Lethbridge College’s indoor track team is ready to lace up the runners as the ACAC season begins this weekend. The Kodiaks travel to MacEwan University in Edmonton for ACAC Running Room Grand Prix #1. It is one of two official ACAC events ahead of March’s conference championships.
Both Kodiaks teams are rebuilding after seasons that ended short of the podium in 2019. The women’s team finished fifth last season, while the men’s team placed sixth. The two clubs earned just a single medal between them – a bronze in the women’s 300m by now-graduated Danna DeGagne.
Head coach Simon Schaerz, who is in his second season leading the indoor track program, has focused on bringing in exciting freshmen to help compliment the returning core of veterans on both the women’s and men’s rosters.
“Millie Stafford on the women’s team, and James Marriner and Isaiah Bean on the men’s side, are all freshmen who I feel could each crack the top eight in their respective events,” says Schaerz. “Both teams should have the depth and potential to push for the podium at the ACAC championships.”
The Kodiaks will also be bolstered by the addition of a handful of dual-sport athletes. Marriner is a member of the Kodiaks men’s volleyball team, but he could be a medal threat for the indoor track team in the 300m and 600m events. The women’s team has added two members of the back-to-back ACAC bronze medalist women’s soccer team in Jasmin Salmon (third year, Business Administration, Medicine Hat) and Christine Moser (third year, Massage Therapy, Whitehorse). Salmon was an ACAC south division all-star this season, while Moser was a division all-star and the south division MVP. Both will run in the 600m and 1,000m events.
“I've only seen them compete once and it was essentially right after they had joined us,” says Schaerz of Salmon and Moser, who will both also compete for the Kodiaks in futsal this spring. “I think they've come a long way since then, figuring out how the sport works, how to train properly, how to pace properly. I’m very excited to see how those two athletes do.”
The Kodiaks begin the ACAC season with Running Room Grand Prix #1 on Saturday. Action begins at 8:30 a.m. at MacEwan University in Edmonton. Grand Prix #2 will take place on March 7 in Red Deer, followed by the ACAC Championships on March 20 and 21 in Edmonton.
Weekend results will be available on the ACAC website. Learn more about the Kodiaks at gokodiaks.ca and follow along all season on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. High-quality photos are available to download from the Kodiaks Flickr account.
HEAD COACH:
Simon Schaerz (second year)
ASSISTANT COACH:
Caylee Vogel
2019 ACAC SEASON:
Fifth place at ACAC championships
2019 INDIVIDUAL HONOURS:
Danna DeGagne, 300m bronze medal
DID YOU KNOW?
Two members of the back-to-back ACAC bronze medalist Kodiaks soccer team, Jasmin Salmon
and reigning ACAC south division women’s soccer MVP Christine Moser, will join the Kodiaks indoor
track team this season.
KEY RETURNEES:
Vildana Rekic 1,500m; 3,000m (fourth year, Ecosystem Management, Lethbridge)
Anna LeBlanc 1,500m; 3,000m (second year, Natural Resource Management, Banff)
KEY ADDITIONS:
Volonte Kyamundu 300m; 600m (first year, Criminal Justice – Policing; Regina)
Jasmin Salmon 600m; 1,000m (third year, Business Administration, Medicine Hat)
Christine Moser 600m; 1,000m (third year, Massage Therapy, Whitehorse)
RUNNER TO WATCH:
Millie Stafford 300m, 600m (first year, Exercise Science, Lethbridge)
A converted rugby player who suited up for the University of Saskatchewan’s club sevens team,
Stafford, an LCI grad, is returning home to join the Kodiaks. Her power should be evident in the short-
distance events where she is projected to finish in the top eight in the 300m, while giving a kick to the
4x200m and 4x400m relay teams.
SEASON OUTLOOK:
The team is dotted with big stage experience, as a number of members of the Kodiaks national
champion cross country team return for the indoor track season. However, indoor track provides a
different type of challenge and head coach Simon Schaerz doesn’t expect another championship,
although he does think the team has the depth and talent to earn a spot on the podium.
COACH IN HIS OWN WORDS:
“The addition of the speed events is a big change from the cross country season, but I’m still hopeful
that our depth in the other distances is enough to finish in the top three at the ACAC championships.
That would be my goal for the team this season.
– Simon Schaerz
LISTEN:
Coach Simon Schaerz discusses the upcoming cross country season
HEAD COACH:
Simon Schaerz (second year)
ASSISTANT COACH:
Caylee Vogel
2019 ACAC SEASON:
Sixth place at ACAC championships
DID YOU KNOW?
The Kodiaks men’s indoor track team has earned 24 individual medals in ACAC competition since
2014, including eight gold medals.
KEY RETURNEES:
Connor Jackson 1,500m; 3,000m (second year, Business Administration, Surrey, B.C.)
Tyler Larkin 1,000m; 1,5000m (second year, General Studies, Lethbridge)
KEY ADDITIONS:
Isaiah Bean 300m, 600m (first year, Criminal Justice, Edmonton)
Cooper Cheshire 1,500m; 3,000m (second year, Agricultural Enterprise Management, Trochu, Alta.)
Justin Fisher 1,000m; 1,500m (first year, General Studies, Claresholm)
RUNNER TO WATCH:
James Marriner 300m; 600m (first year, Business Administration, Lethbridge)
A two-sport athlete who is also a member of the Kodiaks volleyball team, Marriner is a short-distance
specialist who could crack the top eight in the conference and possibly challenge for a medal in his
individual events, while helping the Kodiaks relay teams, particularly in the newly-created 4x200m
event. Marriner and fellow freshman Isaiah Bean should give the Kodiaks a strong 1-2 punch in the
short distance events.
SEASON OUTLOOK:
The Kodiaks cross country team finished fourth in the province during the fall season, but head coach
Simon Schaerz, now in his second year at the helm of the indoor track program, feels this team is
better built for the indoor season and expects they could improve on that fourth place standing.
Freshmen James Marriner and Isaiah Bean will lead the short-distance attack, while Red Deer
College transfer Cooper Cheshire brings the experience of a pair of top-10 finishes in the 1,000m and
1,500m events last season.
COACH IN HIS OWN WORDS:
“I think it’s certainly doable to be in the top three at the ACAC championships. Our emphasis over the
coming years is returning the indoor track program to where we were four or five years ago – at the
very top of the conference. That’s the long-term goal, while the short term goal is to begin building
that winning culture.”
– Simon Schaerz
LISTEN:
Coach Simon Schaerz discusses the upcoming cross country season