NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Madison Scrimger from Crescent Heights makes her way to the end of her first lap at the Southern Zones cross country meet at Echo Dale park.
She finished second in meet with a time of 21:31.92 and will compete in provincials on Oct. 16.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It was a successful day in Echo Dale for a handful of Medicine Hat area runners.
Of the 80 senior runners that competed in the girls 5K run and the boys 6K run, six from the Hat area finished in the top 10 of their race and qualified for provincials.
In the senior girls 5K, Madison Scrimger from Crescent Heights finished second with a time of 21:31.92. She was 39 seconds behind first-place runner Sasha Elliot, from Cardston.
Scrimger says she thought her finish was really good, but that she could’ve pushed for first if she changed her approach.
“I feel like I could have taken a better approach to the start, chase first’s tail a little bit longer before flooring it right at the start,” said Scrimger. “I think that ruined my time a little bit but that’s okay.”
She says she is thrilled to be going to provincials in her Grade 12 year and has high expectations for herself as she believes she will finish in a top 5-10 position.
In what is her last year of high school cross country, Scrimger says she has enjoyed the season.
“I think the turnout was really good this year, especially for my last season. I’m really happy with my results,” she said.
Georgia Herter from Hat High finished sixth with a time of 24:12.53 and Desiree Stuber had from Eagle Butte had a time of 24:46.56, which put her in eighth. Stuber said this is her first year competing in cross country and she was “shocked” with her finish on Wednesday.
“I’m really glad. I didn’t expect to finish that high,” she said.
She says she did track last year and has always ran around her house but this was still one of her first races. Now, she’s off to provincials.
“I’ve always enjoyed running, so I just figured this year to just actually join,” she said.
In the boys 6K run, Justin Jager from Eagle Butte finished in fourth place, with a time of 25:37.91. Hat High’s Gage Smith finished seventh with a time of 26:34.36 and Jager’s teammate, Colton Robinson, rounded out the top 10 with a 27:13.77 finish.
Kieran Schmidtke, from Lethbridge Collegiate, finished in first place with a time of 22:15.49.
Robinson and Jager will join Eagle Butte’s Stuber, Hat High teammates Smith and Herter, and the lone Viking, Scrimger, in Red Deer for provincials on Oct. 16.
