By Lisa Parent

Rattlers’ Scrimger and Ross dominate ACAC cross country opener

Sep 15, 2023 | 11:52 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The Rattlers cross country team went to Edmonton last weekend for their first ACAC Grand Prix event of the school year.

At the start of this season, nursing students Madison Scrimger and Becky Ross made a deal with each other to be the top two runners on the Rattlers cross country team. Last weekend they did just that, with Ross finishing 45 seconds ahead of Scrimger, 1st and 2nd place.

“I was on her tail for quite a while and then we settled more into our pace and she kind of kept on a little bit, but she was in my line of sight the entire time,” said Scrimger.

Scrimger and Ross were both ACAC all-conference runners last year and secured gold at provincials with the women’s team. Ross found this success quickly in her running career, because the first event she ever competed in was last year at the Rattlers Run. This is where coach Bill Corcoran recruited her.

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“I asked her what she did in high school for sports and the answer was zero,” said Corcoran. “So for somebody who’s just started running she’s doing amazing. She’s the type of person who’ll succeed at almost anything she does, because she’s just such a hard worker and has got a lot of self confidence.”

Ross is still struggling to believe the success she had last year was real.

“It’s funny, I kind of have like a bit of imposter syndrome. It’s like somebody else is telling the story and I’m outside of it so I still don’t really firmly in my head believe that, like I’m the runner that I am,” explained Ross.

However, since then Ross has integrated into the Rattlers community, finding friendship and comradery, especially with Scrimger.

“I’m allowed to say this because I’m so bloody old, but it’s incredible to see this young woman just going for these things with such passion and conviction. It’s incredible, I love being a part of it,” Ross said.

Scrimger said, “I love Becky and I look up to her so much. She’s such a fantastic human being. She’s such a great mentor and I’ve learned so much from her.”

Corcoran says winning another ACAC gold will be tough this year with strong teams such as Red Deer and SAIT to contend with, but two secret weapons on the team could change that.

“Both of them ran really well last year and I think they’re better this year. So we’ll see. I’m really excited to see what they do over the next couple weeks,” mentioned Corcoran.

Scrimger has a strategy on how to make that gold medal a reality.

“Don’t give up, and when things get tough, just keep going. ‘Cause in order to succeed, you must fail,” said Scrimger.

The next track event for the team is ACAC Grand Prix #2 on Saturday, September 16th.