Medicine Hat College hosts first cross-country meet in four years
The Rattlers will welcome runners from Lethbridge and three Calgary schools for the southern Alberta Grand Prix opener, part of a busy weekend of college athletics.
The Medicine Hat College Rattlers cross-country team hosts its first meet since 2022 on Saturday, opening the ACAC season's southern Alberta Grand Prix against schools from Lethbridge and Calgary. The event marks the program's first home meet since staging the national championships four years ago, though the course has been reshaped into a three-kilometre loop from the previous two-kilometre layout.
Head coach Bill Corcoran said the Rattlers enter the season with 24 athletes on the cross-country roster, one of their largest groups in recent years, with about half being rookies. Reyna Woodruff, last season's ACAC indoor track Rookie of the Year, is expected to lead the women's team, while rookies Alejandro Ayala Aguilar and Ethan Mellish are tipped to lead the men's side. Last year's cross-country rookie of the year, Logan Pancoast, has since transferred to the University of Lethbridge.
The women's race starts at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by the men's race at 11:30 a.m., with high school and open categories also on the schedule. Corcoran noted several third- and fourth-year Rattlers athletes will experience their first home meet.
The cross-country event is part of a larger athletics weekend at the college, including exhibition basketball and soccer games Saturday and a men's volleyball intrasquad match Friday. The Rattlers' season continues with Grand Prix stops in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton before the ACAC championships in Red Deer at the end of October, with nationals set for November in Edmonton.
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