Red Deer Polytechnic has announced its RDP Athletes of the Week:
1. Justine Larson
Hometown: Strathmore, AB
Bachelor of Education (3rd year)
Justine Larson continued her tear on the cross-country trails this past weekend, earning herself a fourth-place finish in Lethbridge which helped her team finish in first place at the third Running Room Grand Prix of the season. This feat alone along with her consistent finishes across the season so far has earned her this week’s Queens Athlete of the Week honours.
Over the course of three races, Larson has improved her times and has run a faster time than each race previous. In her first Grand Prix of the season which was in Edmonton, she placed in 5th place with a time of 27:20. The Bachelor of Education student-athlete followed this up with a 6th place finish but a faster time as she finished the 6 km race just under 27 minutes. In her most recent race, which happens to be on the same course they will run on at the ACAC Championships at the end of October, she crossed the finish line in fourth place with a time of 26:19 which is just over a minute faster than her first race of the season.
Head Coach Douglas Spicer said she has been about the most consistent runner for the past season and a half for the Queens. He added that she has been working on a couple of small racing strategies this year which have helped her to become a more effective runner.
Along with her teammates, the Queens have consistently placed first in each of the first three Grand Prix. But this last one in Lethbridge was even more special as Larson finished in fourth with her teammates crossing the finish line one after another from sixth to ninth with the final Polytechnic runner crossing in 12th. This placed the team in first with a 20-point difference between the Queens and the Medicine Hat College Rattlers who came in second place.
The Queens next race will be in Camrose on October 14 which will be their last tune-up before the ACAC Championships on October 28.
Congratulations Justine on a well-deserved honour and keep tearing up those trails!
2. Jordan Coen
Hometown: Grimshaw, AB
Open Studies (2nd year)
Jordan Coen is this week’s Kings Athlete of the Week as he finished in sixth place in the Grand Prix held in Lethbridge. For the majority of the season, Coen has been in the shadow of his teammate Benjamin House (Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences) as he has been the consistent top finisher for the Kings over the first few races of the season. But Coen has been improving drastically since the first race of the season where he placed fifth with a time of 29:49. But in the following week on the trail in Calgary, Coen shaved 42 seconds off his time from the Grand Prix in Edmonton and came in fifth as well. In the race this past weekend in Lethbridge, he finished the 8km race in 28:21 which is 46 seconds faster than the time he finished with on the trail in Calgary. He came in sixth place and just five seconds behind House.
Head Coach Douglas Spicer explained his off-season training is paying off.
“Jordan has put in a terrific summer of training and has been growing in confidence each week this fall. He is starting to see the benefits of the work he is putting in and has his sights set on big things this season.”
The coach added Coen’s sixth-place finish put the top runners on notice that he’s ready to challenge for a top-five position at the ACAC Championships which will be held on the same course in Lethbridge on October 28.
Coen and the Kings will be back in action on the course in Camrose on October 14 which will be the final Grand Prix of the season before the ACAC Championships.
Congratulations Jordan and we look forward to cheering you and the rest of the Kings on for the remainder of the season!
