VANCOUVER - During an historic afternoon at Thunderbird Park, the SFU Clan edged the UBC Thunderbirds 122-107 to claim the 2010 Achilles Cup at the brand new Rashpal Dhillon Track and Field Oval.
COMPLETE RESULTSWith the win, the Clan now hold the overall series lead at 4-3-1 in the annual dual between the two Lower Mainland schools that compete in the NAIA.
UBC topped the men's competition 69-46 thanks to impressive efforts from standouts Luc Bruchet, Rohan Stewart, Curtis Moss, and Andrew Nathan.
SFU took control of the meet, however, on the women's side, dominating the track events en route to a 77-38 advantage. Helen Crofts paced the Clan with three titles bringing home top spot in the 400m (56.19) and 1,500m (4:46.37) while anchoring their victorious 4x400m relay (4:01.29). The Clan women claimed first spot in every track event.
Despite a loss in their first home track and field meet in over 40 years, UBC head coach
Marek Jedrzejek was pleased with his team's effort.
"First and foremost we were so glad and proud about having our first official track meet on our own soil," said Jedrzejek. "We came into today having won the last two meets and we came here to win but that's not always the way it goes in sport."
The top two performances of the day, as expected, went to the T-Birds in the javelin events.
Moss bettered his own record in the men's event with a throw of 66.44m to earn his first gold of the day. He also picked up top spot in the shot put with an effort of 12.40m on his only attempt.
Liz Gleadle, the Canadian national record holder in the women's javelin, continued her stellar senior campaign with a winning throw of 57.10m which bettered her own meet record of 53.49m.
Gleadle ends her Achilles Cup career with four straight victories in the javelin, a feat she will be looking to replicate later this summer at the 2010 NAIA Track and Field Championships.
"We do have a powerhouse program in the javelin and they threw well today. They not only represent our university but they also compete internationally," noted Jedrzejek of Moss and Gleadle.
UBC also topped the men's high jump and long jump to sweep the field events.
On the track, Stewart got UBC off to a quick start in the men's 200m with a winning time of 22.17, however, the standout sophomore would race only once more, in the 4x100m relay, due to an injury.
SFU claimed an upset in that men's 4x100m relay edging out the UBC 42.11 to 42.20 as they took advantage of the T-Birds sloppy exchanges.
"Losing Rohan to that injury really hurt us. Our team moral dipped a bit after that and we missed out on him scoring some points for us," said Jedrzejek.
Nathan, who finished second behind Stewart in the 200m (22.22), earned a bit of redemption with a victory in the 100m (10.83).
Bruchet, who recently represented Canada at the World Junior Cross Country Championships in Poland, used a strong kick to take first in the 1,500m (3:55.85) passing SFU's Ryan Brockerville in the final 20 metres.
The freshman standout just narrowly missed out on gold in the 800m (1:56.12) as Brockerville (1:55.59) was able to withstand Bruchet's strong finish.
-30-
