CALGARY – While the Canada West Track and Field title is officially up for grabs this weekend, the University of Calgary Dinos women's squad has no plans of returning the trophy, which seems to have found a comfortable home in the Foothills.
Looking to make this their fifth straight Canada West triumph, the Dinos women can tie the Saskatchewan Huskies as the Canada West record holder for consecutive conference titles. With the majority of their title winning team of 2007-08 back for another run, the Dinos have no reason to believe they can't get it done again.
Amonn Nelson and Holly Ratzlaff will look to repeat as Canada West gold medalists in the sprint category, winning three apiece a year ago. Both Nelson and Ratzlaff bring proven success to both the individual events as well as the team relay events.
While the loss of Jessica O'Connell will hurt, Heather Sim is more than capable of representing well in the distance events, where she took home three gold medals in 2008, winning the 1000 m, the 1500 m and the 4x800m relay.
While the Dinos have been arguably the best track team in the country, it could very well be their field events that prove the difference between winning and losing this weekend. Head Coach Doug Lamont recognizes this, but believes his field athletes are ready to break through.
“Our jumpers and throwers are getting closer to being threats on the conference stage, while our pole vaulting program has really taken off in the past while,” he said. “Maple Liu and Jaynell Gillett have been performing well this year in the field, and they should be ready to go.”.
The aforementioned Huskies look to be a major threat to the Dinos, as they bring a very well rounded team to Regina for the championships. The Dinos and Huskies have been the only women's teams to hold the Canada West Title since 1996 with five and seven trophies respectively.
On the men's side, the Dinos will be looking to make the leap from second to first in Canada West, where they captured team silver in 2008. With tough competition presenting itself out of the Canadian prairies with the Manitoba Bisons and the Saskatchewan Huskies showing strong teams, the Canada West meet will surely be a battle.
The Dinos sport one of the most dynamic sprinters in the country in Fred Tees Award winner Sam Effah. Effah, who is only in his third year of eligibility, destroyed the Canada West competition as well as the CIS competition last year, winning both Athlete of the Year awards. Effah will look to sweep the 60m, 300m and 4x200m relay events for the second consecutive year.
There isn't much of a drop-off after Effah on the track, as fourth years Trent Ratzlaff and Mike Saisew have Canada West and CIS medals to their credit in the distance and sprint categories, and help form a strong Dinos nucleus of track athletes.
Much like the women, the fate of the men will likely come down to the field performances, and area in which they have struggled in the past. With the Bisons and Huskies showing strong all-around talent, the latest improvements to the Dinos field team will be tested early if they want their shot at the Canada West banner.
Coach Lamont believes in his team, and understands the trick to track and field success.
“We have a team that can win many different events on any given day,” he said. “But it realistically comes down to whether the individual can go in to the weekend and perform to their ability. If we can do that, there's no reason why we can't win.”
The Canada West Track and Field championships begin on Friday, Feb. 27 and run until Saturday, Feb. 28. All events take place at the Regina Fieldhouse.
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