The Medicine Hat Panthers Track Club's U18 male team stands for a photo after taking second place in the U18 male 6-kilometre team event at Athletics Alberta XC Provincials on Saturday at St. Mary's University in Calgary. -- SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Medicine Hat Panthers Track Club braved the elements and came out with some impressive results in the Athletics Alberta XC Provincials on Saturday at St. Mary’s University in Calgary.
Eight runners made it to out to the event, with six more unable to attend due to the extreme winter weather. Four runners combined to take second place in the U18 male team event, while Panthers coach Darryl Smith led by example with a third-place finish in the male Masters 8-kilometre and Julie Giesbrecht took a bronze of her own in the female U10 1-kilometre.
“The athletes ran in extreme conditions with the same desire and drive that every Panther athlete displays,” Smith said in an email sent to the News. “The kids never quit. Attitude was evident on every single section of the race course.”
Smith’s 8-kilometre time of 34 minutes flat also earned him second in the 50-64 age group. Giesbrecht legged out her kilometre in 5:50, edging Marley Winter, of Crowsnest Pass, by three seconds to reach the podium.
In the U18 6-kilometre, Panthers Brannon Summer (26:56), Justin Jager (27:47) and Gage Smith finished 22-24, respectively, while Maxwell Munro (31:59) followed up in 26th to help combine for the second-best team score, behind the University of Calgary Athletics Club.
The Bulldogs Track and Field Club also sent six runners to the event, and Laine Gauthier led the pack with a third-place finish (7:44) in the U14 boys 14-kilometre.
