The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns track and field team continued to dominate the men’s throwing events, returning home from the Canada West Championships in Winnipeg with six medals and a major award.
For the second consecutive year, Peter Millman was named Field Athlete of the Year after completing a double gold medal performance, claiming both the men's shot put and weight throw titles.
For only the third time in Canada West history, a team swept the podium in a men’s event, with the Horns sweeping the gold, silver and bronze medals in the shot put event. Millman won the shot put with a personal best throw of 17.23 metres, while Ryan Sommer claimed the silver medal and Madison Hurst earned the bronze medal with a personal best toss of 14.06 metres.
Pronghorn athletes were responsible for the only other two podium sweeps in Canada West history as well. In 2003, the Horns swept the men's weight throw and in 2004 the Horns swept the men's shot put event.
Millman and Sommer also medalled in the weight throw event, with Millman winning gold and Sommer claiming a bronze medal. Hurst was seventh in the weight throw and Jordan Armstrong finished ninth. Armstrong also picked up an eighth-place finish in the shot put.
Reigning CIS Rookie of the Year, Aaron Hernandez, continued his dominance in the triple jump, winning his second consecutive gold medal and registering the second furthest jump in Canada West history with a leap of 15.50 metres. Hernandez was an honorable mention for both the Performance of the Meet and Field Event Athlete of the Meet awards.
On the women’s side, the Horns did not return with any medals, but had some noteworthy performances. Montana Forsyth and Lara Roth narrowly missed the podium in the weight throw, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Amanda Weiler finished in 10th spot. The Horns women's 4x200-metre relay narrowly missed a school record and finished seventh.
Other results for the women’s team included: Rebecca Bermel 13th in the women's 60m and 15th in women's long jump; Bryna Cline 13th in women's triple jump with a personal best of 9.95m; Jessi Fersch 18th in women's long jump; and Amaka Ashiofu 16th in women's 60m.
"I was definitely pleased with the weekend’s results and couldn't be happier to see the men complete a sweep of the shot put podium,” says head coach Larry Steinke. "Almost every athlete achieved a personal best and every athlete moved up from where they were ranked going into the meet, so I really couldn't have asked for more.”
Millman, Sommer and Hernandez all qualified for the CIS Championship meet that will be hosted by the University of Windsor, March 12-14.