Nine Bisons will take to Victoria for the Canada West Cross Country Championships on Saturday, their largest total since the event became a standalone in the racing season in 2019.
 
The men will be represented by veterans Noah Fillion, Carson Kroeker, Jonah Leppelmann and Hayes McMillan along with rookies Draycen Ralph and Luc Fillion, tops commit in the province this year.
 
On the women's side, veteran Lena Klassen returns to the event of a third year in a row, alongside rookie standouts Sadie Maciura and Frances Terichow Parrott.
 
Klassen, Maciura and Terichow Parrott all finished in the top ten at the Sanderson Classic in Saskatchewan to begin the season, while Klassen was the top Bisons finisher at the Western Canadian Challenge in Calgary a few weeks later, finishing the 8k event in 31:06 for 16^th overall. Maciura and Terichow Parrott finished just 30 seconds behind each other and have improved with every race and training session.
 
"Now they've had two races under their belt," said head coach Claude Berube of the two standout rookies.
 
"Sadie ran the 5k at Canada Games so she was already well prepared for the cross country season. She's pretty close to Lena. Lena's strong and she had a really good summer and she's rolling that into the cross-country season. Frances has closed the gap on the other two. She's impressed me, I've been really happy with how things are going. Frances has probably put in more mileage than she used to before joining the group and I think that's helped with her development."
 
On the men's side, the pace and parity of the group stands out.
 
McMillan, a member of the All-Rookie Team last year, was the top Bisons finisher at the Sanderson in tough conditions (28 degrees, rolling course), finishing ninth overall in 28:16. Kroeker and Leppelmann were less than 30 seconds behind, and that gap closed even more in Calgary.
 
Noah Fillion was the top Bisons finisher at the WCC, in 26:14 and he was joined not far behind by his teammates. The crew will look to keep that consistency in Victoria.
 
"The top five guys were within 39 seconds of each other, which is a good thing. Draycen is right in there with them. Part of the reason why we're bringing six guys, is because if somebody has an off day, we can still score as a team," said Berube.
 
"I was very pleased with the results from Calgary – a little quicker and more compact. It's not an easy course, and it's bordering on altitude which we don't get to train in."
 
Berube thinks the Herd have a chance for one or two all-star nods, and a potential All-Rookie selection or two, depending on the day. With interesting conditions out west, the gap could close, making for a tighter, more competitive race.
 
"It's going to be interesting this weekend. We've never seen this course, and it's been very rainy there the last few weeks, so it's going to be a muddy course. And that can change things. A muddy course can bring the field a lot closer together. The guys that are track racers can't take advantage of the speed of the course as much."