Pronghorn Athletics celebrates 50 years by hosting rugby nationals
Between hosting a national event while contending with a cranky Old Man Winter, the excitement of a first home playoff basketball game in over a decade, honouring the memory of a member of the Pronghorns family and celebrating 50 years of existence, 2017 has offered up a little bit of everything for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Athletics.
That included the first Pronghorns basketball playoff game since 2001 when the Horns men’s team swept the Victoria Vikes back in mid-February, and most recently when the Pronghorns womens rugby team hosted the USports National Rugby Championship the first weekend in November.
Like any event hosted outdoors in November, the Horns rolled the dice with the weather and the elements intervened with a vengeance with a snowfall so intense the second day’s games were postponed to the third day.
However, the games went on, and while the Horns were winless at the event, Eoin Colquhoun, manager, communications and operations for Pronghorn Athletics and Recreation, noted the importance of bringing a national event to the University of Lethbridge Stadium.
“Hosting a national tournament is always a highlight,” he said. “Unfortunately, the weather didn’t really cooperate. But I think as whole we did a pretty good job getting that off. Obviously we would have liked to see the women’s team do a little better. But they’re in that growth stage and Neil (Langevin, Pronghorns head coach) and (associate coach) Ashley (Steacy) did a great job getting them going in that direction.”
Fortunately, the weather wasn’t a factor in February when Horns men’s basketball brought a playoff game home for the first time in 16 years, sweeping the Vikes to advance to the quarter-finals against the Alberta Golden Bears, losing a heartbreaking three-game series in Edmonton.
“It was the first time in the 14 years that I’ve been here that we’ve hosted a basketball playoff game,” said Colquhoun. “It’s always exciting to have them here and the fact they swept Victoria to move on and they forced Alberta to a third game, there are a lot of positives there. Mike (Hansen, Pronghorns head coach) is back to bringing in the local kids and a good chunk of our roster is southern Alberta born and raised and that always helps with connecting in the community.”
The Pronghorns were dealt a crushing loss at the end of the June when Pronghorns rugby head coach Ric Suggitt passed away suddenly.
In October, the Pronghorns and the Alberta Pandas — who Suggitt previously coached — took to the U of L Stadium for the inaugural Ric Suggitt Memorial game, a match that will be a yearly tradition for the two teams going forward.
Following the game, in which the Pronghorns defeated the Pandas 32-17 to clinch a Canada West playoff spot, the grass field at the U of L Stadium was named Suggitt Field.
“There are certain people that come through your life that you don’t anticipate having the impact that they would in a short period of time,” said Colquhoun. “That was definitely a hard thing we went through this summer and obviously it goes beyond athletics. The impact he had locally in just under three years here, I think it was a nice way to honour him and his contributions. But it’s also trying to keep that legacy alive and what his vision was. I think it was a nice way to honour him and hopefully the family appreciated that.”
On the soccer pitch, the Pronghorns women’s soccer team has one of its most successful seasons in program history, posting a 5-7-2 record on their way to a second playoff appearance in three seasons.
Horns coach Fred Trinh resigned for personal reasons after the season, but leaves the program in good hands.
“Women’s soccer had a very successful season. Unfortunately, Fred has decided to step away, but he’s left the program in a better spot and they’re trending upwards,” said Colquhoun. “Men’s soccer was young this year, but they’e got a lot of good pieces, moving forward, should put them back in that playoff mix after missing this year.”
The Pronghorns men’s and women’s basketball returned to action in October for their 2017-18 season with both teams blazing out of the gate with 10-2 records after the first semester.
“The women’s side, you look at what Dave (Adams, head coach) has done since he took over that program,” said Colquhoun. “He’s grown that program by leaps and bounds in the last two years and he’s finally seeing the rewards this year with a 10-2 start. They control their own destiny this year. They have a tough second half, but they should be in a good spot to make a push for that home playoff game.”
In hockey, the Horns men’s team shook off a slow start and won five of their last six games before the semester break and are tied for fifth place in the Canada West at 6-91-0.
The Pronghorns women’s hockey team is 5-10-1-0 and in seventh in the Canada West, five points back of the Calgary Dinos.
“I think there were some expectations with the men’s program this year,” said Colquhoun. “Spiros (Anastas, Pronghorns head coach) has done a great job in his three years here of recruiting and bringing in some top-end guys. I think from their standpoint, that stretch early in the season was probably a bit of a disappointment. But the fact they were able to respond and win five of their last six heading into the Christmas break, and being shorthanded through that run, it puts them in a good spot heading into the second half of the season.”
With the university celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Pronghorns honoured the past and present with a top-50 Pronghorns list.
The top-10 selections were unveiled in the first weekend of December during halftime of a Pronghorns men’s basketball game. Topping the all-time list was track athlete and Olympian Jim Steacy.
“It was an interesting process going through the different names and remembering players,” said Colquhoun. “Some of them I had only heard of in name. To go back and see what they had accomplished was a pretty fun process and it was a nice way to tie into the university’s 50th anniversary and recognize some of those athletes that have come before and celebrate the successes that Pronghorns athletics has had at that time.”
With 2018 right around the corner, Colquhoun took a look ahead.
“There are a lot of good things coming forward with the programs,” he said. “Obviously, bidding for hockey nationals, we don’t know where that will stand, but that’s another example of the work the department has put in and hopefully it’s a way we can showcase the city and the university.”