Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens earn highest combined team score at Indoor Track Grand Prix #2

Red Deer, AB - If the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Indoor Track Running Room Grand Prix #2 is a sign of things to come, fans, student-athletes and coaches can expect two-days of excitement at the upcoming ACAC Championships in March.

The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens had an outstanding day on the track. 

Red Deer Polytechnic (121 points) finished with the highest combined team scores at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre. The Lethbridge College Kodiaks (111 points) were close behind in second. Medicine Hat College (47 points) was third.

"Both teams did exceptionally well this past weekend, with many impressive performances," said Doug Spicer, RDP Indoor Track Head Coach. "The RDP student-athletes were very excited to perform in front of their home fans."

On the Border Paving Running Track, the Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) Queens finished first with 69 team points. The Lethbridge College Kodiaks (41 points) followed and the Medicine Hat College Rattlers Women's team placed third (32 points).

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks Men's Indoor Track team (70 points) took top spot. The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings (52 points) were second on their home track. The SAIT Trojans and Concordia University Thunder tied for third place (30 points) in the men's division.

In the women's 3,000 m, Medicine Hat College's Madison Scrimger (11:17.07) captured first place, three seconds faster than second place Sydney Zissos (11:20.07) of St. Mary's University. Lethbridge College's Kate Block (11:58.09) rounded out the top three.

RDP's Jordan Coen (9:50.87) earned first place in the men's 3,000 m. Ethan Grasmeyer (9:53.24) and Justin Fisher (9:58.58), both from Lethbridge College, finished second and third respectively.

Coen

Cadence Laplante (3:12.86), from St. Mary's University, completed the women's 1,000 m with the fastest time. Red Deer Polytechnic's Justine Larson (3:13.75) was less than a second behind. Katrina Michel (3:26.42), who is a member of the Lethbridge College Kodiaks, wrapped up third.

In the men's 1,000 m, Lethbridge College's Owen Stewart (2:31.91) crossed the finish line first. Nathan Woyessa (2:35.03), from SAIT, was next.  RDP's Ben House (2:38.68) came in third spot.

The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens (1:52.20), consisting of Alissa Berwick, Laomi Rautenbach, Zoey Longman and Kammy Park, was the fastest female group in the 4 x 200 m relay.

Berwick

Over four seconds later, the Lethbridge College Kodiaks (Ngozi Onwuka, Rayanne Hoeflicher, Kayla Mangatal and Ta'merra Hart) followed with a time of 1:56.65. St. Mary's University (1:59.08) finished third. Cherise Carter, Philine Schmidt, Cadence Laplante and Maria Leonard represented St. Mary's. 

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks (Cole Guilbert, Gunnarr Gibb, Orin May and Jonah Hennig) picked up first place in the men's 4 x 200 m with a time of 1:36.27. The SAIT Trojans (1:39.51) finished second. Bramhjeet Singh, Valentine Jingwa, Odley Jean and David Adesegun competed for the Trojans. The Concordia University Thunder (Elkan King, Dante Garritano, Domenico Marchese and Theophilus Teng-Yang) placed third (1:39.92).

In the women's 600 m, RDP's Loami Rautenback (1:46.82) led the way. Kerigan Frampton (1:47.45), from the SAIT Trojans, was less than one second behind. Red Deer Polytechnic's Myah Cota (1:50.22) sealed third spot.

Elijah Miller (1:31.59), from Prairie College, earned top honours in the men's 600 m. Concordia's Markus Boland (1:32.65) was next, 0.16 of a second faster than third place Connor Vandenhoek (1:32.81) of Lethbridge College.

Two Red Deer Polytechnic Queens found their way to the top three in the women's 1,500 m. Justine Larson (5:24.67) was the fastest and Georgia Sawchuk (5:40.09) placed third.
Medicine Hat College's Madison Scrimger (5:26.99) was second.

Lethbridge College's Owen Stewart (3:07.90) was outstanding in the men's 1,500 m, finishing first. Ben Higham (4:23.13), from the RDP Kings, followed. Lethbridge's Kaysan Mohamed (4:44.83) wrapped up third.

The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens (Justine Larson, Loami Rautenbach, Emily Barritt and Myah Cota) earned top spot in the women's 4 x 400 m relay with a time of 4:23.79. Lethbridge College (Rayanne Hoeflicher, Katrina Michel, Kate Block and Ta'merra Hart) placed second (4:36.32). Just over two seconds later, the St. Mary's University Lightning (Cherise Carter, Philine Schmidt, Cadence Laplante and Maria Leonard) crossed the finished line (4:38.55) in third.

In the men's 4 x 400 m, the Lethbridge College Kodiaks (Owen Stewart, Gunnarr Gibb, Orin May and Jonah Hennig) were first (3:38.50). The SAIT Trojans (Bramhjeet Singh, Valentine Jingwa, Odley Jean and David Adesegun) placed second (3:46.33). The RDP Kings (Jordan Coen, Ben Higham and Fraser Motley) were 0.26 of a second behind the Trojans for third spot.

"With a month and a bit to the ACAC Championships, we're excited to put in some good work and prepare to continue our dominance in the women's competition and to close the gap on Lethbridge in the men's side of things," added Spicer. 

The student-athletes will now shift their focus and preparation to the ACAC Indoor Track Championships on March 16 and 17 in Edmonton.