LONDON, Ont. - For the first time since 1989, the Sheridan Bruins cross country team can lay claim to an OCAA medal, picking up bronze in the men's competition, while the women finish seventh.

"I'm so proud of the team, it's all due to them," head coach Danny Webster said. "Their work ethic is fantastic, without question they do every hard workout throughout the year, and they do all the right things to recover. They're a smart group and I'm looking forward to the future with them. I believe there's still a lot of work to be done - I'm not going to be fully satisfied until we're champions in Ontario and nationally - but it's a huge step in the right direction. "

Cole Bond led the Bruins with a sixth place finish (27:28.4), followed by Alex Ball in 21st (28:24.4), Brendan Saunders in 24th (28:27.7), and Andrew Convery in 25th (28:41.4).

"The depth on our team played a huge role in our third place finish today," Webster said. "If it wasn't for a few key runners who normally finish in our fourth and fifth positions stepping up and finishing in our top three, we wouldn't have had the result we did. It just goes to show that our team is strong, no matter how we're feeling on any day."

Although the women finished seventh, their 116 points was just 11 behind fifth place St. Clair.

Erin Kinninmont (25:09.2) led the way with a 19th place finish, followed by Marla Brown (25:59.6) in 28th, Monique Parlevliet (26:00.4) in 30th, and Alexandra D'Oliveira (26:33.0) in 33rd.

"Overall the girls had the best race of their season," Webster said. "Erin Kinninmont came in the top 25 which is a huge accomplishment for her. Everybody placed higher in this race then they have all season, so I couldn't be more proud of the ladies. A seventh place finish compared to how we did last year is a great team accomplishment."