1985 - 86 U of S Huskies Women's Track & Field
Team (2003)
Track and Field
C.I.A.U. National Women's Track and Field Champions
Given their experience from a year earlier, and blessed with many of the same talents, the 1985-86 Huskie women's track and field team rose to Canadian championship heights again, staging relay team heroics to win the national meet at Edmonton.
The Huskies went into the nationals, encouraged by the success they had at Canada west where they won a third straight team title, two relay races and individual event victories from Lisa Kroll and Gwen Wall.
And it was during the relays at the nationals where the Huskies shone again. Gwen Wall, Teresa Hlady, Susan McClocklin and Clara Wall ran a sparkling 4x800 metres in nine minutes, 5.03 seconds to grab second place, just one second behind the champions from the University of Toronto.
Then in the 4x200 relay event, Janice McDougall, Lisa Kroll, Cheryl Maroniuk and Clara Wall ran away from the field to win gold. Kroll, in her role as anchor, opened up a two-second gap over Alberta during the stretch.
Going into the final relay, the Huskies trailed the University of Toronto by two points in the standings and they needed to win. Teresa Hlady, Clara Wall and Lisa Kroll did their jobs to keep Huskies in the lead, the baton was passed to Gwen Wall, who ran an awesome 55-second final quarter to give Huskies the race in three minutes, 50.13 seconds, and the team title. The Huskies wound up with a five-point advantage over Toronto.
Lisa Kroll was among those who delivered magic moments at the meet, winning the individual 300 metre title in 39.07 seconds, taking second in the 60 metres and fifth in the 600 metres before twice contributing to relay successes.
Gwen Wall won the 600 metres and put the cap on a University of Saskatchewan career in which she was All-Canadian four times, twice a national team champion, four times a Canada West team champion and was the only athlete to ever win the university's Ethel Catherwood award four times.
Teresa Hlady also put the finish on a career where she achieved All-Canadian status five years in a row.
Shannon Kekula added vital points in the 1986 triumph, getting silver in the shot put and sixth in the high jump, another contributor over the long haul.
Back row: Teresa (Hlady) Schlachter, Janice (Zunti) MacDougall, Kim Zdunich, Shannon Kekula-Kristiansen, Gwen (Wall) Ridout
Front row: Clara (Wall) Lee, Susan (McClocklin) Stevenson, Cheryl (Maroniuk) Adams, Lisa (Kroll) Mattern
Team Staff: Lyle Sanderson (Head Coach), (Coaches): Brian Clark, Ernie McCullough, John Neufeld, Bryan Onstad, Gerry Ross, Sue (Summers) Wise, Ziggy Szelagowicz, Ivan Tam, Dale Yellowlees, Rob Zerr, Kevin Van Cleave ** (Manager), Chuck Armstrong (Head Trainer), Scott Anderson (Trainer)
** Deceased