UNews - Ryan Sommer

Horns track team debut is impressive

trevor.kenney — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 23:24:39 +0000

Competing for the first time as a team this season, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns track and field team jumped out of the gates and produced exceptional early season results this past weekend at the Golden Bear Open in Edmonton.

Making her debut on the university circuit, freshman Sandra Latrace served notice that she will be a threat this season in both the long jump and 60-metre sprint. In the long jump, Latrace moved to the top of the CIS rankings by more than 15 centimetres and claimed the top spot at the Golden Bear Open with a leap of 6.17 metres. The mark in the long jump was also an Alberta junior and under-23 record.

In the 60-metre sprint, Latrace moved into the CIS top 10 with a time of 7.72 seconds, which placed her second among university finishers at the meet this past weekend.

Two-time reigning CIS champion Aaron Hernandez continued to prove he will be the man to beat in the triple jump as he moved to the top of the CIS rankings with a solid meet winning jump of 15.19 metres.

The Horns other reigning CIS champion, Peter Millman, continued the team’s strong performance in the throwing events by winning both the shot put and weight throw in Edmonton. The 2015 CIS shot put champion moved into second place in the CIS rankings in both disciplines. The Pronghorns placed 1-2 in the shot put with Millman taking top spot with a toss of 16.62 metres, while teammate Ryan Sommer finished second and moved into the top ten in the CIS rankings with a throw of 14.80m.

Millman won the weight throw by nearly four metres with a toss of 18.78 metres. Rookie teammate Ben Ingvaldson made his mark in Canada West in the weight throw, finishing third with a toss of 14.64 metres in his first university meet, while Ryan Sommer was fourth.

In the women’s throwing circle, Diane Marin placed fourth in weight throw with a mark of 13.80m while teammates Lara Roth, Ariel Chessall and Amanda Weiler finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

On the track, the top results on the men’s side came from senior sprinter Phillip Rockerbie and rookies Matthew Knapik and Garrett Mckay. In the 60-metre hurdles, Rockerbie finished third with a time of 8.70 seconds, while Knapik was second in his 300-metre heat with a time of 36.32 seconds and McKay won his heat with a time of 36.67sec.

“Sandra’s results in the 60m and long jump were definitely the highlight of the weekend, but we had strong results from the majority of the team,” says head coach Larry Steinke. “This is the third competition for most of the teams in Canada West and our first, so to have this strong a showing is definitely promising for the rest of the year."

Next up for the Horns is a split trip on the weekend of February 5-6 when they head to Winnipeg for the Bison Classic and to Edmonton for the Alberta Indoor Games.

Hernandez, Millman claim CIS track gold medals

trevor.kenney — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 22:14:20 +0000

Peter Millman and Aaron Hernandez led the way with gold medal performances as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns track and field team capped the 2015 university athletic season with an outstanding performance at the CIS Track and Field Championships in Windsor, Ont.

Aaron Hernandez has now won back-to-back CIS gold medals in triple jump.

Millman captured gold in the shot put while Hernandez claimed his second successive national gold medal in the triple jump event. Both athletes entered the CIS championship meet as Canada West champions.

"It was a great weekend; everyone performed as expected and it's obviously great coming home with two national champions,” says Horns head coach Larry Steinke. “It's not only a nice way to cap the season, it sets the tone for next season as well."

For Millman, a third-year Truro, Nova Scotia product, the CIS title was sweet redemption. In the past two CIS meets he'd failed to reach expectations and come up shy in his quest for the medal podium. He would not be denied in Windsor.

Peter Millman earned his first CIS shot put gold by the slimmest of margins.

“It’s extra special (this year) considering I did quite horrible, actually, the last two years," Millman told the Truro Daily News.

Millman had to come from behind to claim the shot put gold, using his fifth throw of the event to post a 17.18-metre distance, one centimetre ahead of Marc-Antoine Lafrenaye-Dugas of Sherbrooke ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. The throw was also only five centimetres shy of the personal best he set only three weeks ago at the Canada West Championship. Millman then sat back and watched as Lafrenaye-Dugas attempted two more throws to get back into the gold position, but faulted on each attempt.

“The fifth throw was awesome,” Millman told the Daily News shortly after his win. “I knew I had to go for it on that one, I couldn’t play it safe anymore. It’s just amazing right now.”

