UNews - Sheffield

Chance to wish our Olympians well

trevor.kenney — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 21:10:35 +0000

The Lethbridge Sport Council and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge have partnered to host a community send-off for a group of athletes who are participating in the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics which take place July 27 – Aug. 12 and Aug. 29 - Sept. 9 in London, England.

Paralympic swimmer Zach McAllister has been named to the Canadian team to compete in London this summer, while hammer throwers Jim Steacy and Heather Steacy, and javelin thrower Liz Gleadle are participating in Track and Field events.

Larry Steinke, Track Coach with Pronghorn Athletics at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, will be attending the 2012 London Olympics after being selected as Throws Coach by Athletics Canada.

The community is invited to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Upper Track of the 1st Cloice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness on Monday, July 16 at 12:30 p.m. for a brief send-off ceremony.

A large Canadian flag will be available for signing, and will travel with the athletes to London.

Meet the athletes and wish them good luck on their journey!

The dates and times of the athletes' appearances on TV (local/mountain time in brackets) are listed below, along with brief biographies.

Athlete bios

James Steacy (men's hammer)

Competing: Qualifying – Aug. 3 at 11:20 a.m. GMT (5:20 a.m. MDT)
Finals – Aug. 5 at 8:20 p.m. GMT (2:20 p.m. MDT)

Steacy (28) (BASc '09), a Lethbridge, Alta. and Winston Churchill High School product, is one of the most decorated athletes in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) history. During his time as a Pronghorn track athlete, Steacy was undefeated in the weight throw, winning five Canada West and five CIS titles. He also captured three Canada West shot put titles and won three gold medals and one silver medal in shot at the CIS level. He last competed for the Horns in 2009.

The Canadian record holder in the men's hammer throw at 79.13m, Steacy set the mark at the 2008 Chinook Throws Gala. That season also marked his first Olympic appearance where he qualified for the Olympic final in Beijing, China and finished 10th overall.

Steacy, coached by Larry Steinke of the Chinook Track and Field Club, is the eight-time defending national champion in hammer throw.

Heather Steacy (women's hammer)

Competing: Qualifying - Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. GMT (4 a.m. MDT)
Finals – Aug. 10 at 7:35 p.m. GMT (1:35 p.m. MDT)

Steacy (24), a Lethbridge, Alta. and Winston Churchill High School product, heads to her first Olympics after dominating the competition at the Canada West and CIS levels in recent years. Steacy has won four Canada West weight throw titles to go along with two CIS gold, one silver and one bronze medal. She last competed for the Horns in 2011 when she was the Canada West gold medalist and CIS silver medalist.

Steacy won her second consecutive Canadian Track and Field Championship hammer throw title this spring with a throw of 70.48 metres and achieved her personal best of 72.16m at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, AZ earlier this year.
Steacy is coached by Larry Steinke of the Chinook Track and Field Club.

+++++

Elizabeth Gleadle (women's javelin)

Competing: Qualifying – Aug. 7 at 10 a.m. GMT (4 a.m. MDT)
Finals – Aug. 9 at 9 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. MDT)

Gleadle (23), originally from Vancouver, came to Lethbridge to train with throws coach Larry Steinke this past year, taking time away from her kinesiology studies at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia. She won gold at the 2012 Canadian Track and Field Trials with a throw of 60.13 metres, establishing a new meet record. Her personal best of 61.15 metres was set earlier this year at a National Track League event in Burnaby, B.C. It also stands as the Canadian record.

"I took this year off so I could make London," she told the Calgary Herald. "I took time off school, I moved cities; I did everything I was supposed to do. I napped, ate, slept some more, trained really hard, everything I was told to do by my coach (Larry Steinke). I trust him completely and it really paid off."

She'll be the first Canadian woman to compete in javelin at the Olympics since Seoul 1988, ironically, the year of her birth.

+++++

Zachary McAllister (men's swimming 400m freestyle S8)

Competing: Qualifying – Aug. 31 at 9:30 a.m. GMT (3:30 a.m. MDT)
Finals – Aug. 31 at 5:30 p.m. GMT (11:30 a.m. MDT)

McAllister (18), a Lethbridge native and Lethbridge Collegiate Institute product, has come up through the Lethbridge Amateur Swim Club (LASC). He will be representing Canada at the Paralympic Games, Aug. 29 to Sept. 9 in London.

The Canadian record holder in the men's S8 400-metre freestyle event, McAllister earned his spot on the Paralympic Games team by swimming his personal best and Canadian record time of four minutes, 49 seconds at the Olympic Trials in Montreal this spring.

McAllister represented Canada at the Para Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mex. in fall 2011, and after enrolling at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in January 2012, attended meets in Los Angeles, Colorado and Sheffield, England. McAllister's disability is a condition by which he has too many bones in his limbs, thereby restricting growth and range of motion in both his arms and legs.

