ACAC Cross Country Preview
by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips
Of the Top 10 finishers at last year's Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) men's cross country championships held in Grande Prairie, Alberta, a total of seven student/athletes return, including SAIT Trojans triple-threat of Jacques Saarman, Alex Howells and Daryl Ross, who placed 1st, 3rd and 7th respectively.
Saayman, from Fort McMurray, broke the Lethbridge Kodiaks dominance of winning the men's 8 k race last year when he beat Kodiaks' Boaz Korir with a clocking of 27:49 compared to 28:23.
It was only the second time that Kodiaks runner had not captured the men's title in 11 years.
University of Alberta Augustana Vikings' bring back Matt Martin and Joedy Dalke who were 6th and 9th last year while Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves' Brandon Wladyko looks to hit the podium after finishing fifth last year.
The remaining Top 10 returner is St. Mary's University Lightning Karan Matusin.
Gone are Lethbridge Kodiaks' Alex Andres, Boaz Korir and two-time ACAC Champion (2013, 2014) Edwin Kaitany. Such was their prominence in ACAC running, that Kaitany and Boaz went 1-2 at the 2014 finals.
Kaitany also achieved Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) cross country medal runs with silver in 2014 and a bronze in 2013.
On the women's preview, only half of the Top 10 finishers from last year are returning with the Red Deer Queens looking strong with Jordanna Cota, Jillian Stewart and Janaya Garbe lacing up the laces after 2nd, 4th and 8th placements last year.
Gone is defending champion Rachel McKenzie from the Lethbridge Kodiaks program but returning is Emily Spencer hoping to improve on her bronze medal showing.
Below are thumbnail sketches on each school with comments from head coaches.
Red Deer College hosts the 2017 ACAC Cross Country Championships this Sunday October 28, 2017 with the men running an 8-kilometre distance and women 6-k.
Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder Matthew Norminton
ACAC Men's Team Titles: 1
ACAC Women's Team Titles: 0
Top time male 2017: Keith Spruyt 31:33
Top time female 2017: Elise Nawrocki 25:15
"Our ladies team looks really good and they will challenge for a top spot. It will be a tough day as there are a few good teams out front. The men are much improved but we have a lot of young guys working hard. They are a year or two away from the top. We are hoping for a top five. Both sides, the men and women, are a little bit of rebuilding but we are moving in the right direction."
Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves Bill Corcoran
ACAC Men's Team Titles: 0
ACAC Women's Team Titles: 3
Top time male 2017: Brandon Wladyko 28:27
Top time female 2017: Kelcie Bulas 25:18
"For the men (SAIT) have the obvious two front runners but I think Brandon Wladyko is in the mix for the bronze medal with three or four other guys this year. We are ranked 5th and that is a fair assessment. It is cross country, so if you get an injury or someone is sick or someone has a bad race that can affect the final results. On the ladies side, Kelcie Bulas is doing well this year. A rookie from Athabasca, we are excited about her progress and she is likely possible a Top 10 if she runs well."
Lakeland College Rustlers Jackie Bender
ACAC Men's Team Titles: 0
ACAC Women's Team Titles: 1
Top time male 2017: Richard Rewuski 37:05
Top time female 2017: Darian Elliot 30:07
"Our goal for the team is the same…personal improvement in time and in experience and confidence. It is a learning curve for a lot of our athletes that are new to the ACAC. It would be a huge surprise to be in the Top 10 in either men or women at this time. That is a future goal."
Lethbridge College Kodiaks Bertil Johansson
ACAC Men's Team Titles: 8
ACAC Women's Team Titles: 4
Top time male 2017: Durell Rots 29:58
Top time female 2017: Sophia Nowicki 24:32
"We have a good team this year, it is just that we have had inquiries to runners like our top recruit Robert Germsheid and the Kenyan we brought in Evans Korir, youngest brother of Boaz, is going to take a year or two to mature plus he has experienced problems with his knee. That has brought us down a level. No one in the nation (Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association) will be able to compete against SAIT (men). They are just a powerhouse like we were in 2015. For our women, Emily Spence is Top 5 and Sophia Nowicki is ranked No. 2. I think she may come a little closer to (Red Deer Queens' Jordanna Cota) and I am so happy for Jordanna the way she is running. We are going through a transition the next year and in two years' time we will be very strong again."
Red Deer College Kings/Queens Kari Elliott
ACAC Men's Team Titles: 5
ACAC Women's Team Titles: 14
Top time male 2017: Adam Wass 29:08
Top time female 2017: Jordanna Cota 23:42
"Our women's team is looking strong and very similar to last season to be honest (Red Deer won the overall women's team titles last year Kodiaks second and in third the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder). Everyone is training well and running personal bests. (Jordanna Cota) has improved so much the last few years and looking stronger than ever. I am also so confident about our men's team this year, that they make me smile. This is our strongest men's team at Red Deer in quite a while. Adam (Wass) set a goal to be under 30 minutes and he did (29:08), so now he has a whole new goal and that is to go under 29 minutes. All of our men have exceeded our expectations. Everyone is anxious about this weekend."
SAIT Trojans Bre MacEachren
ACAC Men's Team Titles: 7
ACAC Women's Team Titles: 6
Top time male 2017: Matthew Travaglini 25:34
Top time female 2017: Ricki Christopher 24:18
"We are pretty excited with how the guys are looking this year. We have had solid performances form everybody. Even Jacques Saayman and Daryl Ross have improved from last year. Adding Matthew Travaglini to the mix is pretty stellar. Hopefully we can take the ACAC title this weekend but we still need to rely on our fourth and fifth runners to perform. At this point, the physical work has been done and now they have to stay focused on their end goal. Anything can happen on race day and these athletes realize that. They have to go out there and leave it all on the course. Our women are going to be close with Red Deer and Lethbridge. It could be anyone's game, depending on who shows up on the day of the race. We are feeling confident and ready to go."
St. Mary's University Lightning Donna Dixon
ACAC Men's Team Titles: 0
ACAC Women's Team Titles: 0
Top time male 2017: Donovan Miller 34:31
Top time female 2017: Rebecca Johnson 24:58
"Our goals are to run seasonal bests for all of our runners which is within their capabilities. Unfortunately we had injuries on our men's team with the top two runners. Women's side we are led by Rebecca Johnson who has been Top 10 and should do well and perhaps be All Conference. We are looking to keep building the team. We are a small school, so we are up against much larger institutions and we are now getting the word out that we have a strong team and we are wanting to build on that."
University of Alberta Augustana Vikings Gerhard Lotz
ACAC Men's Team Titles: 12
ACAC Women's Team Titles: 10
Top time male 2017: Joedy Dalke 28:18
Top time female 2017: Emily McIlroy 26:01
"Our men's team is really strong and we have amazing depth. We go down five or six deep and it is going to be pretty interesting. SAIT has a tremendous(men's) team but we are not going to let them win easily, that's for sure. I think our women are ready to run their best race. Emily (McIlroy) is a veteran and what I notice in previous years, is that she runs her best in the big races. I've talked to her and all of our runners in that the focus is the ACAC Championships and the rest of the year is getting ready for it."