Rattlers roundup: Valk wins ACAC golf championship, capturing second-straight gold

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on September 25, 2024.

sports@medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

Michael Valk is once again golden atop the ACAC golf rankings.

The Medicine Hat College golfer has won his second-straight ACAC men’s championship, finishing 12 under par after a third-round 68 Tuesday at the Alberta Springs Golf Resort in Red Deer.

Valk shot an opening round 67 on Sunday followed up with a 69 on Monday for the lead heading into the final day.

His win Tuesday will earn him a spot at the CCAA National Golf Championships at Humber College, from Oct. 14-18, in Etobicoke, Ont.

Valk was also the ACAC men’s golfer of the year in 2023 and was the top amateur at the Alberta Open at Desert Blume Golf Club in mid-August.

The Rattlers sent six other male golfers to compete in the championship, with the men’s team finishing third.

Rylan Montgomery finished 16th (81, 82, 72), Rylan Hodgson was 19th (88, 79, 73), Keelan Burzminski finished tied for 27th (85, 84, 80), Jace Shannon was 29th (89, 80, 84), Issac Stehr finished 31st (87, 90, 80) and Josh Burzminski finished 33rd (85, 90, 89).

The Rattlers had five female golfers compete, with the team finishing third.

Taryn Sanderson finished her three-day tournament in fifth place (93, 92, 90). Kiara Reesor (96, 93, 97) and Ava Bravtold (98, 92, 97) finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Julia Beaton was 10th (104, 104, 103) and Emma Arndt was 111th (106, 102, 112).

The Rattlers mixed team also collected a bronze, with Valk, Sanderson, Hodgson, Ressor and Shannon collecting the honours.

Soccer

The Rattlers women’s soccer team had a split weekend, starting with a 3-0 victory at home against the Augustana Vikings. Alexis Ratke scored three goals, with Kiandra Leslie picking up an assist on her third marker. Rylan Morhart made four saves for the shutout win.

On Sunday, they faced the Ambrose Lions on the road, falling 2-1. Ariana Drydale scored the Rattlers’ lone goal in the loss. The Lions scored with a last minute goal for the win. Morhart had two saves.

MHC men had one match over the weekend, finishing in a 3-3 draw with Ambrose.

Tata Mugisha, Joao Cintra and Joel Lehr scored for the Rattlers, Stefan Vrska made six saves. The Rattlers outshot Ambrose 19-9.

The Rattlers women (2-2-1) and men (0-1-2) have home and away games this weekend, hosting the SAIT Trojans on Saturday before they head to Lethbridge College on Sunday to face the Kodiaks. Saturday’s matches get underway at noon (women’s) and 2 p.m. (men’s).

Cross Country

Madison Scrimger has raced her way to a second straight cross-country victory for the Rattlers.

The Medicine Hat College runner took top spot in the ACAC 3, The Run for the Pumpkin, in Lethbridge over the weekend.

Scrimger passed the 2 km mark in third place before rallying in the last 4 km to post a final time of 25:52, finishing 36 seconds ahead of Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Hannah Pilling.

Four other Rattlers women also took part in the race. Ellie Barlow placed 14th, Aki Iwata finished 18th, Hannah Ulm crossed 23rd and Addison Weir was 25th.

Collectively, the Rattlers women placed third, behind Red Deer Polytechnic and Lethbridge Polytechnic.

The Rattlers men had one of their better team finishes in the past few years in the 8 km race, finishing in fourth place. SAIT took first place, followed by Lethbridge and Red Deer.

MHC was led by rookie Askia Tahirou in 10th place. Spencer Wilson (21st), Elijah Lavoie-Pierzchala (23rd), Gage Smith (24th), Taylor Rumberg (28th) and Griffin Goodfellow (32nd) were the other Rattler men who finished the race.

Next up for the Rattlers runners is ACAC 4 next weekend in Calgary.

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