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Wednesday July 23 2008
PRONGHORNS EARN NUMBER ONE RANKING
The Pronghorn track and field team will move up the national rankings this week almost as fast as their namesake moves across the prairie. The 'Horns went into the CWUAA championships this past weekend as the number two ranked team from the CWUAA in the CIS rankings and were ranked seventh nationally. They emerged as the number one team from the CWUAA in the CIS rankings and will move up to a national ranking of third.
The 'Horns were led by a virtual sweep of the throwing events, a first in Canada West history. They took 5 of six medals available in the throws events and now account for six of the top eight spots in the CIS weight throw rankings and have the first, second, and fifth spot in shot put.
On the first day of the meet, Jim Steacy unleashed a huge throw of 20.72 in the men's weight throw to top the competition. This mark was the farthest throw ever by a CIS athlete, surpassed the CWUAA record by over two meters, and broke the Canadian National Junior record of 20.58 held by Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops. Team-mate Chris Meisner finished second with a best of 17.74, Jonathan Doucette was third with 17.25 and Mike Sagert was fourth with 16.79. Adam Smith finished sixth with a throw of 15.81 to help the 'Horns take 5 out of six places in the final.
On the second day of competition the 'Horns were led by Meisner who won the shot put with a throw of 16.30 meters followed by Doucette with 16.11. Steacy had a personal best of 15.55 but was edged out by Grant Chapman of the University of Alberta for third place. Strong performances were also put in by Chris Ripley who finished fourth in long jump with a leap of 6.75 while Barry Smith had a personal best of 6.57 in the same event to finish sixth.
To put the finish on a highly successful weekend Steacy was named the CWUAA male rookie of the Year, the outstanding male performance of the meet, and is the CWUAA nominee for the CIS male athlete of the year.
"It really was a huge weekend for us" remarked head coach Larry Steinke "Everyone really rose to the occasion as we had twenty four personal bests and broke four school records en route to a best ever finish for us at these championships. To be ranked as high as we will be is just icing on the cake."
Arielle Mitchell led the women's team with a silver medal in pole vault along with a fifth place finish in triple jump and tenth place finish in her first ever pentathlon. She then helped the 4X200 relay team to a top ten ranking in the CIS. "Arielle was a machine for us this weekend" says Steinke "She is just such a great competitor. She participated in eight events all together through the weekend and had personal or seasonal bests in all but one event." Other strong results were had by Barb Hunter who finished fourth in the women's 1000m and led the women's 4X800 relay team to a fourth place finish and a top ten CIS ranking while breaking the school record by over ten seconds. Jamie Alliban also finished fourth in weight throw with a toss of 14.33 while teammate Kirsti Binns threw 13.29 to make it into the CIS top twelve and qualify for the CIS championships. Lorraine Harty had a personal best of 5.44 meters in long jump and anchored the strong showing of the 4X200 relay team along with Tanya Bunbury and Alanna Baum and Mitchel.
The Pronghorns jump in the rankings is impressive and is a great improvement for the program but it has coach Steinke cautiously optimistic "I am definitely ecstatic with the progress weÕve made. When I took over the reins four years ago I had a goal to increase participation and become a nationally ranked team and by all accounts this has certainly surpassed my expectations but we still have a lot of work ahead of us for the CIS championships. To keep this ranking and finish up to our billing weÕll have to have everyone throwing well all at the same time. This will definitely help everyone's confidence and itÕs certainly possible but it will take an extremely focussed effort on the part of everyone." The Pronghorns will make their way to the CIS Championships March 13-15 in Windsor Ontario where they hope to make a top five finish.
CIS Rankings
1 Windsor
2 Sherbrooke
3 Lethbridge
4 Western
5 York
5 Guelph
7 Saskatchewan
8 Manitoba
9 Alberta
10 Regina
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As a Provincially and Nationally Recognized Club Our Athletes Compete at all Levels From school, local, regional, national and international championships.
Are You Up to the Challenge?
Head Coach: Larry Steinke
Club Address:
Box 21047
140 Columbia Blvd.
Lethbridge, AB
T1K-6x4
Email:chinook@canthrow.com
Email:steinke@uleth.ca
Phone: 403-328-8836
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