UNews - Jeffrey Nicol

Swim team continues to impress

trevor.kenney — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:07:09 +0000

With the Canada West Championship meet still over a month away, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorn swim team continues to enjoy an impressive start to the season under first-year head coach Peter Schori.

After posting its first CIS Top 10 appearance in more than 10 years, the 'Horns have already nearly doubled their Canada West qualifying swimmers and will send their biggest team to the conference championships in more than seven seasons.

This past weekend at the JP Fiset Invitational meet in Edmonton, the 'Horns achieved one more Canada West qualifying time, pushing the team's total to 26. Last season, the 'Horns only sent 15 swimmers to the conference meet and with still more than a month to go, the 'Horns have qualified nearly that number in each gender. To date, the 'Horns have 13 men and 13 women who have achieved the Canada West qualifying standard.

A total of 25 of 29 Horns raced to lifetime bests last weekend and three more swimmers qualifyied for the CIS Championships.

Freshman Kara Declark secured her first CIS time in the 50 fly and is the first of the Pronghorn women to qualify for the CIS championship meet this year. Mat Loyola (200 breast) and Tiha Konyves (50/100 free) added their names to the men's CIS roster. Freshman Brooke Whitaker made her first Canada West standard in the 100 free. The Horns now have 26 swimmers qualified for the Canada West conference championship and eight swimmers qualified for the CIS national championship.

The Horns also broke five more school records to bring the total to nine for the season. The men set new Pronghorn records in the 200 free relay for the second time this year and continued to show national level class in the medley relay with their third new record of the season in the 200. Ryan Thornley broke his own 'Horns records in the 50 Back and 50 fly, becoming the first in school history to break 26 seconds in the 50 back with a time of 25.78 seconds. Jeffrey Nicol broke through in the 200 breast, bettering his own record by more than a second in 2:14.93.

The Canada West Championships will be hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria, Jan. 25 -27, 2013.

Canada West swimming at Max Bell

trevor.kenney — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:35:35 +0000

Swimming highlights a busy weekend for ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns Athletics as the Canada West Swimming Championships come to Lethbridge.

For the first time in five seasons the Pronghorns swim team will welcome the Canada West conference to Lethbridge and the Max Bell Regional Aquatic Centre for the Canada West Championships.

The Horns' contingent of 17 Canada West qualifiers is five fewer than last season's qualifying group, but with seven freshmen and only two, fifth-year seniors, the team is a young group of swimmers looking to gain valuable experience for the future.

Highest ranked entering this weekend's competition is breaststroke specialist Jeffrey Nicol. Nicol has had a strong start to the season, setting a new school record in the 200-metre breaststroke. Last year as a freshman, Nicol finished sixth in the 200m breaststroke at the conference meet and will surely improve on that if he swims anywhere near his school record of two minutes, 17.83 seconds.

On the women's side, senior Kristy Gabruck has also had a strong start to the university season, setting a new school record in the 50-metre breaststroke earlier this season. She looks to close out her university career on a strong note.

The meet kicks off with a Friday session starting at 5 p.m. and two sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. Heats begin at 10 a.m. and 9 a.m., Saturday and Sunday respectively, with finals starting at 5 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Pronghorns men's and women's basketball teams play weekend home games against ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia Thunderbirds and Victoria Vikes. The men's hockey team travels to UBC to continue its playoff push and the women's hockey team hosts UBC for games Friday and Saturday nights at Nicholas Sheran Arena. Visit the Pronghorns website for a full weekend preview and sign up for Horns Weekly, the Pronghorn Athletics newsletter.

Steacy, Patzer named athletes of the year

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:50:31 +0000

Jim Steacy and Ashley Patzer were named Male and Female Athletes of the Year respectively after outstanding seasons representing the Pronghorns.

Steacy won his fifth Male Athlete of the Year honour after winning gold medals in both weight throw and shotput at the CIS track championships.

Patzer led the women's rugby team to a second straight CIS title and was the MVP of the championship tournament. Other major award winners included Megan Bach (President's Award for the student athlete with the highest academic standing) and the men's track team (Team Academic Award).

