Huskies Women Win Track Gold UofS Claims Second Consecutive Canada West Championship Dorian Geiger Huskies runner Kailey Smith leads the pack Saskatoon, SK — At the height of Olympics fever, the UofS Huskies track and field team was also chasing gold – and they won it handily in Edmonton as the Huskies women captured their second consecutive Canada West title. The #3 ranked Huskies women’s faction hurdled leaps and bounds over competition and when the meet had concluded, the Green and White had tallied 119.50 points — over 20 points more than their nearest competitors — to further establish Saskatchewan’s western track and field dominance. The men’s Huskies finished the conference meet with 89 points, coming in a close second to the Dogs’ cross-province rivals Regina, who clinched their first ever Canada West championship. Notably for the men’s track team, pole vaulter Taylor Petrucha continued his record-breaking 2009–10 trek with a 5.21 metre vault, a new Canada West record. Petrucha surpasses the previous conference record, held by Huskies alum Ryan Hvidstonat, at 5.10 metres. Huskies men’s pentathlete Evan Neufeldt thinks the twenty-point lead the women’s track team racked up against their competitors perfectly suits what marked the program’s 20th conference championship. “It just shows their dominance – this is a strong team. We saw it coming – they didn’t give anyone else a chance,” Neufeldt said, of the Huskies women’s rigid athleticism. “Our women are sick,” added Neufeldt. The Huskies now look forward to the CIS championship in Windsor, Ontario on March 11th and 12th, where victory may not come as easily — the national championship will boast stronger teams, primarily from the east. Between Guelph’s dominance in the men’s side of things and Windsor in women’s track, Saskatchewan will need to be on the ball, leaving little room for error if they want to emerge victorious. “If everyone doesn’t do what they’re supposed to do we might not come out on top,” says Neufeldt. WHL Title Long Overdue For Saskatoon Blades Dorian Geiger Blades netminder Adam Morrison jams the post Saskatoon, SK — If Rider fans thought the Grey Cup drought spanning 1989 to 2007 felt like an eternity, think of how diehard Saskatoon Blades fans feel about the time elapsed since they last revelled in WHL hockey glory. The comparison is no contest; the Blades have not won a WHL championship in the history of their 46-year existence. Now our city is not exactly known for going head over heels for the Blades — compared to uproarious fans that pack the Tigers’ Medicine Hat arena (which recently boasted a 197-game sellout streak), the Paris of the Prairies’ fan base gets blown out the water in the hockey hysteria department — but the Blades’ historically underwhelming fan response may be a symptom of nearly half a century of failed runs at the WHL crown. Since the Blades’ ‘92 and ’94 visits to the WHL finals, where they fell both times to the Kamloops Blazers, the closest Saskatoon has come to clinching a major championship was in the 1989 Memorial Cup championship, where the Blades automatically qualified as host city. Though the Blades defeated the mighty Swift Current Broncos in the round robin, they came up short in the final against Speedy Creek. However, though they have yet to claim a WHL championship, things are looking up for the Blades. The 43–15–3–4 Saskatoon crew of the current WHL season are a strong, gritty squad, and hopefully they can capitalize on some of the residual hockey hype generated by Saskatoon’s IIHF World Junior Championships hosting duties to succeed in the approaching WHL post-season. Saskatoon fans went wild for Canada’s oh-so-close fifth World Junior gold medal run, and with the recent outpouring of love for our national sport during the Olympics, it would be great to see prairie fans keep up the fanfare and support the Blades through thick and thin during the playoffs. The Blades are currently in a three-way battle — along with the Calgary Hitmen, Tri-City Americans and Brandon Wheat Kings — for top spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, and will determine their playoff seed in the final games of the season.