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Coach -- Larry Steinke (BA '94)

Steinke has been running the most prominent throws program in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) for years and has been consistently involved with Canada's elite athletes at the international level.

He began his national team affiliation as part of the 2007 Pan Am Games coaching staff and has since been to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Junior Track Championships, the 2010 Commonwealth Games and each of the 2009 and 2011 World Track & Field Championships.

He currently coaches three Olympians in Jim Steacy, Heather Steacy and Liz Gleadle and is a proud alumnus of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and head coach of the Horns track program.

Wish our Olympians well

trevor.kenney — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 18:18:05 +0000

McAllister named to Paralympic Games team

trevor.kenney — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:11:49 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge can claim another Olympic athlete after Swimming Canada announced that first-year Horns swimmer Zack McAllister will be one of 24 athletes that will represent Canada at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

"We are thrilled that Zack will be a part of Canada's Paralympic Team," says Brad Mori, the head coach of the Horns swimming program. "In our 75-year history, Zack is the first Lethbridge swimmer to qualify for the Olympic or Paralympic Games."

McAllister joins Horns alumnus Jim Steacy and his sister Heather Steacy as Horns athletes headed to London. The Steacys (who have reached qualifying marks but have not yet been officially named to the team) will compete in the men's and women's hammer throw competitions at the Olympic Games beginning July 27. The Paralympic Games begin a month later, Aug. 29.

"It was a long road for Zack to get to this moment," says Mori. "He faced a tough re-classification process and it seemed like this moment was never going to happen."

McAllister represented Canada at the Para Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in fall 2011 before returning to Lethbridge for his first-year classes at the U of L. In the winter, he swam at events in Los Angeles, Colorado, Montreal and Sheffield, England. This spring, McAllister was in Flagstaff, AZ, for a two-week high altitude camp.

McAllister is currently ranked fifth in the world in the 400-metre freestyle in his classification category.

"It sends adrenaline shivers down my spine thinking about Zack going off to London," says Mori.

In good hands with O'Keeffe

trevor.kenney — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:27:58 +0000

For many of us, the only interaction we have with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge security force is on the wrong end of a parking violation, when in fact Security and Parking is so much more. For John O'Keeffe, who has seen action in some of the world's most troubled regions, the ability to handle this political landmine comes from experience with the real thing.

"It's too bad that a lot of the good things we do get forgotten when we hand out a parking citation," O'Keeffe, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's new director of Security and Parking, says with a laugh.
"I would like to keep reminding people we are a community-based service, that's my big goal, for us not to be seen as just a parking service."

O'Keeffe comes to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ fresh out of the British military, where he served for 23 years. Stationed at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Suffield the last four years, he retired from active service to seek a permanent home in Canada.

He assumes the role left by Randy Joseph, and while heading up a military police detachment might not seem parallel to running a university security office, O'Keeffe says the two organizations are strikingly similar.

"There are many parts of this job and the university life that are very similar to military life," he explains. "Here, we are in a hierarchical structure with someone at the top who is the boss and there are different organizations below, all with their own responsibilities. The military is very much the same.
"Our deans and professors are in the officer ranks and the others are almost like the soldiers, working in the background making things happen."

A non-commissioned soldier, O'Keeffe joined the military as a 16-year old for what he expected would be a three-year term. It turned into a career that took him to every continent on the planet but Antarctica. His tours included highlight postings in Hong Kong, Kenya and Australia, as well as numerous stops in Europe. He also served on United Nations forces in locales such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland, eventually retiring on pre-selection to the position of Regimental Sergeant Major, the highest rank for a non-commissioned soldier.

"I've seen my fair share of good and bad," he says.

Reviewing the campus emergency response plan is a key priority for O'Keeffe, but just learning the unique terminology of the job, as well as introducing himself to the many units on campus has dominated his time.

"I still have to establish myself within the organization and get people to understand how I work," he says. "The biggest thing I've got to do is convince people that I'm not Randy and we have our different workings. We both strive toward the end result but we're going to probably do it different ways."

He admits his interview for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ posting was the first of his life and was not exactly sure how it should be approached. Walking away he felt good, and not just about his performance.

"I remember thinking it would be upsetting if I didn't get the job but more than anything, I'd be really disappointed if I didn't get to work with the people I'd met," he says.

GET THE FACTS

• O'Keeffe's wife Amanda is a paralegal and they own a two-year old German shepherd, Ben.

• He has been commuting to the U of L daily from Medicine Hat.

• O'Keeffe was born in Sheffield, a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Sheffield gained its reputation for its steel production in the 19th century.

• Stationed at CFB Suffield, O'Keeffe's military police looked over a base considered the largest in the Commonwealth at 2,962 square kilometers.

• O'Keeffe on staying in Canada upon retiring from the military, "If I was to tie it up into one thing it would be the quality of life. I think everybody has opportunity within Canada and that's the biggest plus for me."

UNews - Sheffield

Chance to wish our Olympians well

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