Eagle Butte sends 14 runners to cross-country provincials

By Ryan McCracken on October 13, 2017.

Medicine Hat News

The Eagle Butte Talons collected a 3A zone cross-country banner Wednesday at Echo Dale Regional Park while sending 14 runners to provincials.

Trevor Mickey led the charge for Eagle Butte, picking up a gold medal in the boys 17-to-18-year-old six-kilometre run with a time of 23:08.76, but he wasn’t the only local athlete to find the podium or punch their ticket to nationals.

Hat High’s Binyam Menesho took silver after finishing behind Mickey with a time of 24:03.25, while Menesho’s Mohawk teammate Jaxon May and Eagle Butte’s Eric Lust and Ethan Lust all qualified for provincials after finishing in the top-18.

Hat High’s Landon Swartz took home silver in the boys 16-year-old five-kilometre run with a time of 18:19.31. Eagle Butte’s Aiden Zinger, Terry Pearson, Broden Palmer and Max Sept all qualified for provincials in the event, as well as Crescent Heights’ Jacob Krueger and Hat High’s Payton Lawson, following top-18 finishes in a field of 53.

Eagle Butte sent three more runners to provincials in the girls 17-18 four-kilometre run, with Shelby Schmidt, Livia Ricci and Mikhayla Stenbeck all cracking the top-18.

Eagle Butte’s Tiahna Blaquiere and Hat High’s Sofi Estrella Gutierrez, Sabrina Bates and Zainab Adelaja all qualified for provincials for their top-18 finishes in the girls 14-15 three-kilometre run. Hat High’s Eli Smith and Lukas Herter, and Eagle Butte’s Colby Mercer qualified through the boys 14-15 four-kilometre run.

In the girls 16-year-old four-kilometre run, Eagle Butte’s Amer Karamanos and Denae Zeiffle qualified for provincials alongside Hat High’s Natasha McGraw and Crescent Heights’ Bethany Regier.

The Alberta Schools Athletics Association cross country provincial championships will be held in Edmonton on Oct. 21.