Wolves Legend Kyle Reynolds (left) and Wolves rookie Brandon Tufford (right) at the 2018 ACAC XC Running Championships

Fourteen years after his dramatic upset win at the 2004 CCAA XC Running Championships, Wolves runner Kyle Reynolds is hanging up his spikes.  The 32 year old Reynolds placed 42nd on Saturday (6th best amongst his Wolves team mates)  at the 2018 ACAC XC Running Championships in Vermilion, clocking at time of 35:04 for the hilly 8 km track.

Reynolds, one of only two vets on a rookie-ladden Wolves men squad, has chosen not to accompany his team mates to CCAA Nationals in two weeks time in Toronto.  “It’s time to give some of the young guys a chance to run at Nationals,” said Reynolds.

Overall, Wolves coach Bill Corcoran described the Wolves’ performance on Saturday as “mixed.” “We improved our ACAC women’s ranking from 7th to 6th, and our men held in there at 6th place, but quite frankly, we were hoping for a few spots better,” explained Corcoran.

Anna van der Geissen (85), Maria Houle (84), and Brittany Duvall (81) at the 2018 ACAC XC Running Championships

Anna van der Geissen and Maria Houle led the Wolves women, placing 15th and 16th respectively in the 6 km race. Ashley Camsell (27th) and Brittany Duvall (32nd) were the other two scoring runners for GPRC.

Lethbridge College edged out Red Deer College for the women’s team title.  Both teams tied at 30 points, but Lethbridge’s fourth runner Janelle Graham ran down Red Deer’s fourth runner in the final few metres to secure the tie breaker.

Lethbridge’s Sophia Nowicki won the women’s individual gold medal in a time of 23:53,  25 seconds better than runner up Emily Mann from SAIT.

In the men’s race, Eric Nooy (12th) and Miguel Macedo (18th) were the top Wolves finishers.  Brandon Tufford ran in the top 10 for the first 5 km of the race, but encountered some severe GI issues in the final few kms and faded to 29th place at the finish, one place better than team mate Brice Wilkes.

Placing four runners in the top 7, the #1 CCAA ranked SAIT Trojans dominated the men’s team standings to win their third consecutive ACAC championship.   SAIT’s Matt Travaglini defended his 2017 individual crown, with a decisive 20 second victory over Concordia University of Edmonton runner Leonard Chesoo.

Both Wolves teams have accepted the ACAC #5 berths for the November 10 2018 CCAA XC Running Nationals in Toronto at Seneca College’s King City Campus.

The Wolves will host the 2019 CCAA XC Running Nationals in Muskoseepi Park next year on the November long weekend.

Full results are posted at the Race Pro Timing website.