Lethbridge College’s Kodiaks cross country teams take off in a race at their recent practice on Oct. 10 in the Sugar Bowl. Photo by Angie Wiebe.
Lethbridge College’s cross country teams are preparing for the upcoming Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) championship race. Lethbridge is hosting the event at Nicholas Sheran Park on Oct. 28. They will be competing against schools from all across Alberta, with athletes trying to take the top spot for their school. The men’s team runs an eight kilometre race, while the women’s team runs six kilometres. There have been in four grand prix events so far this season, the next race being the ACAC championships. The teams have consistently placed top three in their previous races. In the last grand prix race on Oct. 14, the men’s team placed third and the women’s team just missed out on a top three finish.
Head coach Simon Schaerz says he has high hopes for both teams and is happy with how they have competed so far. He thinks the men’s team can definitely pull off a third place at ACAC, but with the women’s team the races are closer between the schools and the women will need to fight hard and perform well. Schaerz doesn’t want the races to stop just after ACAC championships.
“To qualify for nationals, I think that’s our biggest hope and plan,” says Schaerz.
In order for the teams to attend nationals in Truro, Nova Scotia they must place top three in their conference, which they will find out at the championships. He says they have been planning everything accordingly to make it to nationals.
Ethan Grasmeyer, a first year runner for Lethbridge College men’s cross country team says he’s happy about competing in ACAC championships at Lethbridge.
“I’m excited. I like the course here and I hope the weather stays good,” says Grasmeyer.
He has been happy with his performance and says he’s improved quite a bit. There have been a lot of additions to the cross country teams this year. Grasmeyer is one of the three first years on the men’s team and the women’s team has five first years. Though there is lots of new athletes on the team, their season has gone well so far and they hope it will continue that way.
Lethbridge hasn’t hosted a cross country grand prix or ACAC championship since 2016 and Schaerz says they are looking forward to competing at home. The team had the chance to run the course at Nicholas Sheran in a competitive setting when they hosted the Running Room Grand Prix #3 in September.
“Home trail advantage obviously is going to be a big factor and that will make things a bit easier,” says Schaerz.
He says there was a good turn out of supporters that showed up the cheer them on, even though the weather wasn’t great. He hopes they will have just as many fans turn out during the ACAC championships. Schaerz says they are feeling a bit of pressure with the event and the championships coming up, but they are working hard to perform well. With their last grand prix event just finished, the team will gather themselves and prepare to race for the ACAC championships happening at the end of October.