A quick roundup of Queen's Gaels teama and athletes competing over the weekend:

CROSS COUNTRY

The No. 1 Queen's Gaels women’s cross country team took the OUA championship in Windsor on Saturday, led by a gold medal performance from Branna MacDougall.

The men’s team also put in a strong performance, claiming the bronze medal.

The Gaels dethroned the 13-time reigning champion Guelph Gryphons, finishing with 37 points, 25 points ahead of the silver medalist Toronto Varsity Blues (62). The Gryphons earned the bronze medal with 79 points.  

Second-year runner Branna MacDougall finished first overall in the women's 8km race, becoming the second consecutive Gael to earn OUA MVP honours after Claire Sumner won the title in 2016. MacDougall crossed the finish line in a time of 27:19.5.

Close behind MacDougall were fellow first-team All-Stars Amy Stephenson in fourth in 27:43.3 and Claire Sumner in fifth  in 27:46.1. Molly Steer was named a second-team All-Star finishing 10th in a time of 28:35.2 and Taylor Sills rounded out the Queen's scorers in 17th in a time of 29:16.9.

The Gaels men earned the bronze medal with 85 points behind Guelph (41) and McMaster (50). Eric Wynands finished fourth in a time of 30:45.3 taking first-team All-Star honours while teammate Mark Schmidt took the final second-team All-Star spot finishing 14th in a time of 31:06.4.

FOOTBALL

The Queen's Gaels lost a nail-biting OUA quarterfinal matchup 12-9 to the No. 6 McMaster Marauders on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Hamilton, bringing their season to an end.

Struggling with the tough conditions, both teams struggled early on offence.

Eventually, the Marauders put the game’s first points on the board as Dan Petermann hauled in a 24-yard pass from Jackson White to make it 7-0 for the home side.

The Marauders used the run game to control the clock and keep the field position in their favour throughout the first half. McMaster running back Jordan Lyons rushed 39 times for 319 yards in the game to set a career-high mark.

After a field goal and a Queen's safety, McMaster went into the half ahead of Queen's 12-0.

Queen's picked up their pace in the second half starting on the opening possession. Quarterback Nate Hobbs found Matteo Del Brocco and Jake Puskus rushed for a big gain putting the Gaels in field goal position. Nick Liberatore connected from 27 yards to put Queen's on the board.

The defence kept Queen's in it as they continued to make big plays. With McMaster pushing for more points, Jason Shamatutu snagged an interception in the Gaels endzone to keep the Marauders from extending their lead.

Late in the third quarter after a Marauder fumble on a punt return, the Gaels were able to tack on another three as Liberatore hit from 30-yards out.

After a 33-yard reception by Chris Osei-Kusi to end the third quarter, the Gaels set up another Liberatore field goal, this time from 33-yards out to get within three.

Each team traded missed field goals, but the Gaels controlled the possession game in the final frame.

Queen's was able to get to the McMaster 39-yard line after Osei-Kusi picked up a big first down on a third and five with an 11-yard reception.

On the next play, a Hobbs pass was intercepted by the Marauders and brought to mid-field.

Queen's had one final shot on a Hail Mary attempt, but it was incomplete, and the Marauders held on for the win.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The Queen's Gaels defeated the No. 10 Ottawa Gee-Gees 5-4 in penalty kicks in their quarterfinal playoff match Saturday at Richardson Stadium. 

The teams ended regulation and two overtime halves tied 1-1, pushing the match to penalties.

The Gee-Gees were first on the board after 22 minutes with a free kick just outside the 18-yard box.

However the Gaels struck back in the 39th minute as Laura Callender found the back of the net from a similar distance.

Queen’s kept up the pressure throughout the second half but were unable to find the breakthrough.

In the shoot-out the Gaels were perfect with Callender, Kyra Steer, Jamie Foot, Taylor Green and Jenny Wolever converting before the final Ottawa kicker put her shot over the bar.

The Gaels now advance to the OUA Final Four along with Western, Guelph and UOIT.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Queen's Gaels (4-0-0-1) held on to take a 3-1 decision over the No. 7 Guelph Gryphons (1-0-3-0) on Saturday.

 Stephanie Pascal was outstanding in net for the Gaels, picking up 29 saves in the victory while Addi Halladay scored an empty netter with 12 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

The Gaels opened the scoring early as Katrina Manoukarakis potted her OUA leading fourth goal of the season. Micaela Smith scored her first goal of the season to extend the Gaels lead to 2-0 later in the first.

On Sunday, the Gaels defeated the York Lions (0-0-4-1) by a score of 4-1. Bryce Desa led the way with her first two goals of the season, with others going to Addi Halladay and Jessica Wakefield.

MEN’S HOCKEY

The Queen's Gaels (3-0-3) lost both of their games in overtime on the weekend at home.

On Saturday the Gaels lost 4-3 to the Concordia Stingers (4-1-1). Ryan Bloom opened the scoring for Queen’s and Slater Doggett added a pair of goals.

On Friday the Gaels fell 3-2 in overtime to the No. 5 ranked McGill Redmen (6-1-0). Jaden Lindo and Darcy Greenaway scored for Queen’s.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Queen's Gaels (1-0) women's basketball team opened their season on Friday at the ARC, taking down Lakehead (0-1) 77-61.

Coming into the season with a lot of momentum after a successful 2016-17 campaign, the Gaels team hope to replicate the success of last year, where they went undefeated in the regular season and finished fourth in the USPORTS championship.

After a slow start the Gaels gained momentum and finished the opening quarter trialing 19-18. But the Gaels heated up in the second to finish the half 48-33.

Queen’s kept the lead the rest of the way with Marianne leading the way with 21 points and Andrea Priamo adding 15, with nine rebounds.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Queen's Gaels (1-0) opened their season beating the Lakehead Thunderwolves (0-1) 95-68 at the ARC on Friday.

The home side started off hot with St. Lawrence College transfer Jaz Bains opening the scoring with a pull-up three-pointer. The Gaels ended the quarter with a 26-13 lead.

The Gaels kept up the pressure and entered the final quarter leading 68-47. Bains led the scoring with 18 points, along with eight assists and eight rebounds. Tanner Graham and Mike Shoveller added 16 points each.