RDC had two runners in the top five in the men’s college and open division of the Hunting Hills Lightning cross-country running event at River Bend Golf Course and Recreation Area Saturday.
Devin Woodland placed fourth overall in the eight-kilometre run in 26 minutes, 59 seconds with Kieran McDonald fifth at 27:94. The two were second and third among ACAC runners.
Salomon Ngetich of Lethbridge College was third overall and first among college runners with a time of 26:46. Open runners Hosea Kibet Rutto and Willy Kimosop were first and second at 25:01 and 25:36 respectively.
“I knew both Devin and Kieran would be strong college runners and I’m delighted to see how good they are,” said RDC head coach Brian Stackhouse.
“RDC had a relatively weak men’s team last year and it’s exciting to see Devin and Kieran leading our team this year to a excellent start.”
Shafe Abdulahi was 32nd overall (21st among college runners) at 32:51 with Tim Gaasdyk 62nd (38th) at 37:16 and Kyle Nielsen 67th (42nd) at 38:39.
Lethbridge won the team event with 32 points while Grant MacEwan and Augustana had 48 each with RDC fourth at 64.
Open runner Jessica O’Connell won the 5 km women’s run in 18:09 with former RDC star Jodi Sanguin second at 18:43. Alexandra Gordichuk of Grant MacEwan led the college runners with a time of 19:48, which placed her fifth overall.
Catherine Alcorn led RDC by finishing 22nd overall (14th) at 23:22 with Danielle Fandrick 34th (25th) at 24:30, Anna Duda 44th (33rd) at 25:28, Laura Friesen 58th (44th) at 26:52 and Sidney Moss 60th (46th) at 27:33.
MacEwan won the team title with 17 points with Augustana second with 50 and RDC sixth with 116.
The next ACAC run is Saturday at Snake Hill in Sundre and hosted by Olds College.
The ACAC finals go Oct. 27 in Camrose with the CCAA finals, Nov. 19 in Montreal.
l On the high school side of the meet Matt Hope of the host team captured gold in the Grade 12 boys’ division with Matt VanMulligan sixth.
Jordanna Cota of Hunting Hills was second in the Grade 12 girls’ division
Other Hunting Hills results saw Eric Lutz take first and Brandon Whissel ninth in the Grade 8-9 boys’ category with Bailey Johnson first, Mya Cota sixth and Jill Stewart eighth in the Grade 8-9 girls’ division.
Dina Latrou was fifth, Hayley Kitt sixth and Megan Johnson seventh in the Grade 10 girls’s race.