By Susan Sobey, Staff Contributor
The men’s and women’s track and field teams head to Quebec this weekend to compete in the CIS championships at the Université de Sherbrooke from March 10-12.
Leading the 16-member Dalhousie team is defending CIS high jump champion Simon Watts. The third-year kinesiology student, who is currently ranked third in the event with a leap of 2.10 metres, is not overly confident about his chances of retaining his title.
“Jeremy Eckert (Regina) and Alex Witmer (Toronto) have both jumped very well this year and will be tough to beat,” said Watts. “It’s probably going to take a personal best performance to win any medal and a very good jump to beat either of them.”
Eckert and Witmer have both jumped personal bests this year of 2.16 and 2.15 metres respectively, a few centimetres off Watts’ lifetime-best of 2.11.
Aware of his competitors’ abilities, Watts has set his CIS goal as “winning a medal of any colour.” One benefit for Watts is that Eckert will be competing in the pentathlon the day before the individual high jump.
Completing five events in one competition can be taxing on any athlete, and may affect Eckert’s performances. Watts also qualified in the pentathlon, but opted to not compete in order to focus his efforts on the high jump.
Watts will be joined in the high jump by teammates Rob McCulloch and rookie James Gillis, who are ranked fourth and sixth respectively with jumps of 2.04 and 2.00 metres this season.
Qualifying three athletes from the same university in any event at the CIS championships is a considerable accomplishment, and to have all three ranked in the top of the field already has coaches and fans across the nation talking about Dalhousie’s high jumping program.
McCulloch is ranked second in the pentathlon, too. If he is lined up against the same competition he had at the AUS championships, a medal is likely for the third-year management student.
Veterans Caroline Schlosser and Ashley Ryer will look to better their fifth and sixth place performances, respectively, from last year’s championships in the 1500-metre final. They are currently ranked sixth and eighth heading into the event.
Rounding out the Tigers women’s contingent are Elizabeth MacDonald in the weight throw, who is coming off a huge personal best at the AUS championships, and Gina Stewart, who is currently ranked fifth in the 3000-metre and would like to end her career on a high note. Britany MacArthur will join Stewart, Schlosser, and Ryer in the 4×800-metre relay, where the team is ranked sixth and certainly has the potential to move into a medal spot.
On the men’s side, fourth-year Dan Gorman will hope to improve his seventh place rank in the 1000-metre. Along with Gillis, numerous other Dalhousie men will be competing in their first CIS championships including: Justin Blades in the 600-metre, Daniel Yetman in triple jump, Seth London in shot put and weight throw, and Kahmall McCabe, Andrew Falkenham and Will Sandeson in the relays.
Athletes to watch
There will be a number of athletes from across the country to watch for this weekend. Calgary’s Sam Effah should turn heads in the track competitions. The three-time CIS outstanding male track athlete of the year will try to defend his 60-metre and 300-metre titles in Sherbrooke. Deemed the fastest man in Canada, Effah will attempt to break his own national 60-metre record of 6.57 seconds set at last year’s championships.
The women’s 300-metre is sure to be one of the most competitive events on the track with Team Canada athletes in the 4×400-metre relay. Calgary’s Amonn Nelson, Olympian Carline Muir of Alberta and Quebec’s Kimberly Hyacinthe are all stepping into the blocks wearing different colours. The trio are after the CIS record of 37.35 seconds, set by their fellow national relay team member Adrienne Power when she ran for Dal in 2005.
This is the only CIS record currently held by the Tigers, and with the tight corners in Sherbrooke, it will be a challenge to steal that title from the East Coast this year.
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