Maddy Scrimger and Becky Ross made their college XC debuts on Saturday with strong runs at ACAC #1 – The MHC Cross Country Running Race at the MHC campus

Scrimger placed second in the women’s 6 km race with a time of 24:12, 73 seconds behind defending CCAA XC champion Makenna Fitzgerald from SAIT. Red Deer Poly’s Jennica Swartz placed third, one spot ahead of MHC’s Ross who was 4th.

Collectively, the Rattlers women captured the team title with a score of 38 points, 2 ahead of Red Deer Poly. The win was historic – it has been at least 30 years since a Rattlers women’s XC team has won an ACAC race. In addition to Scrimger and Ross, Cheldynn Molnar (15th), Pyper Gill (17th), and Annika Marshall (25th) also represented the Rattlers in the women’s 6 km race.

With team captains Brannon Sumner and Carson Schiller unavailable this week, an under-manned Rattlers mens squad contested the men’s 8 km race. Jaiden Romaniuk was the top MHC finisher, placing 14th in a time of 32:15. Romainiuk was followed by Gage Smith (17th), Harrison Lawson (19th), Shintaro Iwata (23rd), and Justin Jaeger (24th). The Rattlers men placed 5th in the team scoring.

Concordia University of Edmonton’s Leonard Cheeso won an exciting sprint finish with SAIT’s Moktar Said to claim the men’s individual title in a time of 26:08. With 4 runners in the top 5, SAIT easily won the mens team race, 26 points ahead of second-place Red Deer Poly.

Prior the the ACAC races, a Community race was held for local schools. Winners included:

Elementary Girls 2 km – Myra Murray – Medicine Hat Bulldogs

Elementary Boys 2 km – Andrew Vis – Medicine Hat Panthers

Junior High Girls 4 km – Ember Jacober – Medicine Hat Panthers

Junior High Boys 4 km – Zaide Kolody – Medicine Hat Panthers

Senior High Girls 4 km – Montserrat Mir – Hat High

Senior High Boys 4 km – Nick Lefeve – Eagle Butte High

Senior High Girls 6 km – Hannah Kozakewich – Hat High/Panthers

Senior High Boys 6 km – Askia Tahirou

Open Men 6 km – Keegan Kolody – Medicine Hat Panthers

Next up for the Rattlers runners is the ACAC #2 – The Jordan Fish Memorial Race hosted by SAIT in Calgary next Saturday.