Madelyn Eybergen and Philippe Morneau-Cartier named Under Armour Athletes of the Week
It was a golden weekend at the national championships in Quebec for these Victoria Vikes and Université Laval stars
APshutter/C/O Philippe Morneau-Cartier
The 2025 U Sports cross-country season concluded on Saturday, with the best collegiate athletes from across Canada hitting the grass and getting muddy as they chased national glory. The national U Sports Cross-Country Championships returned to Sherbrooke, Que., on Nov. 8 for the first time in 15 years; Canadian Running, in partnership with Under Armour, will spotlight the country’s standout performers each week as the Under Armour Athlete of the Week.
This week, we are highlighting Madelyn Eybergen of the University of Victoria and Philippe Morneau-Cartier of Université Laval for claiming the individual championship titles.
Madelyn Eybergen, University of Victoria (CanWest)
Victoria Vikes athlete Eybergen stunned cross-country fans by securing her second career U Sports gold since transitioning from high jump over the summer of 2024. The 24-year-old completed the 8K course in a blistering 27:10, edging out the field by a 14-second margin.
The reigning champion and 2025 CanWest conference champion, UBCO’s Lauren McNeil, had to settle for silver, clocking 27:24, while the University of Guelph’s rising star, Alex McDougall, the 2025 OUA champion, grabbed bronze in 28:06.
“I enjoyed the race quite a bit,” Eybergen told Canadian Running. “It was a fun course and felt significantly easier than last year’s U Sports, which just goes to show my fitness improvement since last season.”
Last fall, Eybergen made her cross-country debut representing the Windsor Lancers, taking OUA gold and U Sports bronze. She went on to win the 3,000m title at March’s U Sports Indoor Track and Field Championships, and two weeks ago, claimed CanWest XC silver.
“My goal was to win,” Eybergen revealed. “CanWest gave me a good idea of how close I was, fitness and pace-wise, in relation to my strongest competitor, Lauren McNeil. After that race, I felt like I had a very good chance of winning with just some tactical changes and tapering.”
Eybergen’s performance also led the Vikes to an overall team title with 99 points, upgrading their previous third-place finish. Overall, 2025 marked a breakthrough season for the team, which secured the 2025 CanWest Championship title for the first time since 1998.
Next up, Eybergen says she will either compete at the national cross-country championships (ACXC) in London at the end of November, aiming to make the Canadian World XC Championships team, or just focus on representing Canada at the FISU XC Championships in Italy in March. (The top nine qualify for FISU.) On the track, she’s also aiming to better her performances from last year and run her first 5,000m.
Philippe Morneau-Cartier, Université Laval (RSEQ)
Saturday’s event also saw Université Laval’s Morneau-Cartier complete a U Sports hat trick, breaking the tape in 23:14 to capture his third straight national gold medal. The win caps off his third consecutive undefeated season.
Thomas Laviolette of the Montreal Carabins took silver in 24:19, while OUA Champion Jude Wheeler-Dee of the Queen’s Gaels captured bronze in 24:24.
“I felt pretty good most of the race,” Morneau-Cartier told Canadian Running. “I’d say for the first four km, we were pretty much jogging. Then the pace picked up, and I managed to stay rather comfortable until around the last 500m. Then I had to go hard to drop Thomas Laviolette–huge congrats to him.” The pair also faced off at the recent RSEQ championships on Oct. 25 in Saint-Lazare, Que., where Morneau-Cartier grabbed his fourth straight RSEQ title.
The pressure to complete the three-peat was there, but if anything, it helped push Morneau-Cartier to the finish. “If there’s no pressure at all, it can’t be exciting or fun,” he said. “So I think that most of the time, pressure is something that drives me toward my goals.”
Like Eybergen, Morneau-Cartier is now shifting his focus to the upcoming ACXC Championships, where he also hopes to qualify for the Canadian worlds team. After that, he’s still not sure what’s next. “I know I want to focus more on school in the future,” he said. “But I’m not ready yet to say that I’ll disappear from the running scene. However, I know there will be some changes in how much and how hard I train.”
See here for a full recap of the 2025 U Sports Cross-Country Championships.
