UNews - Jeff Nicol

Nicol, Thornley lead Horns' effort in pool

trevor.kenney — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:45:06 +0000

This past weekend in Victoria, 27 Pronghorn swimmers hit the pool at the Canada West Championships, led by medalists Jeff Nicol and Ryan Thornley. It was the largest group of swimmers the 'Horns have sent in recent memory and they continued to build on this season's positive results.

Both the men's and women's sides finished fifth in their respective team categories with the men's side accumulating 293.5 points, while the women's side finished with 216. The 'Horns had 13 top-eight finishes at the meet and 20 of 27 swimmers recorded individual scoring points.

There were also two school records broken in Victoria with Thornley breaking the school record in the 100 metre backstroke and the men's 400 freestyle relay team also setting a new school mark.

"Canada West is the fastest conference meet in the CIS and it lived up to its billing," says first-year head coach Peter Schori. "Overall, I am pleased with our team's improvement but not satisfied with all of our results, I think we are better in some areas than we showed and expect to see improvements at the CIS Championships."

Thornley and fifth-year swimmer, Nicol led the way for the Pronghorns and were the only medalists this year. Nicol has medaled at the last four conference championship meets and finished with two medals in Victoria, while Thornley picked up a bronze in the 50-metre fly on Friday.

In the 200-metre breast stroke, Nicol earned silver in the event for the second consecutive year, and is currently ranked third in the CIS. He also swam a lifetime best time in the 100-metre breast stroke en route to a bronze medal.

The men's 400-metre freestyle relay team narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth. It is currently ranked fifth in the CIS.

"We needed 3/10ths more in the Men's 400 Free Relay to get on the podium ahead of Alberta. The boys raced well but I think there are lots of places over 400 metres to find the improvement we need," says Schori.

On the women's side, Kara Declark had two top-8 finishes in the 50 and 100-metre fly events and Kiara Bodell also finished in the top eight in the 100 backstroke. A bright sign for the women looking toward the future is that 10 of the 14 women that competed at the championships registered points for the team.

"I am pleased to see the progress from our Women's team. They are a very young team and have raised their level of competitiveness in Canada West moving up to 5th place with 10 swimmers scoring points," says Schori.

The 'Horns had one more swimmer qualify for the CIS Championships and have qualified nine to date. The team will have another chance this weekend to post CIS qualifying times as the Lethbridge Swim Club plays host to the Speedo Alberta Senior Swimming Championships at the Max Bell Pool.

The CIS Championship meet will be hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos, Feb. 21-23.

Horns swimming in top-10

trevor.kenney — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:27:05 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's swim team has cracked the 2012 CIS Top-10 swim rankings for the first time in more than 10 years.

Fresh off an excellent performance at the Dino ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Invitational in Calgary last weekend, the 'Horns have jumped into the seventh spot nationally. The Dino meet continued a run of positive early season results.

Highlighting the weekend for the men's side was a third place finish in the 200-metre medlay relay. The 'Horns were just behind CIS powers UBC Thunderbirds and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos. The team of Nick Vander Sloot, Jeff Nicol, Ryan Thornley and Tiha Konyves set a new school record by more than two seconds and beat the defending CIS bronze medalist ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears.

The 'Horns also finished fourth in the 200-metre free relay, breaking the school's best time by more than a second. The team of Vander Sloot, Thornley, Konyves and Hunter Scott finished with a time of 1:34.52.

"It was a good start to the season for us against some of the top teams in the CIS," says first-year Pronghorn head coach Peter Schori. "Canada West is the toughest swimming conference in the country and we are closing the gap between us and the top schools."

To date, the 'Horns have 18 qualifiers (10 men and 8 women) for the Canada West Championships that will be hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria, Jan. 25-27, 2013. Five Pronghorn men have also already qualified for the CIS Championships in February.

Following are the current CIS rankings.

MEN'S SWIMMING
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Toronto 610 points / (1)
2. Calgary 603 / (2)
3. UBC 263 / (NR)
4. Laval 260 / (3)
5. Alberta 218 / (8)
6. Montreal 170 / (4)
7. Lethbridge 160 / (NR)
8. McGill 148 / (5)
9. Ottawa 113 / (7)
10. McMaster 105 / (9)

WOMEN'S SWIMMING
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Calgary 399 points / (3)
2. Montreal 368 / (1)
3. Toronto 365 / (4)
4. UBC 354 / (NR)
5. McGill 249 / (2)
6. Alberta 157 / (9)
7. UQTR 149 / (6)
8. McMaster 126 / (5)
9. Guelph 104 / (7)
10. Dalhousie 103 / (NR)

Horns celebrate athletes of the year

trevor.kenney — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:11:37 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorn Athletics hosted its annual Blue and Gold Banquet, Friday, Mar. 30, to honour the outstanding athletes in athletic performance and academic achievement.

Over 260 athletes, administrators, and special guests were in attendance for the supper and awards ceremony, with former Pronghorn Daryl Moore serving as guest speaker.

