On October 26, cross country teams from Mt. A, Crandall, Mount St. Vincent, Dalhousie Agricultural Campus, Holland College, and St. Thomas competed at the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) regional championship. The meet was hosted by Holland College at Brookvale Mark Arendz Provincial Ski Park in P.E.I. This course was one of the three preliminary meets last season in 2023, therefore returning runners had already experienced the course. Held at a ski park, it is the hilliest course of all locations in the league, making for a very demanding, but rewarding race once the course is completed. “It was a tough course, I’ve never run up a hill that big before. But it was lots of fun, it was a good race!” first-year Mt. A student Maxen Morris concurred.
This is the second consecutive year that the Mt. A women have taken first at the championship. The men’s team placed second, also earning medals. Individual rewards were presented to the top three athletes in each race, so MacNeil earned a second medal for placing second overall in the women’s race.
Prior to the championship, the women’s and men’s teams competed in three preliminary meets – in Moncton, hosted by Crandall; in Fredericton, hosted by St. Thomas; and in Truro, hosted by Dalhousie Agricultural Campus. The men’s team consistently scored second overall, just after Crandall. The women’s team placed first in Moncton and second in Fredericton. In Truro, women were given the option to race 8k, instead of their usual 6k. This meant that they followed the same route as the men who regularly race 8k. This divided scoring, as some women took on the extra challenge, while some preferred to race their usual distance.
On the men’s side, 17 men from Mt. A signed up to race at the Truro meet as a result of the rapid growth of the club this year. However, as per ACAA official rules, only nine racers are allowed to register per team, so Coach Claire Pabody had to make cuts. “I’ve never really had to tell anyone they couldn’t race because we have too many participants but that is the case. It’s a good problem to have, but tough to tell people they can’t race,” Pabody explained at practice following sign-ups. Eligibility to compete at the championship requires that racers competed in two preliminary meets prior, so Pabody had to be strategic to allow people who needed their second race to compete.
On Halloween, the cross country club organized a ‘trick-or-eat’ food drive, collecting non-perishables for the town of Sackville food bank. Those who volunteered went to Weldon Street, Squire Street, Princess Street, and Estabrooks Street. In just over two hours, eight full bags of food had been collected due to the generosity of Sackville locals. Team members who participated in the ‘trick-or-eat’ were surprised by how much food they collected, especially with some households already having prepared a box of items specifically for the food drive. In the words of fourth-year Claire Wilbur, who helped organize the event: “the success of the food drive was thanks to the generosity of the homeowners and the enthusiasm of the team.” The Mt. A cross country runners also enjoyed seeing the Sackville community, with tons of children taking part in trick or treating, and many friendly seniors and parents. The team plans to organize another ‘trick-or-eat’ next year, due to the excellent turnout and local’s willingness to support the cause. With the official cross country season over, the team plans to continue group runs on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons with a 5k fun run in the works for November 30.
