QUICKLY
Jonathan Podbielski travelled to Boston and broke the University of Regina's 3000-metre run record, while Shelaine Pritchard led a contingent of Cougars at the Bison Indoor Open in Fargo by tying the school's record in the 60-metre dash.

PODBIELSKI SETS RECORD IN BEANTOWN

• Podbielski travelled to the East Coast to run in both the mile and the 3000 in a stacked field littered with professional and NCAA Div. I runners at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invitational hosted by Boston University on Saturday.
• He started off the meet finishing agonizingly close to breaking the magical four-minute mile barrier, ending up with a time of 4:00.01 and placing 21st out of 87 finishers.
• With only a few hours of rest following the mile, Podbielski then placed 20th out of 107 finishers in the 3000. The third-year runner finished with a time of 8:04.25, which breaks the old U of R record of 8:06.87 set by Kelly Wiebe during his dominant win in the 2013 Canada West meet held in Regina.
• Podbielski now holds school records in the 1000, 1500, and 3000 as well as in the 4x800-metre relay.

PRITCHARD CONTINUES SENSATIONAL SEASON IN FARGO

• Pritchard sprinted to a personal-best time of 7.50 seconds in the finals of the 60-metre dash in Fargo, finishing fourth in the event and matching the school record originally set by Kailee Woitas back during the 2021-22 season.
• She's now ranked No. 8 in the nation and third in Canada West in the 60.
• Pritchard also placed second in the long jump (5.81m), third in the 60-metre hurdles (8.56 s), and third in the 200-metre dash with a personal-best time of 24.86 seconds. While not an official U SPORTS event, Pritchard's time in the 200 was the second fastest registered by a U SPORTS athlete this season.

SEVEN TOP-THREE FINISHES AT BISON INDOOR OPEN

• Daniel Eiswerth had the lone win for the Cougars in Fargo, finishing the 800-metre run in a personal-best time of 1:54.96 to secure the first-place result. Eiswerth also placed second in the 600-metre run with a time of 1:20.30.
• Greg Hetterley placed second in the 1000-metre run with a season-best time of 2:30.62. 
• Pritchard, Heidi Branning, Queen Clayton, and Kaidyn Keith combined for a second-place finish in the women's 4x400-metre relay (3:57.39).
• The Cougars had 14 other personal bests in Fargo in addition to Eiswerth's and the two by Pritchard, including Clayton in the 60-metre hurdles (8.85), Keith in the 200 (24.93), Branning in the 200 (25.78), Katelyn Kichula in the 200 (26.42), Harper Lebell in the 800 (2:22.65), Femi Akinloye in both the 60 (6.86) and the 200 (22.42), Adam Sieben in the 200 (22.35), Scott Fenton in the 600 (1:23.32) and 800 (1:57.07), Omer Labrie-Boulay in the 800 (1:58.30), Ian Teichler (4:15.86) and Brett MacLean (4:15.90) in the mile, and Logan Stachowich in the high jump (1.88m).

NINE PBs AT REGINA INDOOR GAMES

• A group of Cougars also stayed home to compete in the Regina Indoor Games at the Regina Fieldhouse. The sprinters put up a total of four personal-best times in the 60 including Eli Lazo-Chhuon at 7.38 seconds.
• Kaelen Kolb had one of the U of R's two PBs in the 800 (2:01.09), while Quinton Fettes clearing the bar at 3.22 metres in the pole vault was also a personal best.
• The Cougars had two PBs in the shot put as Faith Adebogun (11.98m) and Andrew Benko (13.10m) both set new marks.

NEXT UP
The Cougars will now take a weekend away from competition to prepare for the Canada West Track & Field Championships, which they'll host at the Regina Fieldhouse on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22.