The Award winners are as follows:

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

In only her second season as a Pronghorn, Crystal Patterson led her team to heights that have never been seen by the program. She built off a solid freshman year to become one of the premier goaltenders in Canada West this and was named a Canada West First Team All-Star for her efforts.

The Calgary native backstopped the Pronghorns women's hockey team to its best season in school history and was in goal for all 14 of her team's wins; second most of any goalie in the conference. She also led the conference in minutes played, saves and shutouts, with six. The six shutouts were the third most in a single season in Canada West history. Patterson was also ranked fourth in goals-against-average with a 2.01 GAA and her 0.928 save percentage was third best in Canada West.

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

In a rarity this year, there are co-male athletes of the year as Jeff Nicol and Ryan Thornley went hand-in-hand this season as they led their team to its best finish at the conference championship in 12 years.

The Horns men's swim team hadn't finished among the top four in the conference team standings since 2000 and both Nicol and Thornley were integral parts of the relay teams that earned valuable team points.

At the conference meet, Nicol led the way with three medals, earning a silver medal in the 200-metre breaststroke and two bronze medals in the 50- and 100-metre breaststroke.

Thornley led the way at the CIS Championships, earning the 'Horns top finish and setting a new school record in the process. Thornley finished sixth in the 50-metre fly and broke an eight-year-old school record.

Both represented the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ at the Canadian Olympic trials this past weekend, with Nicol qualifying for the 'A' final in the 200-metre breaststroke, finishing eighth.

Other major award winners included:

PRESIDENT'S AWARD

For the second time in her Pronghorns' career, Megan Bach of the women's hockey program received the President's Award, given to the student athlete with the highest academic standing at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Bach achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA, while balancing her large commitment to the team.

TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD - Presented to the team with the highest academic standing.

The women's swim team received the team Academic award with a combined GPA of 3.16

Team MVPs (as voted by team members)

Men's Soccer – Colin Pattison
Women's Soccer – Sherry Latrace
Men's Hockey – Dustin Moore
Women's Hockey – Crystal Patterson
Men's Basketball – Dominyc Coward
Women's Basketball – Lauren Taal
Men's Track – Kyle Murray
Women's Track – Christina Juert
Women's Rugby – Kayla Moleschi

Courtney, Steacy earn top honours

trevor.kenney — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:40:54 +0000

Pronghorns Athletics celebrated with its annual Blue and Gold Awards Banquet recently, announcing its Male and Female Athletes of the Year, President's Award winner, Team Academic Award, as well as the respective most valuable players for each program.

Male Athlete of the Year
Andrew Courtney (men's hockey)

Over his five seasons with the Pronghorns, Andrew Courtney not only excelled on the ice, but he was active in the community, embracing the true spirit of what it means to be a Pronghorns athlete.

He was known throughout the program as the first to support other Horns teams and is actively involved in the local community with the Boys and Girls Club. Courtney also planned and executed the highly successful Movember campaign that raised over $10,000 for prostate cancer research.

On the ice, Courtney returned from a serious knee injury to finish fourth in the conference in goal scoring, leading the Horns with 14 goals. He was also 13th in the Canada West in total scoring with 23 points, despite missing all of the pre-season and the first two weeks of conference action.

Courtney finished his Pronghorn career with 43 goals and 26 assists in 97 conference games.

Female Athlete of the Year
Heather Steacy (women's track)

Throughout her Pronghorns career, Heather Steacy has become synonymous with outstanding performances. This past season she raised her performance to an unprecedented level.

Steacy opened the season by reaching a monumental mark, becoming the first woman in Canadian Interuniversity Sport history to eclipse the 20-metre mark in the weight throw with a toss of 20.28 metres at the Bison Open in Winnipeg. She followed that performance with her fourth Canada West gold medal victory, setting a new conference record of 19.82 metres in the process. Steacy was also recognized with the Outstanding Female Performance of the Meet.

Steacy completed her season by then winning silver at the CIS Championship meet in Sherbrooke, Que., her fourth medal in as many trips to the national meet.

President's Award

Emily Brown of the women's track & field team earned the President's Award, which rewards the student athlete with the highest academic standing at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Brown achieved a GPA of 3.92, while balancing her academic and athletic commitments.

Team Academic Award

The Horns women's basketball team received the Team Academic Award for accumulating a combined GPA of 3.32.

Following are team most valuable players, as voted by their fellow team members.

Men's Soccer – Steve Brown
Women's Soccer – Kathy Curtis
Men's Hockey – Winston Day Chief and Andrew Courtney
Women's Hockey – Shelby Ballendine
Men's Basketball – Randy Davis
Women's Basketball – Becky Heninger
Men's Track – Kyle Murray
Women's Track – Heather Steacy
Women's Rugby – Kelsey Willoughby
Men's Swimming – Jeff Nicol
Women's Swimming – Jessica Kelly

This story first appeared in the Legend. For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Horns hand out year-end hardware

trevor.kenney — Mon, 16 May 2011 20:55:51 +0000

Male Athlete of the Year
Andrew Courtney (men's hockey)

Over his five seasons with the Pronghorns, Andrew Courtney not only excelled on the ice, but he was active in the community, embracing the true spirit of what it means to be a Pronghorns athlete.

