Rostam Turner to join brother with U of T Blues

Kelowna Capital News – May 10, 2013 - With the likes of Olympic medalist Dave Steen and former Canadian decathlon champ Mike Smith among the school’s alumni, Rostam Turner will soon join a track and field program with a winning tradition.

Add in the fact that his older brother and fellow decathlete, James, is already a member of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and Turner’s post-secondary choice was an easy one to make.

“They have a great program there and a great coach in Andy Higgins, so that will help a lot,” said Rostam Turner, who committed to U of T last fall. “It’ll be good to be together with (James) on the same team and at the same school. We’ve always helped each other out for training and things like that, so I think it’s going to work out. He knows the campus and the team and all that, so he’ll be able help ease me into things.”

Kelowna’s Turner brothers are among the best multi-event athletes ever to come out of the Okanagan. James won the Canadian junior decathlon (10 events) title in both 2011 and 2012, while Rostam struck gold in the octathlon at the Canadian youth track championships last summer in PEI.

Read full article: http://www.kelownacapnews.com/sports/206652651.html

Broken foot to NCAA national champ, it’s all coming around again for Clan senior Crofts

By Howard Tsumura, The Province

When Helen Crofts takes her place at the starting line of the 800 metres in just over a week’s time at the Mt. SAC Relays in California, she will be staring down the demands of her two-lap specialty safe in the knowledge that the past 52 weeks have indeed allowed her to come full circle.

It was at that very meet, and in that very race last season when Simon Fraser’s world-class middle distance runner noticed a pain in her right foot which was later diagnosed as a stress fracture, an injury which would not only wipe out her entire outdoor season, but perhaps most cruelly, keep her on the sidelines as spring turned to summer and trials for the Canadian Olympic team went on without her.

Read more: http://blogs.theprovince.com/2013/04/11/broken-foot-to-ncaa-national-champ-its-all-coming-around-again-for-clan-senior-crofts/

Rob Watson looking for Canadian bragging rights in Boston

Pre-Boston video interview by Flotrack, http://www.flotrack.org/video/704775-Rob-Watson-looking-for-Canadian-bragging-rights-in-Boston-_converted

Interview with Athletics Canada’s new High Performance Director, Scott MacDonald

Chris Kelsall (Athletics Illustrated) interviews Athletics Canada’s new High Performance Director, Scott MacDonald.

 

Post World-XC Interviews with Rachel Cliff and Chris Winter

Chris Kelsall (Athletics Illustrated) interviews Rachel Cliff and Chris Winter after their great results at World Cross Country.

 

Natasha Fraser – Brit Townsend – Interview

Chris Kelsall interviews Natasha Fraser and her coach Brit Townsend, for Athletics Illustrated:
http://athleticsillustrated.com/interviews/natasha-fraser-brit-townsend-interview/

Inside the Runner’s Mind

Inside the Runner’s Mind is a podcast featuring interviews with some of BCs most expectional runners, both past and present. Hosted by BC Johnny (aka John Atkinson), recent interviewees have included former Olympians Carey Nelson and Art Boileau, and Octogenarian World Record holder BJ McHugh.

Listen to all the interviews at http://bcjohnny.podbean.com/

Interview with Natasha Fraser

By Chris Kelsall, Athletics Illustrated

Natasha (Wodak) Fraser of Port Moody, British Columbia is preparing to compete in her favourite running discipline, cross-country. She plans to race the Canadian Cross Country Championships that take place at Jericho Beach near downtown Vancouver on Saturday, November 24th.

On September 1st Fraser ran a new 10,000m personal best at the BC 10,000m Championships in Victoria, BC. She finished first in thirty-three minutes and forty-four seconds. Fraser has won the 50,000-competitor strong Vancouver Sun Run in under 34 minutes. She also won the Victoria TC10k that takes place one week after the Sun Run.

She competed in the NAIA for Simon Fraser University. She suffered burnout and after taking a break from competition came back refreshed with a new level of enthusiasm.

