Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
VICTORIA, B.C. – Griffins cross-country runners Kiana Row and Emma Steele proved they'll be in contention for Canada West all-star teams with solid performances racing against many of the conference's titans on Saturday at the University of Victoria Vikes Invitational.
Row finished the women's 6K on a muddy course in 23:42, placing her seventh among student-athletes competing at the event, while Steele was 13th in 24:04.
"Kiana is still performing well," said MacEwan head coach Drew Carver of his rookie athlete who won the ACAC Running Room Grand Prix in Edmonton her last time out Sept. 7. "We've just got to keep after a few changes in her running tactics. She wants a top-10 finish at Canada West, but at the same time, I wouldn't mind her going for a Canada West first team all-star (top eight) – that's our ultimate goal.
"Emma Steele is coming back stronger every time, which is good. She looks like she's getting back to her old form, so we hope to have her in that top-10, too."
Steele is a reigning Canada West second team all-star and will be vying for more accolades at the conference championship in less than a month – Oct. 26 in Calgary.
"I'm glad we were out here because we got to see these other schools at their best," said Carver. "We did that last year, which sparked Emma to realize she could be a Canada West all-star."
Ashley Tymkow (22nd – 24:55), Ember Large (23rd – 25:03) and Bailey Stang (31st – 27:11) rounded out MacEwan's top five women counting for the Griffins' team score at the Vikes Invitational. Emma Perry (32nd – 27:41), Daniella Wasielewski (33rd – 28:32) and Cassandra Mastel-Marr (34th – 29:36) also competed for the MacEwan women's team.
Overall, the Griffins finished fourth behind Canada West titans Trinity Western, Calgary and Victoria. They'll need to crack the top three amongst a full field of conference teams next month to qualify for the U SPORTS national championship, so there's work to do.
"Where you win and lose is on your fifth runner," noted Carver, who is aiming for improvement from the bottom four on the roster to help bring the team score up. "You've got to have the others at the top, but if you have one runner a ways back, it really sinks your chances."
Carver is also looking for improvements in race strategy from Tymkow and Large, who have the potential to be near the top of the field as well.
"It was a good learning curve for them because the race had a lot more speed to it," he said. "They took it out a little harder and they couldn't maintain that. Ember was leading the girls at one point in the first kilometre and then it jumped up and bit her. She faded quite quickly as the race got to the halfway point. We need to work on a strategy of having a more relaxed start and coming in stronger at the end."
For the men's 8K race, MacEwan didn't bring enough athletes for a full team, but rookies Evan Haddock (29th – 30:23), Thomas Williams (32nd – 31:57) and Jay Megic (34th – 32:14) gained valuable experience.
"The guys got to see the pace of a very strong bunch of guys," said Carver of a field that included the defending national champion Dinos, who are even stronger this year with the addition of CCAA men's national champ Matthew Travaglini – a SAIT transfer – who won the race in 25:27. "All three guys were rookies at it. They saw what the other schools did and they'll follow suit next time."