Courtney finished his Pronghorn career with 43 goals and 26 assists in 97 conference games.

Female Athlete of the Year
Heather Steacy (women's track)

Throughout her Pronghorns career, Heather Steacy has become synonymous with outstanding performances. This past season she raised her performance to an unprecedented level.

Steacy completed her season by then winning silver at the CIS Championship meet in Sherbrooke, Que., her fourth medal in as many trips to the national meet.

President's Award

The Horns women's basketball team received the Team Academic Award for accumulating a combined GPA of 3.32.

Following are team most valuable players, as voted by their fellow team members.

For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Kelly leads pool effort with two medals

trevor.kenney — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:20:01 +0000

Jessica Kelly won a pair of bronze medals and Jeff Nicol brought home a silver medal as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's and women's swim teams competed at the Canada West Championship meet in Vancouver this past weekend.

Kelly led the 18-swimmer contingent with bronze medal swims in the 50- and 100-metre butterfly events, setting new U of L school records in each swim. She also picked up a fifth-place finish in the 100-metre backstroke event.

Nicol, who won two medals last year in his home pool, captured a silver medal in the 200-metre breaststroke and was just short of breaking his own school record that was set earlier this season. Nicol also finished fifth in the 100-metre breast event.

On the team front, the men's squad moved up one spot from last year's performance, up to fifth place with 279 points. The women's team finished with 181 points, and was also fifth in Canada West, the same place they finished last year in Lethbridge. Host UBC Thunderbirds won both the men's and women's team titles.

In total, U of L swimmers set 57 personal best times.

"I'm ecstatic with the team performance this weekend, this is our best Canada West Championship in my six seasons," says Horns head coach Brad Mori. "Both teams finished fifth and that was our team goal from the start of the year. Our swimmers swam great. They raced the moments, taking care of individual performances, leading to a fantastic team result."

Mat Loyola (50- & 200-metre breaststroke) and David Errington (200m breaststroke) both earned qualifying times for the CIS Championships. Loyola finished sixth in both distances, while Errington also finished sixth in the 200-metre breaststroke.

Matthew Mastromatteo, Jessie Olson-Heisler, Roger Hanna, and Adam Krysiak inched closer toward CIS qualifying times, and will have two more opportunities to reach those times in the coming weeks.

The CIS Championships will be hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos, Feb. 25-27.

Swimmers earn Horn awards

trevor.kenney — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:45:07 +0000

A pair of swimmers earned Subway Pronghorn Athlete of the Week honours after their performances for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge swim teams at the CIS Championship meet this past weekend.

Fifth-year swimmer Kristy Gabruck put a cap on her post-secondary career with a pair of personal best finishes and a new school record.

For the fourth time this season, Gabruck broke the Pronghorn school record en route to a seventh place finish in the 50-metre breaststroke event.

She just missed out on breaking another school record, in the 100m breaststroke, but still managed to eclipse her personal best time by two seconds, finishing 10^th overall.

On the men's side, sophomore Jeff Nicol continued his ascent up the CIS swimming ranks. After earning his first Canada West medals in late January, Nicol moved up one place in the CIS rankings, finishing 13th in the 200m breaststroke, the only event in which he qualified for the finals.

Nicol narrowly missed the top 16 in both the 100m and 50m breaststroke events. He also swam in the 400m and 800m freestyle relays, where the Horns men's team finished 14th in both races.

Nicol, Van Buskirk earn Horns' award

trevor.kenney — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:26:57 +0000

Swimmer Jeff Nicol and women's hockey player Amy Van Buskirk had storng weekends in Canada West action, earning Subway Pronghorn Athlete of the Week honours.

Nicol, competing at the Canada West swimming championships in his home pool, rose to the challenge and captured the Horns' first two Canada West swimming medals in five years.

Saturday, the second-year swimmer earned a bronze medal in the 100-metre breaststroke with a time of one minute, 4.04 seconds. Nicol then hit the pool for his best event, the 200m breaststroke. Ranked second in the conference heading into the meet, Nicol lived up to his ranking and claimed the silver medal.

Nicol also finished fourth in the 50m breaststroke and was a member of the Horns' medley relay team that placed sixth. As a result, Nicol has qualified for the CIS swimming championships to be held at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto, Feb. 18-21.

On the women's side, second-year defenceman Van Buskirk picked an opportune time to score her first career CIS goals this past weekend, helping the surging Horns women's hockey team earn three of a possible four points versus the visiting UBC Thunderbirds.

In Friday night's series opener, Van Buskirk scored with 25 seconds left in the third period to force overtime in a game that the Horns eventually lost 3-2 in a shootout. Still, the goal earned the Horns a valuable point in the race for a Canada West playoff spot.

The next night, Van Buskirk's power play goal capped a Horns' three-goal first period explosion in a 4-1 victory over the T-Birds.

UNews - Jeff Nicol

Nicol, Thornley lead Horns' effort in pool

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