UNews - Windsor

Tarnava sets personal best, earns award

trevor.kenney — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:01:08 +0000

The Canada West athletic season is winding down but the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns continue to put up strong results. This week's Subway Pronghorn Male Athlete of the Week is Ryan Tarnava of the Horns track team.

Tarnava, a first-year thrower, rode continuous improvement throughout the season and posted a personal best performance in the shot put event this past weekend in Windsor at the CIS Track and Field Championships.

On his third of six throws Tarnava set a new personal best with a distance of 16.27 metres, more than 80 centimetres further than his previous best effort. That throw earned him a sixth-place finish in the country.

There were no female athletes competing this past weekend.

Steacy caps historic career

trevor.kenney — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:08:32 +0000

When ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorn thrower Jim Steacy took a year away from post-secondary competition, he didn't exactly spend his time vacationing. Instead, Steacy trained harder than ever – resulting in a Canadian national team appointment and an appearance at the Beijing Olympics.

Now, Steacy is back amongst his peers and once again, he's proven there is nobody in his class. A day after

Photo courtesy of Claus Anderson/Athletics Canada | Pronghorn thrower Jim Steacy, shown here at the Beijing Olympics, is closing out his university career in style.

winning his fourth award as Canadian Interuniversity Sport's (CIS) male field athlete of the year, Steacy cruised to another weight throw gold medal at the CIS track and field championships in Windsor, Ont. Friday.

Steacy shattered his own previous record of 23.61 metres, established in 2007, and eclipsed the 24-metre barrier in the process, reaching 24.08m on his sixth and final throw of the competition. His margin of victory over second-place finisher Dustin McCrank of Guelph was more than five metres as McCrank checked in with a throw of 18.29m.

His return to university track and field has been seamless as Steacy won honours as the Canada West male athlete of the year in field events and was the top male performer at the conference championships. In his fifth and final appearance at the conference meet, he won his fifth weight throw title – by more than six metres – breaking his own Canada West record, and claimed his third shot put gold medal.

Over the course of his Canada West career, he won nine medals, including eight gold. His win in Friday's CIS weight throw was his eighth CIS medal and seventh gold. On Saturday, Steacy then capped his CIS career with yet another gold medal, cruising to a win in the shot put event by throwing a season-best 16.99m. He easily beat second-place finisher Andrew Smith of Saskatchewan (16.17m) and bronze medalist Cole Bloxam of Windsor (15.38m).

"To go out with two more gold medals and a new CIS record in the weight throw is the perfect way to end my career as a Pronghorn athlete," says Steacy.

"My five years with the Pronghorns track and field team was full of great memories, especially in 2004 when the men's team captured the overall bronze medal. That was very special to me. I have met some incredible athletes over my CIS career and I am looking forward to continuing in my National Team endeavors."

With 18 total medals (nine each in Canada West and CIS competition) and a total of 16 gold medals, Steacy goes down as one of the most decorated track athletes in Pronghorns and CIS history.

"Jim is one of those rare individuals that combines dedication, passion and enthusiasm with talent to achieve his goals," says Lethbridge head coach Larry Steinke. "He has consistently been at the top of his event for five years in the CIS, and as a result of his dedication, also been dominant to a degree that is unsurpassed in CIS athletics history."

At the Beijing Olympics, Steacy became the first Canadian in over 84 years to qualify for the hammer throw finals, where he finished 10th.

Heather Steacy claims bronze

trevor.kenney — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:04:06 +0000

For the third consecutive year, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns thrower Heather Steacy earned a medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport track and field championships. For the first time however, it wasn't gold.

Steacy, the two-time defending champion in the weight throw, captured bronze at the CIS championship meet in Windsor, Ont. Thursday, throwing well but not reaching the personal-best level she would have needed to move up in the standings.

Steacy did battle back to get onto the medal podium, saving her best throw of the meet until the fourth round. Heading into that round, Steacy sat fourth and out of the medals but she moved into second with her best throw of the meet, registering a 17.82-metre throw. That throw was only 15 centimetres shy of her personal best, 17.97 metres.

In that same round, Liz Dubourt of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan passed both Steacy and Sherbrooke's Annie Larose to win the title with a throw of 18.09m. Larose captured the silver with a throw of 17.98m.

Pronghorns thrower Jim Steacy, Heather's brother, will compete in the men's weight throw later Friday. He was named CIS male field athlete of the year for the fourth time in his career prior to the championship meet.

Steacy duo golden in Regina

trevor.kenney — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:36:13 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns brother-sister duo of Jim Steacy and Heather Steacy were touted as gold medal favourites heading into the Canada West track championship meet this past weekend in Regina. They did not disappoint.

