UBC men capture NAIA track title
Win a first for Canadian university but coach already working on building team for next season
Laurier Primeau was multitasking Sunday morning.
“I’m simultaneously celebrating our success and looking toward the future,” the UBC track and field coach, whose men’s squad captured the NAIA team title on Saturday in Gulf Shores, Ala., explained via text message while waiting for a flight home.
“There are some big shoes to fill in senior Lukas Jarron and if we want to be an annual contender then I need to figure out how to replace the irreplaceable.
“Our endurance squad needs support from the other event groups to keep this sustainable.”
Led by the likes of Jarron, a senior from Ajax, Ont., who had a first (4x800-metre relay), a third (1,500 metres) and a fourth (800 metres) at the three-day meet, UBC finished with 71 points. Indiana Tech, the reigning national champions from Fort Wayne, were runners-up, at 64 points, while Wiley, a school in Marshall, Texas, was third at 57.
The UBC women came in fourth, with 41 points. Wayland Baptist, a school in Plainview, Texas, won with 75 points.
UBC is the first Canadian school to capture the men’s team track title in the NAIA. UBC has won team titles in women’s cross-country and women’s golf in the American-based league.
One of the first people to congratulate Primeau was Marek Jedrzejek, his predecessor as coach for the Point Grey group. Jedrzejek ended a 28-year run at the helm of the UBC program in 2015.
“So much of this team’s success is a function of his years of service to the program,” explained Primeau.
Jarron came from behind to overtake Indiana Tech’s Luke Runyan down the stretch in the relay finale on Friday. Jarron, Max Trummer, Christopher Taylor and Rhys Kramer clocked a 7:33.45, while Indiana Tech came in with a 7:34.08.
UBC had failed to qualify for the final in the event last season. Jarron was part of a national runner-up foursome in both the two years prior.
“It’s nice to finally grab that and put the gold medal on the mantelpiece,” he was quoted as saying in a UBC press release.
In other events of note, UBC junior John Gay won the 3,000-metre steeplechase for a second consecutive year on Saturday, and then finished seventh in the 5,000 metres later in the day.
He captured the steeplechase in 9:12.14. UBC freshman Sean Bergman came in second, at 9:16.74.
Gay, who competed in high school for Kelowna’s Okanagan-Mission, won last year in 9:12.15.
Gay completed the 5,000 metres in 15:05.82. That event, the third-to-last of the meet, was crucial for UBC as freshman Kieran Lumb finished fourth (14:56.16) and senior Jesse Hooton came in fifth (14:59.45). Lumb (five points), Hooton (four) and Gay (2) scored 11 points for the T-Birds in that race.
Indiana Tech and Wiley both missed chances to cut into UBC’s lead when their teams in the 4x400-metre relay were disqualified from the meet’s final event. UBC didn’t have a team make the final 16 in that discipline.
Indiana Tech was penalized for a lane violation in the heats. Wiley was disqualified, according to a press release on their athletic program’s website, when the “NAIA granted Indiana Tech University’s protest on a baseless claim,” that Wiley freshman Kimorie Shearman didn’t run “full effort” in the 200-metre dash to save his energy for the 4x400-metre relay.
Wiley had the top time in the preliminaries, with a 3:10.78. Southern New Orleans ended up winning in 3.11.80.
UBC finished eighth among men’s teams last year, with 28 points. The women were tied for 13th, with 21 points.
n Meanwhile, SFU sophomore Addy Townsend and junior Vladislav Tsygankov were both awarded first team all-American honours for their efforts at the NCAA Div. II track and field nationals in Bradenton, Fla.
Townsend finished sixth in the women’s 800 metres. She completed the two laps of the track in 2:08.39. Carsyn Koch of Cedarville won in 2:02.51. Townsend’s personal best is 2:07.96. It was a third all-American performance for Townsend this year after she earned honours in the 800 and distance medley during the indoor season.
Tsygankov copped all-American accolades by finishing seventh in the men’s 400-metre hurdles in a time of 52.15 seconds. It was just the third time he had ever run the race at the NCAA level.
The first time Tsygankov competed in the event he qualified for nationals. His second was the preliminary race where he qualified for the national final.
Tsygankov finished almost three seconds behind winner Shawn Rowe of St. Augustine’s, first in 49.42.
It was Tsygankov’s third all-American performance this year after taking home honours in the 400m and long jump during the indoor season.