Track & Field: Sprinters set for national stage
The lady Dinos are entering the CIS Track and Field Championships in Windsor, Ont. in the unfamiliar role of the underdog after placing third in the Canada West conference, while the U of C men will go as far as their sprinters will take them.
With their sights now set on the CIS championships, the women’s track & field team will need their characteristic dominance on the track to be in top gear to gain Canadian supremacy.
Distance runner Heather Sim will lead the Dinos into Windsor with a Canada West track athlete of the year award in hand. Sim was rewarded after a double medal effort in Regina, winning gold in the 1500m event and silver in the 4x800 relay event. Sim also won silver at the 2008 CIS championships in the 4x800 relay.
Amonn Nelson earned a gold medal in both the 300m event as well as the 4x200 relay at Canada West, while also corralling two silvers in a very successful weekend for the young sprinter. Nelson should be a force yet again at nationals, where she is a defending gold medalist in the 300m and the 4x400 events.
Holly Ratzlaff will look to finish her CIS career on top as she is completing her fifth year of eligibility with the Dinos. Ratzlaff will defend her gold medals in the 4x400 relay as well as the 600m event.
On the men’s side, third-year sensation Sam Effah aims to continue his domination of the sprint category at the CIS level, where he is the reigning CIS Outstanding Athlete.
Effah is no stranger to individual accolades, as he captured his second consecutive Canada West track athlete of the year award after two gold medals in Regina. Along with a 2007-08 UC Athlete of the Year award and, most recently, the Dr. Fred Tees Memorial Trophy, given to Athletics Canada most outstanding athlete of the year, which adds to an already impressive stack of personal hardware.
Effah, along with Trent Ratzlaff, Mike Saisew and Evan Kimick, leads a formidable track team for Calgary. They all need to put forward outstanding performances yet again in Windsor to help cover for a field program that is still slightly behind the competition.
Kimick was named the 2008-09 Canada West Student-Athlete of the Year, while Trent Ratzlaff earned both a gold and silver medal at Canada West.
The 2008-09 CIS Championships get under way in Windsor, and will span over three days from March 12-14.
Championship website:
http://www.universitysport.ca/e/championships/track/2009
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March 11, 2009