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Saturday, February 22, 2014

Cougars Mens Track Team Wins Canada West

The University of Regina’s men’s track & field team had nine medals on Saturday at the Canada West Track & Field Championships in Edmonton to secure the third conference championship in program history.



The Cougars clinched the victory after Jeremy Eckert and Connor MacDonald finished one-two in the high jump, the second-last event of the day. They then reeled off a second-place finish in the 4x400-metre relay for good measure, a race highlighted by Tait Nystuen’s anchor leg which moved the team up to second from fourth.



The U of R finished with 83 points in the team standings as the Cougars claim their first Canada West title since their back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011. The Cougars finished with a 16-point cushion over second-place Victoria.



“I’m extraordinarily proud of how the team came together today,” Cougars head coach Bruce McCannel said following the meet. “They needed a huge day and they performed at every level to come away with the title. It was an amazing team effort.”



Eckert’s victory in the high jump highlighted the meet, as he cleared the bar at 2.16 metres to break a Canada West record that had stood since 1979. MacDonald clinched second after clearing 2.01 metres, then upped the bar to 2.09 where he cleared it on the first attempt for a personal best.



Eckert’s gold medal was one of three for the Cougars over the course of the meet. MacDonald had a huge jump of 7.33 metres to win the long jump early on Friday and Connor Bloom, Ethan Gardner, Nystuen, and Tevaughn Campbell combined for a first-place finish in the 4x800-metre relay with a time of 1:28.54 that was good for a CIS standard.



MacDonald was one of two Cougars to pile up three Canada West medals, as he also had a bronze in the triple jump (14.02 m) to go along with his long jump gold and high jump silver. Nystuen had a silver in the 600-metre run (1:19.08), a gold with the 4x200 team, and another silver with the 4x400 team.



Besides second-place finishes for Nystuen in the 600, MacDonald in the high jump, and the 4x400 team, the Cougars also got a silver medal from Arthur Ward in the triple jump (14.15m). Chris Pickering took home Canada West bronze medals in both the weight throw (17.00m) and the shot put (16.53m), while Campbell added a bronze in the 60-metre dash (6.87 s).



Merissa Margetts finished in third place in the 60-metre dash (7.65 s) to win bronze, claiming the lone medal of the meet for the women’s team. Joy Becker tied for fourth in the long jump (5.76m) and Adrea Propp finished fourth in the 300-metre dash (40.90 s), while Elisabeth Fortier (shot put), Chantelle Labrecque (weight throw), and Megan Rumpel (high jump) all had fifth-place finishes.



The women’s team finished in sixth place in the team standings with 23 points. Trinity Western took the women’s championship with a total of 107.



The Cougars will now have a weekend off to prepare for the CIS Championships, which will also be hosted by the University of Alberta.



Men’s Standings
1st – Regina (83 points)
2nd – Victoria (67)
3rd – Trinity Western (66½)
4th – Saskatchewan (53)
5th – Manitoba (50½)
6th – Calgary (40)
7th – Lethbridge (29)
8th – Alberta (21)



Women’s Standings
1st – Trinity Western (107 points)
2nd – Calgary (96)
3rd – Saskatchewan (74)
4th – Victoria (46)
5th – Alberta (31)
6th – Regina (23)
7th – Manitoba (22)
8th – Lethbridge (10)

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