By Reegan MacAulay

The Holland Hurricanes’ cross-country running program experienced a very competitive 2023 season in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA). 

From many different running conditions to close battles against other schools, a bronze medal for the men and a fifth-place finish for the women aren’t accomplishments to be disappointed about.

Colton March and Melanie Mitchell, who each were the top finishers for the men’s and women’s teams in their final season, were delighted to tell their Hurricanes stories.

March entered the program in 2022 after committing to Holland College’s Kinesiology program. Initially, his intentions stayed in the classroom, but after reading an email about the program one day and having a friend convince him to try cross-country running out, he went for it.

“Although I was extremely athletic and active during my high school days, I had no interest in doing (cross-country) while in school. I always had a passion for running because it kept me in shape for other sports such as hockey and soccer, so I decided to pop out and see what it was all about,” March said.

His rookie season was, in his words, rough, as he was coming off a gap year from high school when he didn’t do much exercise.

“I wasn’t in the best of shape starting the season, but I wasn’t in the worst. My old techniques came back to me quickly. I just needed to find something to reignite that competitive spark in me and this was the way to do it,” March said.

Entering the 2023 season, March knew he was coming in as a returning runner and he had to put in the work to make an immediate impact and be a mentor for new runners.

“The way I helped some of the newcomers was constant encouragement as, for some of my teammates, it was their first time ever trying the sport. It’s a lot harder than the average Joe makes it seem. Lots of factors you have to take into account; how you pace yourself, how you breath, how you run, how your feet land, how your stride connects everything together. I used some of the techniques Coach Mike passed on to me and I also called upon some I used back in high school that helped me bring banners to my high school,” March said. 

Meanwhile, a former UPEI cross-country runner was entering her first year as a Hurricane.

Mitchell entered the program in 2023 having graduated from UPEI in the spring with a major in Biology. She wanted to improve her knowledge in the lab, so she signed up for Holland College’s Bioscience Technology program.

“I couldn’t imagine not continuing with competitive running. I contacted Michael MacKinnon and asked if I could join the team in the fall,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell recalled her and her teammates running together three times a week and doing speed and interval workouts.

“We were encouraged to go on at least two more runs on our own. We were told to go on very easy runs. On Sundays, we’d go on long runs. They were very fun because we usually went to a hilly trail outside the city, like Bonshaw or Old Princeton Road. We all got to have some nice, chill runs together. The workouts were also great because you could see everyone improving over the course of the season,” Mitchell said.

Head coach Michael MacKinnon said his expectations for 2023 were to get better results than the previous year and make sure every student-athlete had good fitness.

“We had a good turnout for our meeting night and Andrew (Dobson) sent out an email that generated good interest in the club and then changed to be part of our teams. Expectations going in were to see where each student-athlete was at for fitness and trying to build a program for a strong final meet,” MacKinnon said.

The 2023 season featured four runs; two in September in Moncton, N.B. and North Wiltshire, P.E.I., and two in October in Sackville, N.B. and Truro, N.S. Holland was up against Crandall University, Dalhousie Agricultural Campus (Dal AC), Mount Allison University, Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU), St. Thomas University (STU), and Université de Saint-Anne (USTA).

While the men entered the season with a full team ready to compete for a spot on the championship podium, the women were initially short by one runner to compete both individually and as a team.

“There needs to be at least four runners to have a team. We only had three confirmed women at the start of the season. We thought we would just have to run as individual participants in the races, which is not as fun because you want to represent your school and gain points for a team. Luckily, a bunch of people on the team went out asking for another female runner, and we got one!” Mitchell said.

In Moncton, the Hurricanes went in with a mindset of taking things easy and experienced shady runs in the woods with protection from the wind. The women ran 6km and the men ran 8km.

MacKinnon said the first meet is always an adventure and a first time to see how the runners deal with the competition part of the event.

“As always, there is a dart and then they realize they went out too fast. This year showed that all athletes needed to build up an aerobic base. However, we mixed in various workouts to introduce the whole sport of running and that there is a lot of training and strategies for racing,” MacKinnon said.

March called the first competitive run a “feeling-out race” where nobody went too hard.

“They didn’t take it easy either. You can’t revel all your tricks in the first race. You have to keep the others thinking. For example, I might screw my pace up on purpose for the first race to make them think I’m not a threat, but in reality, as the competition picks up, so do I,” March said.

Mitchell finished 11th for the women while March finished 13th for the men.