Jim Steacy won his seventh and eighth career Canada West gold medals when he captured both the weight throw and shot put events, while Heather Steacy made it three consecutive women's weight throw titles with a personal-best performance on Sunday afternoon.

Jim got the ball rolling for the tandem on Saturday when he cruised to a gold medal win in the men's weight throw. Steacy broke his own Canadian record with a throw of 23.42 metres (his previous mark was 23.30m) to take gold.

Sunday, Jim followed up his impressive weight throw performance with an outstanding effort in shot put, throwing 16.40 metres to claim yet another gold medal. He now has nine career Canada West medals, including eight gold and one silver.

Heather then took the stage and blew away the field with a third successive gold medal win in women's weight throw. Her personal best mark of 17.97 metres, set on her final throw of the meet, also earned her the female performance of the meet award.

Jim was also named male performer of the meet and for the fifth consecutive year (every year he has competed), was named Canada West male field athlete of the year.

Heather and Jim will now attempt to add CIS titles to their resumes in two weeks time in Windsor, Ont.

Steacy comfortable on any stage

trevor.kenney — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:43:20 +0000

When Heather Steacy takes the stage, it's all about technique – whether she's in a throwing circle or a recital hall.

The two-time CIS women's weight throw champion is as comfortable heaving weights around a track as she is playing clarinet to a convocation crowd. And while that might seem like a startling contrast, Steacy says the two disciplines actually feed off one another.

"I think there are a lot more similarities with hammer (and weight) throw and music than there are with other sports," the 20-year-old, third-year music major says. "In hammer, you have to have pretty much perfect technique to be able to stay in control the whole time and be able to release in the sector, so I think it's quite similar to music."

Exercising proper breathing and executing technique at the time of performance are shared traits of musicians and athletes. Steacy says her early introduction to musical performance has aided her athletically in big competitions.

"I started playing piano when I was five and have been doing Kiwanis Music Festivals ever since, so I've never really had an opportunity to develop big issues with nervousness like some people have," she says. "I don't really get nervous. I get jitters every once in a while, but I've learned how to control it over the years, and it doesn't affect me very much."

That was on display in her first appearance at CIS nationals in the spring of 2007. Just 18 years old at the time, Steacy shocked everyone by winning gold. A year later, she'd defend her title, throwing a still personal best distance of 17.93 metres and dominating the competition by more than a half metre.

"My first year was pretty surprising because I didn't expect to win at all," Steacy says. "Last year, it was nice to be able to do it a second time. I had been training really hard and throwing well, and I always find I compete well at the big meets."

Steacy is on a career path that will lead to bigger and bigger meets down the road. It's a journey already traveled by another Steacy, older brother Jim. The Canadian Olympian and multiple Canadian champion and record holder casts a long shadow, but Heather has learned to reap as much as she can from Jim's experience.

"I don't think it's as bad for me as it is for Sean because I don't have to compete with him," she says of her other brother, another former Pronghorn thrower. "I love being able to train with Jim and see how well he's doing. Knowing that I have pretty much the same opportunity of doing everything he's doing is very encouraging."

Steacy is preparing for her third CIS championship appearance, Mar. 12-14 in Windsor, Ont. She opened the season with a secondplace showing at the Golden Bear Open meet in January and while not taking gold is somewhat of an oddity, Steacy says she welcomes more challengers to a relatively unknown sport.

"There's getting to be a lot more girls competing now, which is a good sign," she says. "There will actually be people to compete with now instead of just going and throwing by yourself, competing against yourself all the time."

Training five days a week, including twice daily Wednesday through Friday, you might think Steacy has little time for anything else. Add in the fact her entire family is into track and it sounds like throwing dominates her life. That's where music steps in to provide another outlet.

"It's kind of nice coming to school where there are people who have no idea what I do," she says. "It's neat being able to explain things (about hammer), but it's also nice not being asked all the time. It's nice to have that contrast in my life."

That disparity also seems to create a student-athlete balance that leads to excellence in both arenas.

GET THE FACTS

• The hammer throw is an outdoor sport where the women heave a 4kg ball (8.8 lbs) attached to a metal wire 119.5 cm in length (three feet, 11 inches). The weight throw is an indoor sport where the women toss a 20lb weight attached only to a handle

• Steacy won the CIS weight throw gold last year with a throw of 17.93m, nearly two metres better (15.97m) than her win in 2007

• Her summer competition schedule could include trips to Prince Edward Island (Canada Games), Serbia (World ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Games) and Lebanon (Francophone Games)

• Steacy started playing clarinet in Grade 5, taking lessons from U of L music professor Peggy Mezei

UNews - Windsor

Tarnava sets personal best, earns award

Related Topics

Steacy caps historic career

Related Topics

Heather Steacy claims bronze

Related Topics

Steacy duo golden in Regina

Related Topics

Steacy comfortable on any stage

Related Topics