With the season now over, fourth-year co-captain Connor Lane attributed the team’s dedication to the success they experienced this year. Everyone aims to improve with each race, and there is no way to do this without sticking it out and getting through each practice.

The results of the men’s team this year speak to the importance of dedication. On Sept. 16, the team was relegated to second place. By the championship on Oct. 23, the cross-country Mounties had the foundation and training to win the championship – highlighted by several successful racers’ finish at the top of the pack with some blisteringly fast times.

The championship meet was hosted this year by Holland College in Brookvale, P.E.I. The Mounties competed against teams from five different Maritime universities and colleges. The men’s team came in first place in their eight-kilometre race and the women’s team finished in second place in their five-kilometre race, coming up just short of victory against a strong Dalhousie Agricultural College team.

“It didn’t help that some of our top female runners were ineligible to run due to league rule changes,” said coach Steve Scott. In order to be eligible to compete in the championships, runners had to participate in two out of three races.

The entire men’s team had a strong championship meet, with exceptional performances from Lane and Andrew Linton. “Everyone worked hard all season and put together a fantastic championship race in typical Mount Allison fashion,“ said Scott.

Races were hosted by Holland College, Université Sainte-Anne and Dalhousie Agricultural Campus. “My favourite course was in P.E.I.,” said fourth-year runner Anna Mairs, who participated in all three pre-championship races. “I love it because it is humbling and keeps you guessing if you’re on the right course or just running through some woods,” Mairs said.

Being on the cross-country team allows students who love exercising and being outside to meet like-minded people. “Running gives me energy when I’m tired, calms me down when I’m stressed, and never fails to remind me of how beautiful the world is and how lucky I am to be a part of it,” top Mt. A women’s finalist Beth Torrance said.

The team strives to maintain a welcoming attitude that encourages success but minimizes stress. “This season was a really awesome experience, one that I haven’t really gotten from sports I’ve participated in before,” said second-year runner Carly Penrose, who joined the team this year.

The team emphasizes that participation is valued over physical results. “[Our] team is full of such great people [who] create an atmosphere which makes races not causes of nerves and worry, but challenge, excitement and genuine fun,” Penrose said.

The end of the season always brings some disappointment, as it marks the end of official training sessions. “I am already looking forward to next year!” said second-year runner Shae Scully.  The cross-country team plans to continue to run together for fun for the rest of the school year. Anyone who is interested in joining the team can email team co-captain Maddy Burnett at mdburnett@mta.ca.

Both the men’s and women’s cross country Mounties handily defended their ACAA championship titles this past weekend. The ACAA cross country championships were held on Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Brookvale Provincial Ski Park in P.E.I. Six women and seven men from Mount Allison competed in the race. The Mounties were competing against runners from Holland College, Mount Saint Vincent University, Crandall University, Dalhousie Agricultural Campus and Université Sainte Anne. A total of 30 women and 22 men competed in the races. Both the men’s and women’s teams took first place in the races, marking the second year in a row that both men’s and women’s teams have won the championships.
The women’s team from consisted of Claire Henderson-Hamilton, Beth Torrence, Taylor Crosby, Madalon Burnett, Megan Sanderson and Gabrielle Landry. Claire Henderson-Hamilton was the second-place finisher in the race with a time of 22:34, followed by Beth Torrence in third and Taylor Crosby in fifth. “The course was really enjoyable,” said Gabrielle Landry, about the women’s 5-km course. “It had great scenery and a lot of mud puddles. It was great!” said Landry.
The men’s team included Jeppe Hejlsvig, Sebastien Engelmann, Andrew Linton, Connor Lane, Alex Neville, Ehsan Noori and Graham Muise. Hejlsvig was the top finisher for Mount Allison, coming in close behind the first-place finisher from Holland College with a time of 30:20. Engelmann followed close behind in third place, and Lane placed fifth. “It was all fun and games until the men’s course split from the women’s course, and then it became torturous,” said Lane of the men’s 8-km circuit on which the men competed.
“The season was a blast,” said Crosby, who competed in all five meets this year. “We went on a lot of adventures and won a lot of races.” Though the competitive season is over, the cross country team will continue to train throughout the school year. Everybody is looking forward to next year.

There are 3,500 species of mosquito on the planet, but only a few hundred actually bite humans. Although they serve important functions in the ecosystem, scientists believe that completely eradicating the entire species of mosquitoes would not significantly affect the world. Other species would quickly fill the role that these irritating insects play within the ecosystem.

While eliminating mosquitoes might seem like a selfish act of avoiding a minor inconvenience, getting rid of the bloodsuckers could help save 247 million people per year from malaria infection, as well as victims of the West Nile virus, yellow fever and other arthropod-borne diseases. In fact, the human death toll is more than 700,000 per year from mosquito-borne diseases — more deaths than are caused by any other organism, including humans.

In the last fifty years, the amount of people affected by flooding has more than doubled. Stagnant water from floods creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Scientists think there is a correlation between the rise of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, and rising global temperature. As more and more people are affected by floods and warmer temperatures, finding a way to deal with mosquitoes takes on added urgency.

So what really happens when you are bitten by a mosquito?

The mosquito injects you with its saliva and finds a small blood vessel to drain. The saliva contains an anesthetic to prevent you from feeling the bite, and chemicals which dilate the vessel, increasing blood flow, and keeping the blood from clotting. There’s also room in the saliva for parasites and viruses that the mosquito picked up from biting other animals, like birds, giving the insects direct entry into our bloodstream, where it’s harder for our immune system to find the invader.

All humans are allergic to mosquito saliva, so after a mosquito bites, our bodies release chemicals called histamines which cause swelling, redness, and itchiness at the site of the bite.

Weirdly, mosquitos also pee on your skin when they’re finished sucking your blood. They need to get rid of all the extra fluids and salts they have ingested; otherwise, they get too heavy to fly away. While this sounds disgusting, it actually gives us an easier method of killing them.

Treating mosquitos with chemicals that prevent them from urinating means they can’t get rid of excess fluids and salts so they die. Scientists are working on developing methods to block the urination process in mosquitoes without harming humans.

In the meantime, we just have to deal with them biting us, sucking our blood, spitting in us, finishing off by peeing on us and potentially infecting us with deadly diseases.

Madalon Burnett is Mount Allison University’s Health Intern.