VANCOUVER - For the first time in its eight year history, the Achilles Cup is set to be hosted by the UBC Thunderbirds on their Point Grey campus.
The 2010 edition of the annual dual meet between the T-Birds and their lower mainland rival, the SFU Clan, is scheduled for Sunday, April 25 at UBC's brand new Rashpal Dhillon Track and Field Oval which is located at the revamped Thunderbird Park. The competition, which is the first-ever varsity track and field meet on campus for the T-Birds, begins at 1:00 p.m.
Winners of the last two duals, the host T-Birds will be looking to re-take the overall lead in the all-time series with a third straight team title. In 2009, UBC narrowly topped the Clan by a score of 117-113 to even the all-time series at 3-3-1.
"Over the last two years, it has been a really close competition and I think it is going to be the same again this time around," said UBC head coach
Marek Jedrzejek. "We have an advantage on the men's side but SFU's women are very good, so it is going to be back and forth all afternoon."
Information on registration and entries, as well as the complete schedule and scoring system can be found
HERE.
A look at the Thunderbirds
As has been the case in year's past, the T-Bird men's squad looks to carry the torch for UBC at the Achilles Cup.
On the track, Rohan Stewart, Andrew Nathan and Joel Halcro will all be looking for top two finishes in the 100m, 200m and 400m events.
Stewart and Nathan ran 21.62 and 21.63 respectively at the Mt Sac Relays as part of their early season preparations. Last summer, after a standout freshman campaign, Stewart represent Canada at the Pan Am Junior Championships. Halcro, who specializes in the longest of the "speed" evets, opened his 2010 season with a career best 48.84 over the one lap dash.
Luc Bruchet, Nigel Hole and Jordan Langridge anchor the T-Birds strong distance squad in the 800m and 1500m events.
Bruchet is getting quicker each week after returning from the 2010 World Cross Country Championships where he placed 65th in the Junior division, the second best result by a Canadian. Langridge is coming off of back-to back 1:53 performances in the 800m while Hole set a new personal best in the 1500m at the Long Beach State Invitational (3:53.29) and collected gold at the WWU Ralph Vernacchia Invitational in the 800m.
In the field events, javelin standout Curtis Moss and decathlete Reid Gustavson will be looking for more strong early season results.
Moss recently took third place at the prestigious Mt. Sac Relays with an NAIA leading throw of 70.43m. He recorded the top three javelin throws by a Canadian in 2009 and collected a silver medal at the NAIA Championships.
Gustavson, who is the defending Canadian champion in the decathlon, will be gunning for top spot in the long jump and high jump events this weekend.
On the women's side, Liz Gleadle looks to be headed towards her fourth straight victory in the javelin at the Achilles Cup. Winner of her specialty at the NCAA Division I Texas Relays (57.84) earlier this season, Gleadle is the three-time defending NAIA Champion in the javelin and set a Canadian record last year (58.21m) while competing at the FISU Games.
Adelle Johns, the T-Birds top heptathlete, just missed setting a personal best last weekend with 4,540 points in California. On Sunday, she will be counted on for points in a variety of field events events.
Sophomore Sophie Tran ran two personal bests last weekend in the sprint events, clocking 12.75 in the 100m at the Bryan Clay Invitational and 26.04 in the 200m at Long Beach. Rana Hazarat ran under her previous personal best time twice on the weekend in the 400m, clocking results of 58.84 and 58.54.
Marathon runner Nelly Amenyogbe, a favourite to medal at the NAIA Championship in the ultra distance event, will come down and race the 1500m this weekend.
A look at the Clan
The Simon Fraser University Clan track and field team enters the 2010 Achilles Cup fresh off a successful trip to California where the team competed at the Mt. SAC relays, as well as two other collegiate meets.
The strength of the Clan women's program lies in the middle distances, led by sophomore Helen Crofts and junior Jessica Smith. Crofts has won the last two NAIA 800m Indoor titles, while Smith set a new NAIA record in the Indoor 1000m at the 2010 Championships, and the pair combined to be a part of the Clan's 4x800m and DMR National Championship relay teams.
In the sprints, junior Jane Channell is the Clan's leader in the 100m, having posted a personal best time of 12.33 at the Bryan Clay Invitational this past weekend. In the field events, Priye Iworima is the Clan's leader in the long jump, setting 'A' standard last weekend with a leap of 5.61m, while Rachelle Barnett is the Clan's top high jumper.
On the men's side, the Clan are the deepest in the 400m and particularly the 4x400m relay, as the team of Tyson Unruh, Darci Achari, Andrew Boss and Adam Newton have a legitimate shot at All-American status this season.
NAIA All-American Ryan Brockerville is in the midst of another successful season in the 3000m Steeplechase, but the junior from Newfoundland has also qualified for the NAIA National Championships in the 1500m. Kevin Friesen and Keir Forster are two other threats for the Clan in the middle distances.
All-time Achilles Cup Team Results
(Series tied 3-3-1)
2003 UBC 60 - SFU 60
2004 UBC 84 - SFU 74
2005 SFU 96 - UBC 84
2006 SFU 111 - UBC 90
2007 SFU 122 - UBC 103
2008 UBC 129 - SFU 115
2009 UBC 117 - SFU 113
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