Outdoor season preview
As temperatures begin heating up on British Columbia’s Southwest Coast, so too does the action for the University of British Columbia’s Track and Field team as th
ey kick off their 2016 campaign with multiple meets this March.
First to make their outdoor competition debut for the Thunderbirds, the men and women’s distance squads will take to Stanley Park this Saturday, March 12th for the annual BMO St. Patrick’s Day 5km, the team’s only foray onto the roads during the course of their collegiate season. A month removed from a stellar showing on the indoor track at the University of Washington, which saw a slew of personal best’s for the T-Bird harriers, the group coached by Chris Johnson and Norm Tinkham will look to keep their momentum rolling against some of the province’s best. Leading the charge on the women’s side will be 5th year Senior Kirsten Lee, while the men’s roster will be bolstered by the return of 2014 XC All American Evan Elder, who will don the blue and gold for the first time since being sidelined with injury nearly eleven months ago.
The action doesn’t stop there, however, as three weeks later the distance, sprint, and field teams will come together to kick off the track and field season on home territory at Point Grey’s Rashpal Dhillon Track and Field Oval, which plays host to the UBC Open March 25th-26th. In addition to seeking out qualifying marks that will punch their tickets to the NAIA National Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama, the T-Bird roster will be competing with an added incentive, as this year’s edition also plays host to the ‘Birds annual showdown with cross town rival Simon Fraser University, the 14th edition of the always exciting Achilles Cup. After SFU snapped UBC’s two year win streak in a tight 120.5-109.5 loss in 2015, an outcome largely decided by SFU’s sweep in all four relays, first year head coach Laurier Primeau and company will look to reverse last year’s outcome and return the cup to the Point Grey Campus, relying on big performances in both individual and relay events from their athletes to do so. Leading the charge for UBC will be veterans such as Stephen Abosi in the short sprints and Katherine Tourigny in the 400 hurdles, as well as rookies like Jake Hanna, who, like Tourigny, has a pedigree in the quarter mile that makes him one to watch out for both individually and in the relays in his UBC outdoor debut. Also looking to come up big for the ‘Birds will be its multi-event athletes, for whom the Open serves as a golden opportunity to post scores high enough to get them through to Alabama; look for Mackenzie Koopmans to make an impact in his first full Decathlon in nearly a year.
With five meets scheduled through April and a ten-day competition trip to California in May, the Thunderbirds will stay busy in their pursuit of NAIA standards. Competition plans for UBC include the prestigious Oregon Relays at Historic Hayward Field as well Occidental College’s Oxy Invitational, all culminating with the NAIA National Championships May 26th-28th, where the league’s lone Canadian team will be looking to better the respective third and seventh place showings by the women and men’s squads from one year ago.
By John Gay BA Candidate 2018 | International Relations XC, 1500m, 5000m, 3000m SC
Edits by Devin Rajala BA Candidate 2016 | Human Geography and Political Science XC, 800m, 1500m
