With the home crowd behind them, the University of Saskatchewan men’s track and field team captured the Canada West championship at the Saskatoon Field House on Feb. 27. It was their 18th title overall and their first since 2013.

Led by a couple of dominant weekend performances, the men’s team racked up 75 team points en route to the title, 18 more points than the second place Alberta Golden Bears. On the women’s side, the Dogs had some stellar individual showings, but the team wound up third with 68.5 points. The Alberta Pandas took home the women’s championship with 101 points.

Now in her eighth season as the track and field head coach, Joanne McTaggart has won five CanWest titles, but being in Saskatoon for this one was extra special. She also stressed how she couldn’t have done it without the help of all the other coaches on staff.

“It was better at home than it would have been somewhere else, because our crowd was here for us. But it’s a nice accomplishment anytime we can do it,” McTaggart said. “I have a really good coaching staff, so I mostly just co-ordinate and help look after the athletes — while helping coach as well.”

The championship banner was highlighted by a couple key gold medal performances: Garrett Peters (600-m), Erik Widing (3000-m), Jared Olson (60-m hurdles), the 4×200 metre relay team — consisting of Olson, Peters, