Griffins head to ACAC Championship in Calgary hunting for more banners
Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Depth will the key for the MacEwan Griffins as they chase after the program's fourth-straight and fifth Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference women's championship in the past six years this weekend in Calgary.
Dominant record-breaking athletes of the past such as Vanessa Trofimenkoff, Hannah Leggatt and Nikita Case are no longer in the fold. Instead, this is a team that's better for the sum of its parts, explains head coach Drew Carver.
"Definitely I think this has got to be a full team effort," he said. "It's not just having two runners place in the top, it's having my third and fourth runners if they're in the event doing their best also. The theory is this, if you can plug the front of the race with more of your athletes, it makes it harder for the other team to gain spots because they're always dealing with another MacEwan athlete.
"This is one of those times where we've got strength in numbers rather than a top superstar athlete on the team."
That said, the Griffins would be better for it if Ember Large, Emma Steele and Ashley Tymkow come through with medals in their events Friday and Saturday at the Repsol Centre in Calgary. Large is the wild card of the event for the Griffins. The 600m and 1000m winner at the MacEwan Invitational back in January has just returned from Russia where she's spent the past two weeks representing Canada in cross-country skiing at the Winter Universiade.
"Ember has to come back not exhausted," said Carver. "If she just performs at the level she can we'll do really well.
"Ashley and Emma both have to run to the top of their game," he added of his middle-distance specialists, who were MacEwan's top two athletes during the cross-country season. "Those two have been training really well, so it's just put it together on race day."
Steele made the Canada West second all-star team and was runner-up for conference rookie of the year in the fall. Tymkow has been her equal on the track, though, as they're both expected to push for gold in the longest distance events this weekend.
"I know for Emma, indoors has never been a good time for her all through her high school years, so we're trying to break that cycle," said Carver. "She was unbelievable in cross-country, but it seems like indoor track is has been tough for her. This is the year to shake that off."
As for the Griffins men's team, they're aiming for the first banner in program history. To do it, they'd need to prevent host SAIT from claiming a third-straight championship on their home track this weekend.
Tall order indeed, considering the Trojans still boast middle distance superstar Matthew Travaglini – who is the national Canadian Colleges Athletic Association cross country running champion – and 300m record holder Brent Stephen, among others.
"The worst part about it is we're thin in the longer distances," said Carver. "Scott (Kohlman) and Owen (Guenette) are our main horses for this. They're going to carry the brunt of the weight in the 3000, 1500 and 1000. If Scott can break that four-minute barrier like we were hoping for earlier this year, that would put a pretty big hole in SAIT's program.
"That will be a big key as to whether or not we're going to be successful because in the sprint end of it, we've got the most dominant sprint team we've ever put together," added Carver. "That's why I'm looking to have two relay teams podium this year for the men's side."
MacEwan is set in the sprints with former ACAC 300 record holder Thomas Cross-Trush leading the way, while rookies Caelen Begg and Connor Swaby have also hit the podium this season at the distance. Reece Runco – the 2018 bronze medalist in the 300 – who is also a threat for a medal at the 600, rounds out the Griffins' top relay team. Carver can then trot out sprinters Andrei Pop and Omar Medina with Kohlman and Guenette to form a B 4x400m relay squad that should also contend for a medal.
However the results shake down this weekend, Carver notes the way the team supports each other is his most impressive takeaway from the season so far.
"One thing I like about this year versus last year whether we win or lose, this is probably one of the most cohesive teams we've ever had," he said. "It's not just the middle-distance kids hanging together, we're talking about all of them. When they do something, they all want to be included and it's a team effort from top to bottom.
"I've really enjoyed watching them at some of the track meets where they've been cheering each other on. It wasn't 'I go do my thing and leave.' They were there to support each other. I've really enjoyed that."