On P.E.I., the runs at Brookvale were hilly (there was a quick, steep hill in the middle of the course, which added a challenge for everyone), and footing was sketchy, but the Hurricanes had home team advantage. Mitchell said it helped them out a lot. She improved to a 10th-place finish while March also improved to seventh. Theophilus Ekow Nketsiah finished 10th and Sam Hulan finished 15th.

MacKinnon said the Brookvale run was an eye-opener.

“All male and female runners were stronger and our points for that meet showed we have a solid chance to get bronze with both teams,” MacKinnon said.

In Sackville, the runs were on a flat course. Mitchell said she and her teammates were told not to go all out until the championships, but they picked the pace up a little bit.

“There was a good amount of time to pick up speed and pass others on the course. There were a few good sprints to the finish at this race. I remember I had to sprint against another girl right at the end to keep ahead of her,” Mitchell said.

She finished 17th while Paolo Gutierrez finished 21st. March finished eighth for the men while Sam Hulan finished 17th.

Then came the 2023 ACAA Championships, hosted in Truro, N.S. The women entered with the goal of cutting down times, and they indeed did as they finished fifth. Mitchell finished 15th with Gutierrez right behind her and Katie Astley in 26th.

As for the men, they had their best run yet with March, Abdelrahmann Elsabbah, and Ekow Nketsiah all finishing inside the top-10, which was enough to win a bronze medal. March was named to the 2024 ACAA All-Conference Team.

“The work (we) put in, I saw it all season long and it paid off in the final race because our team came third in the conference, so job well done by all,” March said.

It was quite the adversity for the men as they had experienced many challenges throughout the season. March recalled trying too hard sometimes.

“What I faced personally was taking things to the next level each race because I’m someone who likes to train and sometimes if I’m not careful, I can go too hard for multiple sessions thinking it benefits me in the long run, but actually, it’s hurting me. Safe to say, I made a huge difference this past season. I went from middle of the pack last year to getting a record time on the 8k and finishing sixth in the final race. Much better improvement if I do say so myself,” March said.

Mitchell remembered witnessing the men’s struggles.

“Many of the runners would go out too hard at every race and end up losing steam around the 4km mark. It was upsetting to see them get passed by other runners throughout the second half of every race because we knew they had so much potential to place higher. Mike had to really coach them how to pace themselves for an 8km race to have lots left in the tank at the last kilometer. In the end, his coaching worked and the men had their best performance at the finals,” Mitchell said.

Looking forward to 2024, MacKinnon hopes to see an increase in numbers for the team.

“Hoping all athletes from this year that are eligible will return and help recruit others. Come get in the best shape of your life,” MacKinnon said.

Unfortunately, both March and Mitchell are moving on from the program. March will head to Acadia University to continue his Kinesiology studies while Mitchell will be graduating.

Acadia doesn’t have a cross-country team, but March said he’ll keep running no matter what.

“It teaches excellent lessons, like discipline. Nobody really likes to get up and run every day, day after day, but we do it because we know it keeps us healthy. If we’re multi-sport athletes, it puts you ahead of the game because there’s no such thing as having too much cardio in the tank.

“I certainly enjoyed my two years. They flew by but I made some good memories and some awesome bonds that I hope to still carry with me. For the coming years of the program, expect Coach Mike to get more comfortable and settle in the league. He will form a really competitive team and it will certainly be fun to watch for me as someone who used to compete for the school.

“To someone who’s on the fence about running or nervous about trying something new, just remember we all start somewhere. Sometimes, to achieve greatness, you have to tackle something scary in order to see the light on the other side,” March said.

Mitchell said the season was special to her and she'll take the lessons learned to race in the Bluenose Half Marathon this May.

“The people I met on the team were so kind and funny and just overall wonderful people to be around. I have learned so much from them and coach Mike about running and about life in general.

“For anyone who is interested in joining the team, I would absolutely recommend joining. It is so good for your physical and mental well-being. You become part of an amazing running community that you can continue to be a part of after you graduate. Mike is an amazing coach and anyone who wants to learn about running should definitely go learn from him. Holland College is a terrific school. With the smaller class sizes and great learning managers, I feel like everyone really gets to learn so much about their respective fields of study,” Mitchell said.

Stay tuned for the 2024 ACAA Cross Country Running schedule to be released soon.

Connect with the cross country running Hurricanes at www.instagram.com/holland_hurricanesxc.

For more information on the Holland Hurricanes, please visit www.hollandhurricanes.com, www.facebook.com/hollandhurricanes, www.x.com/hc_hurricanes and www.instagram.com/hollandhurricanes.

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