Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – In contrast to past years where records fell by the hour at the MacEwan Invitational, times were well back in every race on Saturday at the Kinsmen Fieldhouse meet, which serves as the opening Running Room Grand Prix of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference indoor track season.
However, that was by design, said MacEwan indoor track head coach Drew Carver.
"This is a training race," he noted. "We've set up game plans to run certain splits and then we look for a change in speed. All the girls had to run a relaxed pace and not worry about the competition.
"That's something we've got to learn to do is don't go with somebody who's going way too fast. Lay off and then come back strong. Usually, I've asked for the last three laps or last 500 metres to be really hard and I want to see a pace change. Almost all of the athletes executed that beautifully."
Even at a relaxed pace, the Griffins women's team dominated the meet, finishing way ahead in the team standings with 85 points, 37 better than runner-up Red Deer College.
Ashley Tymkow, who won both the women's 3000 and 1000-metre races, was the top female individual athlete at the match, narrowly edging out Griffins teammates Ember Large (first in women's 600, second in 300) and Kiana Row (first in women's 1500, second in 3000), who tied for second.
"They had a strong cross-country (season)," noted Carver. "Everything they do in the cross-country season lends itself to the indoor track, especially in the endurance events. It's kind of nice to see Ashley getting on top. She's had to chase after the other girls so many times and been close but hasn't gotten there. Today was a little bit of a revenge day for her."
Tymkow, often overshadowed by teammates Row, Large and Emma Steele during the cross-country season, put on a tremendous finishing kick in the opening race on Saturday to beat Row to the line in the women's 3000. Steele placed third to complete a Griffins' sweep.
"She showed that killer instinct that I'm going to get you and I'm going to go after it," said Carver of Tymkow. "Even though it's her own teammates, racing is racing and that's the best part. She came out there to race her fullest."
The Westlock, Alta. product feels like this race really boosted her confidence for the rest of the season.
"I felt like during cross country, as compared to last year, I was getting better into the training and the meets," said Tymkow. "It's only my second year of actually racing (indoor track), so it's very different for me. I'm getting more into it now and I'm feeling more confident. This boosts the confidence and really shows that I do have it and I can run fast."
Steele also hit the podium in the women's 1000, finishing second behind Tymkow and then combined with Large, Tymkow and Shaunice Burgers on MacEwan's winning 4x400 relay team, which cruised comfortably to the line more than seven seconds ahead of their nearest challenger.
The performance certainly gives Carver confidence the team can challenge for its fifth-straight ACAC Championship in March before the program ends at MacEwan.
"Really looking forward to our indoor championship," he said. "If the girls stay healthy and stay on track, we should be strong, looking for our last championship."
Caelen Begg had a strong performance for the MacEwan men's team, winning the 300 metres on Saturday (Robert Antoniuk photo).
On the men's side, the Griffins finished second overall with 41 points, behind Red Deer College (67). Similar to last year, they dominated the sprinting events but were behind in the middle-distance runs.
Caelen Begg's performance highlighted MacEwan's day when he strode down the stretch in full control to win the men's 300 by well over two seconds over teammate Connor Swaby.
"Caelen Begg had an awesome 300," said Carver. "The best part about it is he probably ran a personal PB and we asked him not to go out killer hard, just stay relaxed and he runs his fastest time ever.
"Sometimes when athletes try to go out hard, they put too much stress on themselves and it doesn't happen. He saw the light in that 'I can stay relaxed and still run a good time.' "
Of course, reigning ACAC Championship silver medalist and MacEwan record holder Thomas Cross-Trush and ACAC Championship bronze medalist Reece Runco didn't run the 300 on Saturday, but Begg deserved some credit in his own right. He later anchored MacEwan's first-place 4x400 relay team with Cross-Trush, Swaby and Omar Medina.
AROUND THE OVAL … Concordia's Leonard Chesoo, who won the men's 1000 and 1500 races, was the top male athlete of the event, followed by Red Deer College's Daniel Szucs (second in the 1500 and 3000) and Will Cebuliak (second in 1000, third in 1500) … New member Prairie College brought a contingent to its first race and netted three points on the men's side (Jordan Biggar, sixth in 300) and one in the women's competition (Heather Ritter, 10th in 3000) for a 10th-place team finish in both genders … Other Griffins results included Burgers (fourth in the 300 and fifth in the 600), Bailey Stang (fifth in 300, sixth in 600), Emma Perry (seventh in 1500, eighth in 1000), Oliver Fenske (19th in 600), James Thomson (fifth in 1000, sixth in 1500), Owen Guenette (12th in 1500) and Mason Burtnik (fourth in 3000).