The individual sport MVPs were: Men's Soccer – Ryan Conn; Women's Soccer – Jessica Dearlove; Men's Hockey – Scott Bowles; Women's Hockey – Charlette Hainer; Men's Basketball – Danhue Lawrence and Allen Kadima; Women's Basketball – Hannah Blanchette; Men's Swimming – Jeffrey Nicol; Women's Swimming – Kristy Gabruck; Men's Track – Jim Steacy; Women's Track – Heather Steacy; Women's Rugby – Ashley Patzer.

Steacy, Patzer named Athletes of Year

trevor.kenney — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:30:20 +0000

Pronghorn thrower Jim Steacy and women's rugby fullback Ashley Patzer were named Male and Female Athletes of the Year respectively at the annual Blue and Gold Pronghorn Athletics banquet Friday night.

Over 330 athletes, administrators and special guests were in attendance for the supper and awards ceremony where former Pronghorn basketball star, Danny Balderson, served as guest speaker.

Steacy, thought to be the most decorated track athlete in CIS history, won his fifth Athlete of the Year honour, one for every year in which he competed for the U of L. Coming back from a year off to compete in the Beijing Olympics, Steacy continued his dominance of the CIS scene.

For the fifth time, Steacy broke both the Canada West and CIS records in weight throw, winning gold at both championship meets. His furthest throw of 24.08 metres in the weight throw, the last of his CIS career, was five metres better than his nearest competitor. It also beat the NCAA gold medalist by more than two metres, becoming the only CIS track mark to outdo its American counterpart.

Patzer led the women's rugby team to its second CIS title, while being named the tournament most valuable player and an all-star.

The Horns captain, and former CIS player of the year, was a dominant force at the CIS Championships leading the tournament in scoring with 34 points. The Lethbridge native was also named Athlete of the Year in 2006-07.

Megan Bach of the women's hockey team received the President's Award, rewarding the student athlete with the highest academic standing at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Bach achieved a perfect GPA of 4.00. The men's track and field team won the Team Academic Award, as they achieved a cumulative 3.13 GPA.

Following are team MVP honours as selected by their respective teammates.

Team MVP
Men's Soccer – Ryan Conn
Women's Soccer – Jessica Dearlove
Men's Hockey – Scott Bowles
Women's Hockey – Charlette Hainer
Men's Basketball – Danhue Lawrence and Allen Kadima
Women's Basketball – Hannah Blanchette
Men's Swimming – Jeffrey Nicol
Women's Swimming – Kristy Gabruck
Men's Track – Jim Steacy
Women's Track – Heather Steacy
Women's Rugby – Ashley Patzer

Swim team gears up for Classic

trevor.kenney — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:13:43 +0000

Four members of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns swim team have qualified for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport swimming championships as the team heads into this weekend's Pronghorn Classic.

The Pronghorns, competing in arguably the toughest conference in the country, fared well at the Canada West swim championships this past weekend. The small squad beat a total of 56 personal-best marks and the team placed sixth overall as they battled programs stocked with Olympic talent.

Leading the way on the men's side was Jeffrey Nicol. Nicol, gearing up for the CIS championships, scored points in the 400-metre Individual Medley, 200m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke and relay events. He was also the team's top finisher, placing sixth in the 200m breaststroke. Teammate Dwight Holmen authored a major personal breakthrough, qualifying for the CIS championship in each of the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events.

Heather Dutton led the women's team, as she scored 24 individual points and was on each of the scoring relay teams. Dutton had top-16 swims in each event she swam and capped off her weekend with a win in the 400m freestyle consolation final on Sunday night. CIS breaststroker Kristy Gabruck also had breakthrough performances in the 50m and 100m events.

The Pronghorn Classic goes this weekend at the Max Bell Regional Aquatic Centre where the rest of the squad has two final opportunities to record CIS-qualifying times. The meet begins Friday and runs through Sunday afternoon.

UNews - Jeffrey Nicol

Swim team continues to impress

Related Topics

Canada West swimming at Max Bell

Related Topics

Steacy, Patzer named athletes of the year

Related Topics

Steacy, Patzer named Athletes of Year

Related Topics

Swim team gears up for Classic

Related Topics