Read the interview, http://athleticsillustrated.com/interviews/natasha-fraser-interview/

‘Emotional’ Jessica Smith wins spot as B.C. athlete on Olympic Track team

VANCOUVER — The weariness was evident in Jessica Smith’s voice on Monday, having arrived back in North Vancouver the night before from Calgary after the weekend’s drama-filled Canadian track and field Olympic trials.

“It’s been pretty emotional and physically draining for the last couple of days,” admitted Smith, who got the necessary top three finish in the women’s 800 metres, albeit by just 9/100ths of a second.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Emotional+Jessica+Smith+wins+spot+athlete+Olympic+track+team/6873291/story.html#ixzz1zahWPZZx

Living a passionate life

By James Clarke, Parksville Qualicum Beach News

An interview in two parts with Wheelchair racer Michele Stilwell.

Part 1: http://www.pqbnews.com/sports/147677745.html

Part 2: http://www.pqbnews.com/sports/148193415.html

Cliff Childs Interview

By Chris Kelsall

University of Victoria Vikes cross-country and track athlete Clifford Childs, in his fifth and final year of eligibility, helped his team to their ninth, tenth and eleventh Canada West cross-country titles in the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport). They placed third nationally, with 82 points finishing behind Guelph (20) and Windsor (49), respectively on November 12, 2011.

While the Kelowna, BC native and Vikes Team Captain is finishing up his economics degree, he is planning on helping the Vikes to more team awards at the CIS Track and Field Championships, to cap off the 2012 Vikes season March 8th through 10th at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

Read the interview: http://athleticsillustrated.com/interviews/clifford-childs/

 

John Atkinson podcast – Inside the Runner’s Mind

VFAC’s John Atkinson has launched a new podcast.   The premise is to interview exceptional runners and members of the running community – finding out why they run and how/why running has become such an integral part of their lives.

Kicking off the inaugural episode of Inside the Runner’s Mind is an interview with one of the fastest masters runners around:  British expat and Canadian transplant, Kevin O’Connor.  Hear about Kev’s cherished red spikes, his nutrition secrets and how he famously hired a new coach after PB-ing in the ’96 Sun Run.

Brew yourself a pot of tea, sit back and put your feet up, and listne to the in-depth interviews here: http://bcjohnny.podbean.com/

Cameron Levins Interview

By Brandon Laan

Runners Feed had the opportunity to catch up with the 2012 Canadian Cross Country Champion who also placed 4th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships one week ago! Levins shares how much he values his friends and family and how he can’t wait to don the red and white singlet post collegiately (perhaps at the 2012 London Games!).

Read the interview: http://runnersfeed.com/interview-with-canadian-national-cross-country-champion-cam-levins/

 

Geoff Martinson Interview

By Christopher Kelsall

Geoff Martinson is a Canadian Olympic hopeful and IAAF Worlds Track and Field Championships competitor (Daegu 2011). Martinson competes in middle distance events and is on the cusp of making the 2012 London Olympic Games in the 1500m.

Martinson is a seven-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) All-Canadian and was the University of Victoria’s Athlete-of-the-Year for 2009, his final year at the University.

He owns several other varsity athletic accomplishments possibly best capped by his 2008 and 2009 CIS 1500m Gold Medals and 4x800m team Gold.

Read the interview: http://athleticsillustrated.com/interviews/martinson-geoff-2/

Mark Bomba Interview

By Chris Kelsall, Flotrack

Three-time Canadian national champion Mark Bomba recently joined Trinity Western University as the team’s Endurance Director.

He was a national champion in both the 10,000 metre and half marathon distances (in 2005) and in cross-country ( 2000). Bomba competed in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2005, the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2001 and 2003 and the Chiba Ekiden Relay in 2002 and 2004. He was also the 1993 NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) national champion in the 1500 metre event while competing for Vancouver’s, Simon Fraser University.

In my own experience in wanting to develop a deeper understanding of training methodologies, I have had extensive conversations with Bomba about great athletes and coaches from all over the world. His knowledge of the Australian, English and especially New Zealand-based athletes and coaches is extensive. Like most of those coaches, he has been nothing but open and willing to share.

