The MHC Rattlers XC running team was in action on Saturday in Calgary at ACAC #3 – The St. Mary’s Open. The rookie-laden team (13 of the 14 athletes on the roster are first-year ACAC runners) finished 5th among the women’s team and 6th in the men’s standings.

Coach Bill Corcoran like what he saw: “To a person, each runner is getting faster each time we race. We have athletes taking 30 seconds, 60 seconds, or even multiple minutes off of times they ran in the past month. It’s exciting to watch!”

Individually, both Pyper Gill and Aden Haywood led the Rattlers teams for the third time this season. Gill finished 11th in the women’s 6 km race, clocking a time of 26:55 over the rolling course on the St. Mary’s University grounds. Cheldynn Molnar (20th), Angela Bunn (36th), Huimei Huang (38th), Ji Soo Lee (39th), and Kelsey Hamill (40th) were the other Rattlers runners who completed the race.

In the men’s 8 km event, Haywood rallied hard in the closing kilometre and placed 12th in a time of 29:25. Teammates Brannon Sumner (21st), Carson Schiller (22nd), Keveen Gonsalez (32nd), and Shintaro Iwaki (40th) rounded out the MHC finishers.

MHC assistant coach Chris Jonker recorded a 15th place finish.

Next up for the Rattlers runners is the 2021 ACAC XC Running Championships in Camrose on October 30.

Full results will be posted on the ACAC XC Running page.