QUICKLY
Shelaine Pritchard set a school record in the shot put, Jonathan Podbielski broke a meet record in the 1000-metre run, and Daniel Eiswerth hit the U SPORTS standard in the 600-metre run as the University of Regina's track & field teams headed to Edmonton over the weekend to compete at the Golden Bear Open hosted by the University of Alberta.

PRITCHARD SETS SCHOOL MARK, HITS STANDARD

• Competing in her first pentathlon of the season, Pritchard had a solid second-place finish with a personal-best total of 3827 points which puts her No. 3 in the early U SPORTS rankings for the event.
• Pritchard's best event was the shot put. On her third and final attempt, she unleashed a throw of 13.07 metres to beat Chantelle Labrecque's old U of R record of 13.00 metres which had stood since the 2011-12 season.
• Pritchard also hit a personal-best mark in the 60-metre hurdles, finishing with a time of 8.51 seconds to finish second. She was also second in the long jump with a top attempt of 5.87 metres.

PODBIELSKI BREAKS MEET RECORD, HITS STANDARD

• Podbielski threw down a time of 2:23.13 in the 1000, winning by over a second and a half over the second-place finisher.
• His time broke the Golden Bear Open meet record, which had stood since 1984 at 2:23.70 by future Canadian Olympian Simon Hoogewerf (UBC).
• His time also puts him No. 2 in the national rankings. Dalhousie's Aidan Goslett is the only U SPORTS athlete to have run a faster 1000 this season.

EISWERTH HITS U SPORTS STANDARD IN 600

• Daniel Eiswerth finished in second place in the 600-metre run, but more importantly hit the U SPORTS standard with a finishing time of 1:19.48.
• Eiswerth, the U of R's record holder in the 600 thanks to last year's time of 1:18.54 that he registered in South Dakota, is now ranked No. 3 in the nation in the event. 

BRANNING WINS 60

• Heidi Branning had the top finish of the meet for the women's team, winning the final of the 60-metre dash by just one one-hundredth of a second in a tightly contested race.
• Branning, in her second meet back with the Cougars after not competing during the 2023-24 season, was third in both the prelims and the semifinals of the 60 before winning the final with a personal-best time of 7.65 seconds. Her previous best was 7.68 seconds at the 2023 Canada West Championships.

KEITH PLACES SECOND, FOURTH

• Fresh off a pair of personal bests last weekend in Saskatoon, Kaidyn Keith had another strong weekend with a second-place finish in the triple jump and a third in the 60-metre dash.
• In the triple jump, Keith fouled her first two attempts but went 11.15 metres on her third to make the final eight. She had a jump of 11.72 metres on her final attempt, not far off from the PB of 11.82m that she set in Saskatoon.
• Keith put up another personal best in the prelims of the 60, putting down a time of 7.66 seconds to beat her previous record of 7.72 set earlier this season at the Regina Friendship Games.

MacLEAN, ZABLOCKI ALSO TOP THREE

• Rookie Brett MacLean finished a strong second place in the 1500-metre run, collecting a personal best with a time of 3:59.17. 
• Storm Zablocki led the way for the sprinters, finishing the 60-metre dash in a time of 6.79 seconds to place third in the event. Zablocki is one of just seven U SPORTS athletes to have gone under 6.8 seconds in the 60 this season.

COUGARS COLLECT 24 PERSONAL BESTS

• The women's team collected 10 personal bests including the 3 by Pritchard. Queen Clayton also had a notable PB with a time of 7.76 seconds in the 60-metre dash prelims.
• On the men's side, the 14 PBs included 7 in the 60 alone. Adam Sieben (6.81), Mason Novik (6.88), and Jevon Garwood (7.03) led that group.

NEXT UP

• The Cougars have the Knights of Columbus Games on the schedule next Saturday in Saskatoon, but expect to send only Zablocki to that meet.
• The next major meet will be the following weekend with the Cougars travelling to Winnipeg for the Bison Classic on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.