The Red Deer Polytechnic cross-country team qualified for nationals after a successful weekend at the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Championships in Edmonton.
Second-year Queens runner Jenica Swartz brought home the lone medal for RDP, winning bronze in the 6-kilometre race with a time of 23:49. Her finish placed her in the top spot in the Grand Prix total points competition. Queens third-year runner Melissa Ray crossed the finish line at 26:27 for 15th place.
Mya Cota and Justine Larson finished back-to-back in 17th and 18th place, respectively, giving the Queens 53 points overall. That was just enough to sneak into third place and earn the Queens bronze and a trip to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Championships in Medicine Hat later this month.
The Kings ended up second overall, just behind SAIT and ahead of Lethbridge College with 37 points.Daniel Szucs was the first to cross the finish line for RDP in fifth place with a time of 27:33 in the 8 km race. Just over a minute later, Kings’ runners Ethan Duret and Ben House tied with a time of 28:49. This was good enough for ninth and 10th place.
After this event, the Kings had three runners in the top 10 of the Grand Prix competition. Szucs placed fifth, Ethan Duret in ninth and Ben House finished in 10th.
The second-place finish also books a spot in the CCAA National Championship, which take place on Nov. 12 in Medicine Hat.