2011 Indoor Track Wrap Up

Posted on March 26, 2011 by bcorcoranMHC

Club members contested a couple of indoor meets during February and March and posted some impressive performances.

At the Alberta Indoor Games on Feb. 12 and 13, Fiona Benson ran a personal best time and improved her Wolves school record in the 3000m to 10:04.00 with a 3rd place finish in the open womens race. Benson’s performance ended up ranking her #4 on the 2011 Canadian Junior Womens Indoor 3000m list.

Other GPRC competitors included Carly Pura (300m – 14th – 55.20 and 600m – 15th – 2:14.69) andHimreet Randhawa (Long Jump – 19th – 5.24m and Triple Jump – 11th – 10.86m).

On March 11 and 12, a larger contingent of Wolves contested the Alberta Provincial Indoor Championships.

Benson again led the GPRC women with a second place finish in the Junior Womens 3000m (10:07.54). Linnea Saltel led most of her heat in the 800m before fading to a 14th place finish in the 800m (3:10.34). Saltel also improved her personal best in the Long Jump with a leap of 3.04m (4th place).

Devin Woodland established two school records in the meet. He recorded a time of 9:37.03 in placing 5th in the 3000m and combined with Evan Paul, John Murray, and Eric Martinek in the 4 x 400m clocking 3:50.76 for 3rd place.

Woodland also placed 12th in the 1500 in 4:33.94.

Other Wolves men performances included a personal best time of 4:37.18 for Eric Martinek in the Junior Mens 1500m (13th place), Evan Paul (200m -25.87 – 14th and 400m – 57.26 – 13th)and John Murray (400m – 57.89 – 15th and 800m – 2:12.09 – 14th).

The Provincial Indoor meet also doubled as the unofficial ACAC Indoor Championships. The Wolves men placed 3rd in the final ACAC standings while the women finished 5th.

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Benson debuts with a pair of School Records at GBO

Posted on January 24, 2011 by bcorcoranMHC

GPRC Wolves runner Fiona Benson made quite an impact on the weekend in her first-ever track meet. The 18 year old, first-year student broke the two longest standing Wolves womens school track and field records at the University of Alberta Golden Bear Open in Edmonton.

On Friday, Benson placed 5th in the Varsity Womens 3000m, recording a time of 10:07.20, taking 36 seconds off of Jessica Schmidt’s 2003 school record. Saturday, Benson won the Junior Womens 1500m in a time 4:51.46, bettering Schmidt’s school 1500m record by a second.

Two other Wolves runners had top 5 placings at the meet. Bill Corcoran won the Masters 50+ 400m in a time of 63.56 and Eric Martinek placed 5th in the Junior Mens 1500 (4:39.56).

Next up for the Wolves tracksters is the Alberta Indoor Games on Feb.11 and 12 in Edmonton.

Full results at http://www3.telus.net/ellistrack/GBO/2011GBOAllResults.htm

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Benson Named 2010 DHT Female Athlete of the Year

Posted on January 3, 2011 by bcorcoranMHC

GPRC Wolves AC athlete Fiona Benson has been named the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2010. Benson is the third GP runner to caputure this award in the past 10 years along with Jenna Huber (2002) and Penny Thompson (2007)

Story is linked here

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Introducing the GPRC Wolves Athletics Club

Posted on January 2, 2011 by bcorcoranMHC

Effective November 2010, the Peace Country has a new competitive running and track & field club.

The GPRC Wolves Athletics Club is the third iteration of a Grande Prairie track & field club.  Its roots can be traced to Grande Prairie Legion Track Club in the 70s and the Wapiti Striders in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. In addition, the Peace Country Track Club had a brief run from 2006 to 2010.

Currently the club is mainly focused on cross country and middle/long distance running for high school and college aged athletes.   If additional coaches can be recruited, the age and event range of the Club will be expanded

Fiona Benson had the honour of being the first athlete to represent the Wolves AC at the National Junior Cross Country Championships on November 27 in Guelph.  Benson distinguished herself and the Club with a 7th place finish in the Junior Womens 5 km race, a performance which qualified her for 2011 Junior National team.

Club members plan to contest three indoor meets this winter in Edmonton: The Golden Bear Open on Jan. 21-23, The Alberta Indoor Games on Feb. 12-13, and the Provincial Age Class Indoor Championships on March 12-13.  In addition, Benson will compete with Team Canada in the NACAC Cross Country Running Championships in Tobago on Feb. 19

After the snow melts, the Wolves AC will be hosting the Unchaga Run in the Peace on Sunday, May 1 and  the 2011 Peace Country Classic/Grande Prairie Hershey Meet on May 14 at the Legion Field.  In the fall, the 17th Wolves X-Country Running Series hits the trails at various venues across the Peace.

For more information about the Wolves AC or local track & field, visit the GPRC Wolves AC website at www.wolvesac.com

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