Millman's teammate, Ryan Sommer, finished sixth with a throw of 15.54 metres.

Hernandez, the defending CIS Champion and reigning CIS rookie of the year, continued his dominance in the triple jump. His jump of 15.33 metres was an astounding 40 centimetres better than the rest of the field. During his six jump sequence, four of Hernandez's five recorded jumps would have been good enough for the gold medal victory.

With all three of their competing athletes scoring points, the Horns accumulated 26 total points, which was the third best among Canada West schools and the top among the three Alberta schools participating at the championships. It gave the men's team a 10th-place ranking nationally.

Horns sweep shot put podium, win six medals at Canada West

trevor.kenney — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 16:55:10 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns track and field team continued to dominate the men’s throwing events, returning home from the Canada West Championships in Winnipeg with six medals and a major award.

For the second consecutive year, Peter Millman was named Field Athlete of the Year following a double gold medal performance.

For the second consecutive year, Peter Millman was named Field Athlete of the Year after completing a double gold medal performance, claiming both the men's shot put and weight throw titles.

For only the third time in Canada West history, a team swept the podium in a men’s event, with the Horns sweeping the gold, silver and bronze medals in the shot put event. Millman won the shot put with a personal best throw of 17.23 metres, while Ryan Sommer claimed the silver medal and Madison Hurst earned the bronze medal with a personal best toss of 14.06 metres.

Pronghorn athletes were responsible for the only other two podium sweeps in Canada West history as well. In 2003, the Horns swept the men's weight throw and in 2004 the Horns swept the men's shot put event.

Millman and Sommer also medalled in the weight throw event, with Millman winning gold and Sommer claiming a bronze medal. Hurst was seventh in the weight throw and Jordan Armstrong finished ninth. Armstrong also picked up an eighth-place finish in the shot put.

Reigning CIS Rookie of the Year, Aaron Hernandez, continued his dominance in the triple jump, winning his second consecutive gold medal and registering the second furthest jump in Canada West history with a leap of 15.50 metres. Hernandez was an honorable mention for both the Performance of the Meet and Field Event Athlete of the Meet awards.

On the women’s side, the Horns did not return with any medals, but had some noteworthy performances. Montana Forsyth and Lara Roth narrowly missed the podium in the weight throw, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Amanda Weiler finished in 10th spot. The Horns women's 4x200-metre relay narrowly missed a school record and finished seventh.

Other results for the women’s team included: Rebecca Bermel 13th in the women's 60m and 15th in women's long jump; Bryna Cline 13th in women's triple jump with a personal best of 9.95m; Jessi Fersch 18th in women's long jump; and Amaka Ashiofu 16th in women's 60m.

"I was definitely pleased with the weekend’s results and couldn't be happier to see the men complete a sweep of the shot put podium,” says head coach Larry Steinke. "Almost every athlete achieved a personal best and every athlete moved up from where they were ranked going into the meet, so I really couldn't have asked for more.”

Millman, Sommer and Hernandez all qualified for the CIS Championship meet that will be hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Windsor, March 12-14.

Horns looking for medals at Canada West Track Championship

trevor.kenney — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 18:51:37 +0000

The 2014-15 Canada West Track & Field Championships will see a small but talented ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge team compete this weekend at the Max Bell Fieldhouse in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba.

The Horns will send 12 athletes to the championship meet this year, with seven women and five men ready to challenge for conference titles.

Reigning CIS rookie of the year Aaron Hernandez and two-time Canada West weight throw gold medalist Peter Millman lead the Pronghorns this season and are favourites to win their respective events. The men’s team as a whole has been ranked 10th in the country for the past three weeks.

Following a stellar freshman campaign where he won both the Canada West and CIS gold medal in the triple jump, Hernandez enters the championship meet as the jumper to beat, ranked first in both the Canada West and CIS in his event.

Millman has had an exceptional start to his third season and goes to Winnipeg as the top ranked thrower in Canada West. Undefeated thus far this season, Millman sits atop the rankings in both the weight throw and shot put amongst Canada West competition. He is also ranked second in the CIS.

