Matt Hope won individual bronze and was part of the bronze medal winning Kings. Pic - Tony Hansen
Matt Hope won individual bronze and was part of the bronze medal winning Kings. Pic - Tony Hansen
Posted: Mar 16, 2019

Queens earn silver, Kings capture bronze at ACAC Indoor Track Championships

From ACAC site

CALGARY, ALTA., (March 16, 2019) - After two days of running, the SAIT Trojans men and MacEwan Griffins women stood at the top of the team standings at the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Indoor Track Championships. The Red Deer College Queens earned silver and the Kings won bronze, and RDC runners impressively added four more ACAC medals.

The women's team from MacEwan finished the two-day event with 83 points. The Red Deer College Queens finished second with 66 points, earning silver. Concordia University of Edmonton placed third with 25 total points.

The Trojans men's team earned 69 points over the weekend, while MacEwan finished in second with 49 points. The RDC Kings edged Concordia for the bronze, beating them by one point (36).

Trojans star runner Matthew Travaglini collected his third medal in less than 24 hours, winning the men's 1,500 m race, setting a new ACAC Indoor Track Championships record with a time of 3:57.91. Travaglini exacted a bit of revenge with the win, as he beat out Concordia University of Edmonton runner Leonard Chesoo, who bested him in the 1,000 m on Friday night. Chesoo clocked in at 4:02.70 to take silver, while Red Deer's Matt Hope ran to the bronze medal (4:08.57).

SAIT's Brent Stephen collected his second gold medal in as many days, winning the men's 600 m event in a time of 1:22.74 to set a new ACAC Championships record. He also won gold in Friday's 300 m event. Grande Prairie Regional College's Brandon Tufford gave his school their first medal of the weekend with his silver medal performance (1:23.63). MacEwan's Reese Runco earned his second medal of the weekend with his bronze medal placing. He also earned bronze in Friday's 300 m event.

Red Deer College's Shayla Sklaruk, like Stephen, won the women's 600 m gold less than 24 hours after winning the women's 300 m race on Friday. Her time of 1:38.81 placed her well ahead of MacEwan teammates Shaunice Burgers (1:44.97), who took silver, and Ember Large (1:44.98), who earned bronze.

MacEwan dominated the women's 1,500 m race as Emma Steele placed first in a time of 5:11.20 and Ember Large finished second (5:12.09). Red Deer College Queens runner Sandra Garcia placed third, crossing the finish line in 5:12.38 for bronze.

The 4 x 400 m relays finished up the day, with the women's gold medal going to Red Deer College (Lauren Pasiuk, Shayla Sklaruk, Jill Stewart and Sandra Garcia). The silver medal went to the MacEwan Griffins team of Shaunice Burgers, Emma Steele, Ashley Tymkow and Ember Large. Bronze went to Concordia's foursome of Mienna Starosielski, Rebecca Hay, Kennedy Hay and Ana Zulic.

In the men's relay, MacEwan emerged as the gold medallists thanks to Caelen Begg, Thomas Cross-Trush, Reece Runco and Connor Swaby. SAIT's team of Brant Lauweryssen, Jemmy Lee, Matthew Travaglini and Brent Stephen took silver, while Grande Prairie Regional College's Brice Wilkes, Miguel Macedo, Joel Manx and Brandon Tufford earned the bronze.

At the ACAC Indoor Track Awards Banquet following Saturday's races, Travaglini and Large were named the ACAC Male and Female Runners of the Year.

Concordia University Thunder Head Coach Matt Normington was recognized as Coach of the Year.

Normington, along with former Trojans coach Jamie Grant, were also honoured with the ACAC's Al Bohonus Award for their contribution to the sport of Indoor Track.