-year-old from Montreal clocked 30:07 over the 8K distance, beating the next-best athlete by more than 26 seconds.
Humid weather resulted in a muddy field and caused the course’s steep climbs to be even more menacing; Tripotin believes these conditions played to her advantage as a 3,000m steeplechase runner. “It’s a little surprising, but I really do like muddy courses,” she admits. “The Plains of Abraham is a great course–thanks to the big hill you climb four times. The more technical the race, the happier I am.” The PhD student also took home the win at the McGill Invitational in Montreal on Sept.7; she completed the 6K course in 22:06.
“I’m hoping for a great race at the U Sports XC Championships,” Tripotin says. “Last year, I was amazed to see the density of women during the race–we practically ran the whole race in a pack of 30 people! I am so proud to be part of this dazzling growth in women’s cross-country and want to raise this level even higher.” Tripotin finished 33rd in the 2023 championships, and was the first finisher for the UQAM Citadins.
Tripotin’s success this fall continues outside of U Sports. On Sept. 20, she took part in Montreal’s Beneva Marathon road mile, taking second place in 4:53 behind Quebec’s Jessy Lacourse–a former U Sports XC champion with Université Laval.
Tripotin is working toward her PhD in Sociology and English study at UQAM. She is in her third year competing for the Citadins.
Full results for the Laval Invitational can be found here.
2024 women’s U Sports cross country mid-season power rankings
