Kodiaks going for gold
A pair of Lethbridge College teams will go for Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference titles this weekend.
The Kodiaks men’s and women’s futsal teams are in Lloydminster for the provincial championship hosted by Lakeland College, while the indoor track team is in Edmonton for the ACAC championships, hosted at MacEwan University.
The Kodiaks futsal teams make their second appearance at the ACAC championships, after launching the program last year with each team playing three round-robin games.
“Realistically, our goals are to improve on last year,” says men’s and women’s futsal head coach Sean Carey, whose teams both went 1-2 in the 2017 tournament. “The women have been rolling this season and their confidence is high. The men’s team has a lot of potential and if we play our best game, and our best players play their best, we could surprise a lot of teams.”
The women’s team won the Three Hills Challenge Cup tournament in January and advanced to the semifinals at the final tune-up tournament in Olds last month.
They’re led by Vicki Noronha and Brooklin Bellavance, who each bring energy and leadership to the tight confines of the futsal pitch.
The Kodiaks men were 1-2 at each tournament.
Captain Joel Arrieus and senior Keaton Craig — who is playing in his final ACAC event — bring a veteran presence.
The Kodiaks women play Medicine Hat today at 1:30 p.m., Ambrose on Saturday at 9:45 a.m. and Keyano at 2:45 p.m. Saturday.
The men face Lakeland today at 4 p.m. vs Lakeland.
On Saturday they play Keyano at 12:15 p.m. and Ambrose at 5:15 p.m.
The Kodiaks indoor track team heads to Edmonton this weekend having won 12 medals through two ACAC Grand Prix events.
“We expect both of our teams to compete for topthree placings at the ACAC championships,” says Kodiaks head coach Bertil Johansson. “We have consistently placed runners on the podium in the regular season and we trust their training and mental toughness will allow them to once again reach those heights at the championship.”
Short-distance runner Kayla Enders and long-distance star Sophia Nowicki lead the women’s team.
Enders has three individual silver medals in two ACAC events in both the 300 and 600m racess, while Nowicki has a 3,000m gold and a 1,000m silver medal this season.
She also won bronze medals at both the conference and national cross-country championships last fall and earned the ACAC crosscountry rookie of the year award.
Janelle Graham has also reached the podium twice this season in the 300-m event, while Brooklyn Vogel and Salma Moreira provide depth that makes the Kodiaks a threat in the 4x400-metre relay.
The Kodiak men are led by Dayton Jans, one of the conference’s top shortdistance runners. He won a 300m gold medal at a February event at SAIT after winning medals in both the 300 and 600m races at MacEwan in January.
John Krause, Kayden Halladay and Danny Robdrup provide depth with some nearpodium finishes this season.
The Kodiaks 4x400-metre relay team will look to defend the gold medal it won last season.
Results will be posted on the ACAC website: women|men. All games can be streamed on ACAC-TV.