ACAC Indoor Track Championships Update Day 1, Jenica Swartz on top in two events

Edmonton, March 18, 2023 – The starters gun went off and the provincial championships were underway for the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens Indoor Track Team.

The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Indoor Track Championship started off with the women's 3000m race where the Queens would finish third and fourth with Myah Cota (Open Studies) and Justine Larson (Bachelor of Education) finishing one after another. This was a great start to the day with the team picking up 14 points in the day's first race. On the men's side, Daniel Szucs (Bachelor of Business Administration) was the top finisher for the Kings with a fifth-place finish with a time of 8:54 which was 18 seconds off first place. The first-place finisher did not break the ACAC record but broke the ACAC Championship record.

The next event was the women's 300m dash. Jenica Swartz (Bachelor of Science in Pre-Med) competed in the fastest heat of the day as five of her competitors in her heat finished in the top five with Swartz taking the podium with a time of 42.88 which was one second faster than the silver medalist. In the men's sprint, Ethan Duret (Bachelor of Commerce) was the fastest Kings runner, placing fifth place with his teammate Axsivier Lawrence (Business Administration) taking ninth.

The 1000m run open was the fifth event of the championship which saw Swartz winning her second event of the day finishing the race with a time of 2:56. Larson was the next fastest from the Queens as she placed sixth. Duret would pick up his second fifth-place finish of the day in the 1000m and pick up three points for the Kings.

The day's final event was the first relay of the championship with the men and women running in the 4x200m with the 4x400m happening tomorrow. The Queens would take the top spot with the Kings finishing in third. The women were able to break the ACAC record by just under six seconds in the relay which was held by Red Deer since 2020. The men's team finished the day off with a bronze medal with a time of 1:41. At the end of Day 1, the Queens had a 12-point lead over the SAIT Trojans who finished the evening with 33. The Kings on the other hand are just out of medal contention with 19 points which puts them six points back of third.

The Kings and Queens will look to continue their momentum on Day 2 tomorrow with three events each including the 4x400m relay.