Track and Field
Chas Smith can do it all
“How was that?” Chas Smith holds a stopwatch to his coach’s face with his right hand, while placing his left hand on his knee, slightly bent over. He gets the words out easy, not gasping for air. “You’ve had faster times,” Coach Adrienne Power says. It’s about 6 p.m. at the Dalplex and Smith is…
Read MoreLess is more
Josh Lunda’s first three years running for the Dalhousie University Tigers seemed to be going great. In the 2014-2015 season, the sprinter was named the AUS Rookie of the Year. In the 2016-2017 season, he was on the 4×200 relay team that set a new AUS record of 1:31.33, along with Matthew Coolen, Stephen Belyea and Mike van der Poel. Then last year, he left…
Read MoreHigh School Rivals to championship teammates
Not many athletes can say they’ve medalled at a national competition in a sport they spontaneously started. Mike van der Poel and Matthew Coolen, old high school rivals, can. The two track and field stars have have both taken home a U Sports medal since they began running for Dalhousie University four years ago; van der Poel winning bronze for his 300-metre dash in 2017 and Coolen the gold for his 60-metre dash…
Read MoreBalancing cross-country and track and field
There’s a big difference between racing 800-metres and 10,000-metres. Second-year track athlete Hudson Grimshaw-Surette is proving that he can do both. “He’s too talented and competitive not too,” said cross-country and track and field Head coach Rich Lehman about why Grimshaw-Surette is running for both sports. The kinesiology student dabbled in cross-country last year, running…
Read MoreRunning strong programs
Going into his seventh year as the head coach of Dalhousie University’s cross-country and track and field teams, Rich Lehman has won the AUS cross-country Coach of the Year award a combined six times with both the women’s and men’s teams. He also won the same award a combined nine times for the track and…
Read More“A perfect first year”
Both Dalhousie University’s men’s and women’s track and field teams brought home championship banners again this year. For the women’s team, this was the 29th consecutive season of winning the Atlantic University Sport Championships. Among their star athletes was rookie Savanna Jordan. Jordan has had an outstanding first year, considering that she spent her track…
Read MoreTraining for a pentathlon
Lorena Heubach is one of Dalhousie University’s most unique track and field athletes. She’s the only athlete on the team that participates in the pentathlon: an event that includes high jump, long jump, shot put, hurdling and an 800 metre race. The athletes compete in these events over the course of a day. Heubach’s currently…
Read MoreFifty-five years and counting
Much of the Dalhousie University Tigers athletic success is credited to the coaching of Allan Yarr. Yarr has been coaching for 55 years in a variety of sports including basketball, golf, tennis, and football; he’s led 91 of those teams to be conference champions and five of them have medalled at nationals. His coaching accolades…
Read MoreIf Dal athletes had superpowers
Sport: Track and Field Position: Sprinter Super Power: Super speed Last season as a second year sprinter, Mike Van Der Poel set an Atlantic University Sport (AUS) record by running the 300 meters in 34.96 seconds. At the 2017 U Sports national championships, Van Der Poel finished third with a time of 34.40 seconds. He…
Read MoreDalhousie athletics preview
Basketball The men’s basketball team are coming off an exciting season where they won the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championship for the third season in a row and won the bronze medal as hosts of the Final 8, which is the program’s first national championship medal. Gone are seniors Ritchie Kanza Mata, Kashrell Lawrence, Ryall…
Read MoreTigers track captain is ready to go out with a bang
The Dalhousie Tigers male throwers continue to dominate the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference, despite a lack of real training facilities. But for team captain David Kerr, it’s not a problem. Kerr is the second ranked thrower on the team, behind fellow graduating athlete Adam Karakolis. The fifth year kinesiology major switched to Dalhousie after…
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