The following interview delves into his love for the sport, the lifestyle and the profession. He provides in-depth answers in a way that will provide any reader an excellent perspective on the sport of distance running especially from the collegiate and national levels.

Read more: http://www.flotrack.org/article/7014-Mark-Bomba

Cameron Levins Interview

By Chris Kelsall

Cameron Levins of Black Creek, British Columbia, capped his 2010 cross-country season Saturday, November 27th with a stunning victory at the AGSI Canadian Cross Country Championships in Guelph, Ontario.

Levins (29:25.7) finished 24 seconds ahead of the favored, Rob Watson and 39 seconds ahead of Reid Coolsaet, both of whom train with the Speed River Track Club. He also finished well ahead of former NCAA All-American Kip Kangogo (30:22.7) and 2010 NCAA steeplechase champion Matthew Hughes (31:10.7) who runs for the University of Louisville.

Athletes had to face freezing temperatures and a snow-laden course. Earlier in the day a mini-blizzard swept through the region.

Levins is currently red-shirting at Southern Utah University where he is working on his degree in Exercise Science. I had the occasion to catch up with Cameron recently to talk about his win and goals for the coming indoor and outdoor track seasons.

Read more: http://www.flotrack.org/articles/view/3825-cameron-levins-canadian-cross-country-champion

Jennifer Joyce delivers RJT in Prince George

On Tuesday, August 10th, Jennifer Joyce delivered RunJumpThrow to 40 kids in Prince George as part of an ActNow BC Athlete Ambassador visit. She visited children at the Carney Hill Neighborhood Summer Program and also spent the afternoon leading drills at PacificSport Northern BC’s XploreSportZ camp.

Click here to see an interview with Jennifer where she talks about the importance of teaching children sports skills early, and specifically the basics of track and field.

The Sprinter and the Quarterback: Channell endures, thrives while cherishing memories of Dittrich

By Howard Tsumura, The Vancouver Province

Between her tears, the ones that tell you that her grieving is a process still in progress, Jane Channell comes to the realization that she has broken out in a smile.

And that’s a good thing, because on too many days since the sudden Nov. 11 passing of her boyfriend, 21-year-old Simon Fraser Clan quarterback Bernd Dittrich, those same tears have choked at her words.

Therapy, it seems, can come from the simplest acts of courage, like talking about your greatest loss.

Read the complete story: http://communities.canada.com/THEPROVINCE/blogs/littlemanoncampus/archive/2010/05/08/the-sprinter-and-the-quarterback-channell-endures-thrives-while-cherishing-memories-of-dittrich.aspx

Lovett’s lift-off reaching world class heights

By Howard Tsumura, The Vancouver Province

In Django Lovett’s world, art is doing a pretty fair imitation of life these days.

On June 5 at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium, the senior from Langley’s Brookswood Secondary will attempt to become the first boy to win three straight provincial prep high jump titles when he competes at the Subway B.C. high school championship meet.

But before then, you can catch Lovett on stage as part of his school’s annual drama festival, an event in which students pen their own scripts with casting courtesy of the student body.

Read the complete story: http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/high_school_hamper/archive/2010/05/20/lovett-s-lift-off-reaching-world-class-heights.aspx

Out in front and ahead of her time

By Howard Tsumura, The Province

It’s doubtful that any of the competitors who lined up to oppose Katie Reid last Saturday in the track and field capital of the U.S. had any idea of just how young she was.

Yet there was the Grade 11 standout in the university division of the 400 metres at the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field, the fabled facility on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene made famous by the late middle-distance icon, Steve Prefontaine.

Competing against a field comprised exclusively of NCAA athletes, the 16-year-old from Surrey’s Earl Marriott Secondary won the race in 55.28 seconds, a full second ahead of second-place AshLee Rey, Idaho’s former 5A high school champ at the same distance, and a runner five years her senior.

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/sports/front+ahead+time/2993392/story.html#ixzz0oVwPGsrJ