Kodiaks cross country excited for season

By Lethbridge Herald on September 15, 2023.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks cross-country teams begin their season today with plenty to be excited about.

“Lots of excitement in part because we have a large men’s and women’s team,” said  Simon Schaerz, Kodiaks head coach.

“So that always adds some excitement. (We have) lots of new faces, lots of rookies, which adds a lot of excitement and then of course we’re hosting twice this year.”

LC will be hosting the third Grand Prix of the season at Nicholas Sheran Park on Sept. 30 and the ACAC championships on Oct. 28.

“So we’re really excited to be back at home, have family and friends out supporting and have our other athletes —our speed and power athletes, so the indoor track athletes — there as well supporting, which we usually don’t have and then on top of that we don’t have to worry about travel. We can do it at home … which is really nice,” said Schaerz.

Schaerz is preparing the Kodiaks for events they’re hosting by simply getting them to train on the course.

“So we want to know that course inside out — know all the difficult parts, the easier parts, (and) the places where we can turn up the heat a little bit on the competition — and so we’re going to be there quite a bit over the next couple of weeks in advance of our first grand prix and then again in advance of championships at the end of October, ” he said.

Schaerz said “Cohesive, I think” when it comes to how the Kodiaks will find success this year.

“Everyone’s getting along really, really well,” he said.

“They’re all very, very supportive of each other and they’re all very, very similar. So that makes things very, very easy. We don’t have to go around convincing people of that running is fun and can get exciting.  It’s Everyone’s buying in and working their butts off. So that obviously is  quite a pleasure to see and work with on a daily basis.”

Schaerz expects strong performances out of Owen Stewart and Katrina Michel this season.

“We have a strong group of runners joining us this year. I expect a strong performance from newcomer Katrina Michel and second-year runner Owen Stewart. Both athletes should be capable of finishing in the Top 5 in the ACAC,” he said in a release.

The Kodiaks kick off their season today at the second grand prix  of the season at SAIT in Calgary.