Cougars clean up at Canada West track finals
The University of Regina Cougars track and field team collected nine medals at the Canada West championships on the weekend in Edmonton.
Jonathan Podbielski led the way for the Cougars — winning gold in the 1,500 metres and the 1,000 — while also breaking his own school record in the 1,500m victory. Podbielski won silver in both events at last year's Canada West championships.
Brayden Mytopher was also a double-medal winner as he finished behind Podbielski in the men's 1,500m to bring home a silver medal. He also won bronze in the 1,000m race.
Daniel Eiswerth (bronze in the men's 600m race) and Shelaine Pritchard (bronze in the women's pentathlon with a personal-best 3,709 points) were among the other individual medal winners.
The Cougars also performed well in the relays with the men's 4x800m relay team — featuring Omer Labrie-boulay, Podbielski, Scott Fenton and Eiswerth — winning silver.
The women's 4x200m relay team — featuring Pritchard, Kaidyn Keith, Katelyn Kichula and Sara Kozan — claimed bronze while the men's 4x400m relay team — featuring Logan Stachowich, Idris Idowu, Eiswerth and Podbielski — also won bronze.
Overall, the men's team finished fourth in the standings while the women were seventh. The Cougars will now conclude the season at the U Sports championships from March 7 to 9 in Winnipeg, with U of R likely sending Podbielski (1,000m and 1,500m), Pritchard (long jump and pentathlon), Eiswerth (600m), Mytopher (1,500m), Precious Ojeikere (60m), Storm Zablocki (60m) and the three relay teams.
REGINA PATS
After back-to-back losses on the weekend to begin their United States road trip, the Regina Pats will look to bounce back on Tuesday night in Seattle against the Thunderbirds.
On Friday, the Pats got out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes against the Spokane Chiefs but then gave up five consecutive goals in a 5-2 loss. The following night, Regina lost 5-3 to the Tricity Americans.
The Pats (21-31-6) are now nine points back of the final playoff spot in the WHL'S Eastern Conference standings with 10 games left. Following Tuesday's game in Seattle, Regina will visit the Wenatchee Wild on Wednesday.
REGINA REBELS
After having the weekend off, the Regina Rebels will conclude the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League regular season on Saturday with a home game against Swift Current (7:45 p.m., Cooperators Arena).
With 26 wins and three losses on the season, the Rebels have already clinched first place while forward Stryker Zablocki has a 20-point cushion for first place in the scoring race with 39 goals and 23 assists for 62 points in 26 games.
The Rebels — who are on a 19game winning streak — also feature the league's best goaltending tandem as Hannah Tresek and Adriana Bashnick rank first and second among netminders. Tresek leads the league with a 16-1 record, a 1.47 goals-against-average and a .938 save percentage. Bashnick ranks second in the league with a 1.83 GAA to go along with a .916 save percentage and a 10-2 record.
REGINA PAT CANADIANS
The Regina Pat Canadians concluded their regular season with a pair of shutout wins this past week.
On Tuesday, Regina blanked the Tisdale Trojans 5-0. They then defeated the Prince Albert Mintos 3-0 on Friday.
With the victories, the Pat Canadians secured second place in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League standings with a 32-11-1 record, behind the firstplace Saskatoon Blazers.
Forward Steven Steranka finished second in league scoring with 34 goals and 28 assists for 62 points in 44 games while goaltender Taylor Tabashniuk led the league with 21 wins and a 2.09 goals-against average to go along with a .919 save percentage.
The playoffs are set to begin this weekend with Regina taking on the seventh-place Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors (22-19-3) in a best-of-five quarterfinal series.
U20 CURLING PROVINCIALS
The Curlsask under-20 provincial championships wrapped up on the weekend with a pair of Saskatoon rinks taking home the titles.
In an all- Saskatoon female final, Team Pomeldi beat Team Beausoleil 7-4 to win the provincial title and the right to represent Saskatchewan at the upcoming national championships.
In the male division, Saskatoon's Team Drewitz beat Martensville's Team Derkson 8-2 to also book a spot as Team Saskatchewan at the New Holland Canadian U20 Curling Championships, set for March 24 to 31 in Fort Mcmurray, Alta. Team Derkson has also received an entry as Team Saskatchewan 2 in the male division.