Jodi Nesbitt of Red Deer finished eighth in the senior women’s category of the Athletics Canada Cross Country Running Championship at Vancouver during the weekend.
Nesbitt, who completed the seven km race in 25 minutes, 47.54 seconds, also helped the Alberta Gold contingent win bronze in the provincial team competition.
The top six runners in the senior and junior women’s and men’s division were invited to compete for Canadian teams in the North American and Central American cross country championships — and, subject to good performances at those events — the World Cross Country Championship.
Runners in the seventh to 10th positions are considered as alternates.
Red Deer junior runners Mitch Dore (83rd in 28:31.17), Eric Lutz (88th), and Derrick Evans (107th in 29:22.88) competed in the men’s eight km race at Vancouver, while Jordanna Cota of Elite Speed and RDC (81st in 20:40.74), Nagi Iida of Hunting Hills and the Red Deer Titans (101st, 21:24.49), and Dina Iatrou of Hunting Hills (107th, 21:40.14) competed in the women’s five km race.
Former Hunting Hills High School and RDC athlete Kieran McDonald of the University of Alberta finished 15th in the junior men’s race with a time of 26:51.55. Tom Wunsch of the U of A, a former Hunting Hills athlete, was 71st in 28:14.73.