Ryan Sommer sits in second place in the Canada West rankings in both weight throw and shot put and sixth in CIS. Madison Hurst and Jordan Armstrong round out a strong men's team, ranking sixth and 13th in conference rankings for shot put and weight throw respectively.

On the women’s side, third-year Truro, Nova Scotia product Montana Forsyth is the top ranked Pronghorn athlete, ranking fifth in the weight throw, while Lara Roth is ranked one spot behind her at sixth.

The women's 4X200m relay team is ranked sixth in Canada West and looks to better its season's best time and ranking.

Overall, the Horns are poised to take home five medals and build on their preparations for the CIS Championships.

"We have had a strong season from a number of athletes thus far, but Canada West is where the rubber really starts to hit the road and preparations for CIS begin to show through,” says head coach Larry Steinke. “I'm expecting strong results from everyone and signs indicate that we will have some very notable performances again this year at Canada West."

Horns' Gallagher and Hernandez capture CIS gold medals

trevor.kenney — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 22:20:07 +0000

Kayla Gallagher and Aaron Hernandez are national champions.

Horns thrower, Kayla Gallagher, centre, is pictured here following her iwn at the Canada West Track Championships. Over the weekend, she and teammate Aaron Hernandez each won CIS gold.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorn track and field athletes each captured gold medals at this past weekend's CIS Track Championships at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta.

In the meet’s opening event, second-year thrower Gallagher defended her weight throw title. As expected, the event was a two-horse race for gold with a battle between Gallagher and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Huskie thrower Taryn Suttie. On her fourth of six throws, Gallagher set a new personal best for the second meet in a row and claimed the gold medal with a throw of 18.66 metres. Suttie was second with an 18.21 metre throw. No other competitors were within a metre of the top two throwers.

“Kayla rose to the occasion once again, kept her unbeaten streak alive, and continues to develop into one of the top young throwers in Canada,” says Pronghorns head coach Larry Steinke. “I'm looking forward to the next few years in her development.”

Gallagher also competed in the shot put event and finished eighth with her furthest throw of 12.69 metres.

Fresh off being named the CIS track rookie of the year, Hernandez earned the CIS gold medal in the triple jump and his first national title. Hernandez entered the event ranked second, but matched his personal best of 15.03 metres on his fifth of six jumps to claim the triple jump title.

“Aaron showed he was the class of the field despite fouling his first two jumps, adding more stress and grey hair to my life,” says Steinke. “He overcame that and just got better on each jump, and showed a lot of poise and maturity despite his nerves almost getting the better of him as well. “

Battling the flu and nerves made it a tough weekend for ‘Horns throwers Peter Millman and Ryan Sommer. Millman finished sixth in both the weight throw and shot put events, as he was well under his personal best distances. Sommer, who didn’t compete in the weigh throw, finished 12th in the shot put.

Horns look for medals at CIS Track Championships

trevor.kenney — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 16:59:37 +0000

After collecting four medals at the Canada West championship meet two weeks ago in Edmonton, four ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns track athletes will return to Edmonton in search of more hardware at the CIS Championships.

Thrower Peter Millman was a double medalist at the Canada West Championships and is looking to add a national title to his resumé.

The three-day event, hosted for the second straight year by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, gets under way Thursday, Mar. 6 with the season awards luncheon at Lister Hall.

The first final of the national meet, the women’s weight throw, follows shortly after, at 2:30 p.m. The championships conclude Saturday afternoon with the always exciting 4x400m relays. Selected events will be webcast live daily at www.CIS-SIC.tv and live results can be found at http://www.ellistrack.ca/CIS/LiveResults/.

Double Canada West gold medalist Peter Millman leads the small Horns contingent of three males and one female set to compete in Edmonton.

Millman, who won both the Canada West weight throw and shot put events while setting new personal best marks in both, enters the meet ranked third in the CIS in weight throw and fourth in the shot put. Joining Millman in the two men’s throws events will be Ryan Sommer.

Sommer finished just off the podium at the Canada West championships, placing fourth in both throws events and will enter the CIS meet ranked 12th and 13th in the shot and weight throw respectively.

Canada West Rookie of the Year Aaron Hernandez rounds out the Horns men’s participants at the national meet, and will compete in the triple jump and long jump events. The triple jump Canada West gold medalist is ranked second in the CIS with a best jump of 15.03 metres.

