One of Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s cross-country runners remains undefeated all the way through the season and is continuing on to nationals.

Sophia Nowicki is a second-year nursing student at the college who chose Lethbridge specifically for the running program.

“I was deciding between Mount Royal and the college and I came here because they have a good running program.”

Nowicki has been running since junior high. Throughout high school she considered running a hobby and didn’t think it would end up becoming a passion.

That passion carried her through to a provincial gold medal at the ACAC conference in Vermillion over the past weekend. Nowicki finished the six km run in 23:53, a full 25 seconds in front of the silver medalist.

The next step for Nowicki is to head off to nationals in Grande Prairie in early November.

“She has the experience, she has the competitiveness, she wants to do well, I think she’s a perfectionist in that way,” said her coach Bertil Johannson.

The other girls on the cross-country team edged out Red Deer College in a tie breaker which won the team first place in the conference.

The team title is the 60 ACAC championship in Kodiak history.