Fitzgerald, SAIT men's team capture ACAC XC gold
By Colton Pankiw
SAIT Trojans student writer
CAMROSE, ALTA., (Oct. 30, 2021) - Saturday marked a day of success for the SAIT Trojans cross-country running team, as they were able to dominate at the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Cross-Country Running Championship which was hosted by the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings in Camrose, Alta.
To the surprise of no one, Makenna Fitzgerald was the star of the day on the women's side, placing first in the 6-kilometre loop with a fantastic time of 22:20 - two minutes faster than the second-place runner in Augustana's Reese Bendiksen.
Fitzgerald becomes the the first SAIT women's individual champion since Holly Ratzlaff pulled off the result back in the 2004-05 season.
This race will go a long ways in preparing her for the upcoming Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championships, which are set to take place on Nov. 13 at St. Mary's University in Calgary.
The Trojans continued their dominance in the men's team category, winning their fourth championship in five years. Leading the charge was Keiran Marchand who ran an extremely impressive time of 27:52 which was good enough for third place in the 8-kilometre loop.
Coming in fourth and fifth were Marchand's teammates, Landon Swartz and Yahye Jama, who ran times of 28:16 and 28:20, respectively.
Rounding out the winning group were Jackson Sinclar, Justin Galipeau, and Jonathan Samper Garzon who finished 17th, 27th, and 31st.