Horns shine at Canada West championships

The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns track and field team brought home seven medals and a Canada West meet award at the Canada West Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday in Winnipeg.

After opening the weekend Friday with a pair of gold medals, the Horns added five more Saturday while Pronghorn thrower Ben Ingvaldson was named the Canada West Field Athlete of the Year.

Ingvaldson claimed the gold in the weight throw event Friday and added a second gold medal Saturday with a personal best throw of 15.99 metres in the shot put.

Fellow Pronghorn Greg McCarthy also threw a new personal best of 14.13 metres to finish fourth.

There were two other gold medal performances for the Pronghorns on Saturday.

Competing in his final Canada West Championship, jumper Aaron Hernandez won his fifth consecutive Canada West triple jump gold medal. Though his furthest jump of 15.15 metres was below his personal best of 15.50, it was still enough for Hernandez to claim top spot.

After winning gold in the long jump on Friday, Sandra Latrace added another medal Saturday, taking the bronze in the 60m sprint with a time of 7.69 seconds.

Competing at his first Canada West Championships, Pronghorns rookie Noel Vanderzee won the silver medal in the high jump with a height of 2.06 metres.

In her final Canada West meet, fifth-year thrower Lara Roth threw a new personal best to move up the standings to win the bronze medal in the weight throw with a distance of 15.59 metres.

In the team standings, the Horns men finished seventh with 37 points, only one point behind Victoria and three points behind Saskatchewan.

The women finished eighth with 17 points, eight behind Regina.

On Friday, Pronghorn thrower Lindsay Kramers threw a season best in the shot put with a mark of 11.66 metres and finished sixth.

First-year thrower Andreas Troschke just missed the podium, placing fourth with a throw of 15.81 metres. Fellow thrower Spencer Unrah threw a personal best en route to finishing fifth and assured himself a place at nationals in March.

On the track, fifth-year hurdler Phillip Rockerbie was dealt a tough break in his final Canada West meet.

After posting the fastest time in the 60m hurdles during the preliminaries, Rockerbie was disqualified in the finals after hitting the third hurdle.

Depsite that, he has qualified for the U SPORTS Championships in March.