Defending CIS weight throw champion Kayla Gallagher is the lone female Pronghorn to qualify for the CIS Championships, and enters the meet as the favourite in the weigh throw. Despite not training in shot put for the majority of the year, she is also ranked 10th nationally in that event.

Throwers earn Pronghorn weekly honours

trevor.kenney — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 23:23:13 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns throwers Peter Millman and Kayla Gallagher earned their respective Subway Pronghorn Male and Female Athlete of the Week honours after impressive performances at the Canada West Track and Field Championships this past weekend.

Second-year thrower Millman continued his stellar start to his university throwing career, winning the gold medal in both the weight throw and shot put events at the Canada West championships hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta.

In his first event of the meet, the Truro, NS native set a new personal best in the weight throw, en route to his second career gold medal in the event. His throw of 18.82 metres won the event by over a metre. The next day in the shot put event, he set another personal best mark, hitting 16.91 metres on his sixth and final throw. It was the second time this season that he had set a personal best mark in that event.

With his outstanding performance at the Canada West Championships, Millman was named the Canada West Field Athlete of the Year.

Meanwhile, reigning CIS weight throw champion Kayla Gallagher was again the cream of the crop in her marquee event, claiming her second consecutive Canada West title. Setting a new personal best with a throw of 18.48 metres, Gallagher also beat the field by nearly a metre.

Despite not training shot put for much of the season, Gallagher was then three centimetres short of a new personal best and missed the shot put podium by only nine centimetres and finished fourth with a throw of 13.17 metres.

Gallagher, Millman, Ryan Sommer and Aaron Hernandez will travel return to Edmonton for the CIS Championships, Mar. 6-8.

Millman leads Horns at Canada West Championships

trevor.kenney — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 22:16:23 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns track and field team captured four Canada West gold medals and a pair of individual awards at the Canada West Track and Field Championships in Edmonton this past weekend.

Peter Millman was unstoppable in both the weight throw and shot put events, winning two gold medals.

Horns thrower Peter Millman continued his dominance in the throwing circle, winning both the weight throw and shot put events. Millman set a new personal best in both events, throwing 18.82 metres in the weight throw and 16.91 metres in the shot. Fellow thrower Ryan Sommer finished fourth in both events and punched his ticket to the CIS Championships in March.

Following his double gold medal performance, Millman was named the Canada West Field Athlete of the Year.

Pronghorns rookie Aaron Hernandez also made his mark at the Canada West meet, dominating the triple jump event by nearly a metre as he reached 15.03 metres. Hernandez earned gold and was named the Canada West Rookie of the Year.

Kayla Gallagher, centre, defended her Canada West weight throw title with a dominant performance.

On the women’s side, reigning CIS weight throw champion Kayla Gallagher was once again the cream of the crop. She claimed her second consecutive Canada West title by setting a new personal best with a throw of 18.48 metres. Gallagher also beat the field by nearly a metre.

Then, despite not training shot put for much of the season, Gallagher was three centimetres short of a new personal best and missed the shot put podium by only nine centimetres to finish fourth with a throw of 13.17 metres.

"We had a great weekend with some strong results. Obviously the four gold medals and athlete of the year and rookie of the year honours were fantastic,” says Pronghorns head coach Larry Steinke. “But the team as a whole had a lot of personal bests and some great individual performances that indicate the future will continue to only look stronger for us moving forward."

Millman, Sommer, Hernandez and Gallagher all qualified for the CIS Championships that will be hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta in Edmonton, Mar. 6-8.

Horns at championships meets

trevor.kenney — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 18:40:47 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Letbridge Pronghorn athletes are busy on a number of fronts this weekend, including the swim and track and field teams that are competing at championship events.

Canada West Track Championships

The Pronghorns track and field team sends 21 competitors to the conference meet in Edmonton this year with some definite medal hopefuls.

Picking up where she left off from her freshman season, Kayla Gallagher enters the conference meet ranked second in the weight throw. If her first year was any indication though, her best is yet to come. Last year, Gallagher peaked at the right time by winning both the Canada West and CIS weight throw titles.

Joining Gallagher in the throws events will be second-year thrower Montana Forsyth and newcomer Lara Roth. Roth will also throw in the shot put event.

