Peter Millman and Aaron Hernandez each won a pair of gold medals to lead the University of Lethbridge track and field team as it officially opened its Canada West season at the Golden Bear Invitational hosted by the University of Alberta.
Second-year Pronghorn Millman picked up where he left off in his freshman season and was a double-gold medalist in the throws events. The Truro, Nova Scotia native opened the meet Friday evening by winning the weight throw event with a toss of 17.32 metres. Millman’s second gold came Saturday in the shot put where he topped the competition with a new personal best mark of 16.60m. Millman’s throws moved him to the top of the Canada west rankings and third in the CIS.
First-year jumper Hernandez kicked off his university career in style, also returning home with two gold medals. Friday night, Hernandez won the men's long jump with a jump of 6.98m. On Saturday, Hernandez led the way with a gold medal in the triple jump. His leap of 14.88m was an Alberta junior men's provincial record and vaulted him to the top of the Canada West rankings and second in the CIS.
Other notable male performances were from Ryan Sommer, who’s throw of 14.53m in men's shot earned him a bronze medal and a third-place ranking in Canada West. Philip Rockerbie had a personal best of 8.46 seconds in the men's 60m hurdles during the men's pentathlon. That mark moved him into second place in the Canada West rankings and seventh in the CIS rankings. His score of 3,105 in the pentathlon puts him fifth in the Canada West and 10th in the CIS.
On the women’s side, 2013 CIS champion Kayla Gallagher opened her season with a 17.95m toss in women's weight throw – good for a silver medal and a second place ranking in the CIS.
Head coach Larry Steinke is pleased with the team's opening meet.
"The team as a whole had a great opening weekend" says Steinke. "Most of the other universities used this meet as their second or third competition and we always use it as our opener. Aaron is definitely headed for a great rookie year in the CIS while Kayla and Peter are picking up where they left off last season and look to be a dominant force again. Everyone is definitely ahead of where they need to be at this point in the season and looking forward to the Bison Classic on Feb. 1."
The Horns continue their preparations leading up to the Canada West Championships that will be held February 21-22 back in Edmonton.