Summer Universiade: Canada’s fastest man highlights athletics selection

July 18, 2011

OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport, in conjunction with Athletics Canada, announced Monday the 37 student-athletes who will represent Canada in track and field at the 26th Summer Universiade in August in Shenzhen, China.

Canada is coming off its second-best showing in history at the biennial event with eight medals in 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia. The performance trails only a 13-podium tally in 1983 in Edmonton, the only time the world university games have been held on Canadian soil.

Since 1965, Canadians have captured 67 medals in athletics at the games. Swimming is the only sport that has brought more Universiade glory to Canada over the years with 95 podiums.

“We are excited to bring such a large team to the Universiade and seek to further improve on recent past team performances at this prestigious international event,” said Team Canada and University of Manitoba track and field head coach Claude Berube. “The level of Canadian athletes in Shenzhen will be very high as some will also compete afterwards at the world championships. I am also pleased with the strong representation on the women’s and men’s teams in both track and field events.”

The Canadian squad is comprised of 19 female and 17 male athletes including 20 from universities competing in CIS, 13 schools that compete in the NCAA or NAIA, as well as three from Canadian colleges.

Ten team members have previous Universiade experience, four represented Canada at the 2009 IAAF world championships in athletics in Berlin and seven wore the Maple Leaf at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India.

Highlighting the red and white selection is Sam Effah of Calgary, the reigning two-time Canadian champion on 100 metres.

The 22-year-old University of Calgary business student successfully defended his national title in the sport’s most prestigious race last month at the Canadian championships held in his hometown. A four-time CIS male athlete of the year in track events, Effah placed seventh on 100m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, fifth on 200m at the 2009 Universiade, and helped Canada’s 4x100m relay to a fifth-place finish at the 2009 Worlds in Germany. His winning time of 10.06 seconds – a personal best - at the 2010 NACAC under-23 championships was the fastest by a Canadian in the 100 since 2003 and makes him the fourth fastest Canadian of all time.

In addition to Effah, the list of world university games returnees includes Jillian Drouin of Corunna, Ont., Gabriella Duclos-Lasnier of Quebec City, Marie-Ève Dugas of Laval, Que., Elizabeth Gleadle of Vancouver, Kimberly Hyacinthe of Montreal, Amonn Nelson of Calgary, Mark Dillon of Toronto, Inaki Gomez of Vancouver, and Jason Wurster of Stevensville, Ont.

Two years ago in Belgrade, Hyacinthe, a University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) student, and Nelson, from the University of Calgary, teamed up as part of the women’s 4x400m relay to give Canada its first Universiade gold medal in track and field since 1983. They also finished sixth and eighth, respectively, in the individual 200m race.

Nelson, the reigning CIS female athlete of the year in track events, also claimed bronze in the 4x400 at the last Commonwealth Games and she competed alongside Hyacinthe at the Berlin world championships.

Drouin was 23rd in the high jump at the 2007 Universiade in Bangkok; Duclos-Lasnier placed fifth in the pole vault in 2009 in Belgrade; Dugas reached the semi-finals in the 100m hurdles in 2007; Gleadle finished sixth in the javelin throw in 2009; Dillon was 14th in the high jump in 2005 in Izmir, Turkey, but suffered an injury while competing in the same event at the 2009 Games; Gomez took 20th place in the 20km race walk in 2009; Wurster, a pole vaulter, will become one of the rare Canadians in history to attend four world university games (14th in 2005, fifth in 2007, sixth in 2009).

Drouin, Duclos-Lasnier, Gomez and Wurster all competed at the Commonwealth Games in India.

Rounding out the Canadian women’s team for Shenzhen 2011 are Mélanie Blouin of Quebec City, Jennifer Cotten of Woodstock, Ont., Helen Crofts of West Vancouver, Christie Gordon of Edmonton, Chantelle Groenewoud of North Vancouver, Geneviève Lalonde of Moncton, Annie LeBlanc of Repentigny, Que., Jenna Martin of Bridgewater, N.S., Natasha Miller of Abbotsford, B.C., Holly Parent of Mill Bay, B.C., Heather Steacy of Lethbridge, Alta., Taryn Suttie of Saskatoon, and Kate Van Buskirk of Brampton, Ont.

Lalonde set a North American junior record in the 3000m steeple at the 2010 junior world championships in Moncton with a time of nine minutes 57 seconds. LeBlanc (800m) and Parent (high jump) also competed at the Junior Worlds a year ago, while Martin was part of the 4x400 relay at the 2009 IAAF world championships in athletics.

Suttie is the reigning CIS female athlete of the year in field events, an honour Cotten received in 2010.

Rounding out the men’s squad are Anthony Berkis of Oshawa, Ont., Chris Crossley of Moosomin, Sask., Evan Dunfee of Richmond, B.C., Gabriel El Hanbli of Repentigny, Oluwasegun Makinde of Ottawa, Tim Nedow of Brockville, Ont., Kyle Nielsen of Langley, B.C., Jaden Ostapowich of Beaumont, Alta., Dontae Richards-Kwok of Mississauga, Ont., Michael Robertson of Ottawa, Andrew Smith of Carrot River, Sask., Kelly Wiebe of Swift Current, Sask., and Alex Witmer of Kitchener, Ont.

Dunfee (20km race walk) is a veteran of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2008 junior world championships, while Makinde was at last summer’s Junior Worlds in Moncton.

In addition to Berube, the Team Canada support staff for Shenzhen includes team manager Janet Neufeld of New Westminster, B.C., assistant coaches Heather Hennigar of Halifax, David Hunt of Toronto, Joel Skinner of Sarnia, Ont., and Mingpu Wu of Winnipeg, as well as physiotherapist Blaise Dubois of Quebec City.

The Universiade track and field competition is scheduled for August 16-21.

NOTE: Heather Steacy’s older brother, Jim, competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and was Canada’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremonies at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Serbia, where he claimed silver in the hammer throw...

TEAM CANADA ROSTER

CANADA’S ATHLETICS GOLD MEDALS AT THE SUMMER UNIVERSIADE (5):

2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): Women’s 4x400m (C. Muir, A. Nelson, K. Hyacinthe, E. Akinsule)
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): Guillaume Leblanc, 20km race walk
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): David Steen, Decathlon
1975 (Rome, Italy): Bishop Dolegiewicz, Shot Put
1965 (Budapest, Hungary): Bill Crothers, 800m

-CIS-