After an up-and-down grand prix season, the Vikings will be looking to turn their luck around at the 2023 ACAC Cross Country Running Championship this Saturday at Nicholas Sheran Park in Lethbridge, hosted by the Lethbridge Kodiaks.

The women will descend on the trail starting at 12pm for a 6km race while the men will follow at 1pm for an 8km run. Reigning ACAC champions SAIT Trojan Makenna Fitzgerald and Concordia Thunder’s Leonard Chesoo have been dominant on their year's circuit, hoping to claim their third and fourth consecutive championship, respectively.

The Kodiaks will play host to 11 teams from around the ACAC, all with the hopes of qualifying for the 2023 CCAA National Championship hosted by Dalhousie Agricultural Campus on November 11th. The top five teams and 15 individuals will all have the opportunity to punch their ticket east.

Nicholas Sheran Park offers a fairly flat course, easy for runners to maintain a consistently fast pace for the duration of the race. However, with the recent snowfall across Alberta, weather is sure to play a factor on race day providing an extra challenge that racers have not yet experienced this season.

Following the conclusion of the Grand Prix season, the Vikings women sat in sixth place as a team, while the men were in 10th. However, past results do matter as the slate is whipped clean for the championship.