On the men’s side, reigning Canada West weight throw champion Peter Millman also had a good start to his second season and enters the conference meet as the top ranked weight thrower. Millman is a medal threat in the shot put as well, ranked second in Canada West. Fellow thrower Ryan Sommer has taken a big step forward this season and is a medal contender in the shot put.

Third-year hurdler and pentathlon competitor Phillip Rockerbie had some positive early season results, ranked second in the conference in the 60-metre hurdles and has an outside shot at the podium in the pentathlon. Freshman jumper Aaron Hernandez burst on to the collegiate scene this season, winning both the long jump and triple jump events at the Golden Bear open. He will enter the Canada West Championships ranked first in the triple jump and third in the long jump.

CIS Swim Championships

For the second year in a row the Pronghorns swim team heads to the CIS Championship meet with 11 athletes, but this season the Horns have a balance between the two genders.

Last year in Calgary, the Horns sent 10 men and only one female swimmer, where this year the Horns will have four women swimming, and for the first time in more than a decade, will enter relay teams of both genders in the same CIS Championship.

Fifth-year sprinter Ryan Thornley will lead the men’s side that includes Duncan Donaldson, Nick van der Sloot, Scott Hunter, Tiha Konyves, David Errington and Kurt Carolus. Thornley was the Horns lone individual medalist from the Canada West Championships, winning a bronze in the 50-metre butterfly.

In addition to the individual events, the men’s relay could threaten the podium. Entering the championships, the men’s 400-metre free relay is ranked fourth in the country.

On the women’s side, after being the lone Pronghorn to qualify for the CIS Championships last season, Kara Declark will be joined by Keri Ann Cowan, Ardelle Layden and Lauren Smythies. The increased female qualifiers have allowed the Horns to enter the relays this year and should reflect an increase in the team scoring standings.

“For the first time in over a decade the program will see both the men’s and women’s team enter relays in the same CIS Championship,” says head coach Peter Schori. “We have a very strong sprint team with some fifth-year leadership and three first-year qualifiers.

“If all the guys are firing together our men could challenge for a top 10 in the team scoring.”

The 2014 CIS Swim Championships are hosted at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto and the three-day national meet, which kicks off the CIS winter championship season, runs from Thursday to Saturday at the U of T’s Varsity Pool, with preliminaries starting at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. daily.

All finals will be webcast live on www.CIS-SIC.tv, while live results from all sessions will be available on the championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/swim/index.

Five more medals for Horns' track team

trevor.kenney — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 19:17:23 +0000

In just the team's second meet of the season, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns track and field squad continues to produce encouraging results as they prepare for the Canada West Championships.

This past weekend at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba Bison Classic, the Horns earned five medals. This comes on the heels of a six-medal performance at the Golden Bear Open in Edmonton two weeks previous.

Coming off a double gold performance in Edmonton, Horns' thrower Peter Millman continued his early season success in Winnipeg by throwing a personal best 18.01 metres in the weight throw. The throw netted Millman a gold medal for the second consecutive meet.

He then narrowly missed out on a second consecutive shot put gold, getting edged in the last round by Chris Pickering of Regina. His silver medal winning throw of 16.33 metres was just shy of the personal best he set at the Golden Bear Open.

Teammate Ryan Sommer also established a personal best in the shot put en route to a bronze medal win. His result of 15.14 metres moved him into eighth spot in the CIS rankings.

Phillip Rockerbie also medaled for the Horns, finishing third in the 60-metre hurdles with a time of 8.60 seconds. He is still ranked second in Canada West.

Aaron Hernandez, who sits in second place in the CIS triple jump rankings, had a tough weekend and didn't manage a measured mark.

On the women’s side, Kayla Gallagher won the weight throw event with a toss of 17.90 metres, while Montana Forsyth threw a personal best of 14.57m to finish fifth.

"We had a mixed bag of results for the weekend,” says head coach Larry Steinke. “Aaron had a tough weekend adjusting to the speed of the runway but a number of athletes picked up the slack and that helped to keep us ahead of both the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary in the national rankings. Things are definitely looking good heading into this weekend at the U of Alberta and then the Canada West Championships in three weeks’ time."

The Horns continue their preparations leading up to the Canada West Championships that will be held Feb. 21-22 back in Edmonton.

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