Bob Vigars will lead Team Canada as the head coach of the national university squad at the 2010 FISU World University Cross-Country Championship held in Kingston, Ont., on Sunday, April 11.
Vigars, the coach of Western’s cross-country team for 42 years, is not the only Mustang heading to the championship.
Kyle O’Neill (Vienna, Ont.), a political science student, will participate on the national team. The junior distance runner is one of 11 team members and is a two-time CIS All-Canadian (2008, 2009).
“Obviously for any athlete, when you have an achievement like this, it gives you a great boost of confidence and it’s a great reward for all the hard work you put in,” Vigars says. “With any all-star, national or international honour like this, it is other people’s recognition of your athleticism and the level that you have achieved.”
Vigars credits a strong indoor track season with aiding O’Neill’s selection to the national team and what will be his first international competition.
“At the national (track and field) championships, Kyle separated himself,” Vigars adds. “It’s a great accomplishment for him, showing everybody in the CIS he was deserving to be on this team.”
“To represent your country as an athlete or coach is an honour that few experience,” says Western’s director of sports and recreation services, Therese Quigley. “To do so at home, here in Canada, is very special as we saw at the Vancouver Olympics.”
“We are indeed proud of the lifetime achievements of coach Bob Vigars and the outstanding performances of Mustangs great Kyle O’Neill.”
Shane Lakins, a Western kinesiology alumnus, is the president of the organizing committee for the championships and is also the former head coach of the Queen’s University Gaels.
More details on the race and event and full Team Canada profiles can be found at www.xc2010.com.