Collegiate cross-country runners from across Canada are about to converge on Grande Prairie Friday and Saturday.

Grande Prairie Regional College is hosting the 2019 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Cross-Country Running National Championships Nov. 8-9.

The Wolves have six men and six women runners competing and as many as 225 runners will participate in the event. GPRC’s Brittany Duvall is racing for a fourth consecutive Nationals.

The 6 km Women’s event starts at noon Nov. 9 in Muskoseepi Park, followed by the 8 km Men’s competition at 1 p.m. A community run (5 km for women, 10 km for men) kicks off at 9 a.m.

The men’s and women’s Wolves teams are both ranked in the top 15 in Canada and this is the Women’s 18th straight appearance – a record. GPRC is also the first college to host the event twice – it was also held here in 2007.

“The event has really developed since then,” says Wolves Cross Country Running Coach Bill Corcoran, who is retiring following the event after 29 years at GPRC. Co-coach Rick Scott is also retiring from coaching. He’s been with the team for 28 years.

“Back then we had maybe a dozen schools, mainly from Ontario and Alberta, and now it includes Ontario, Alberta and Quebec. Now we are looking at up to 18 teams. It has really grown which is really good,” says Corcoran, who’s looking to see both Wolves teams finish in the top 10.

“Muskoseepi Park is a community gem,” he says. “It’s a signature spot in Grande Prairie. We’re running in the shadow of the College which helps to highlight the event.”

Men’s and Women’s teams each have six members with runners qualifying provincially. In addition if a college’s team doesn’t qualify and an individual runner is in the top 25 in their provincials, they can compete independently. The GPRC team qualifies automatically as hosts.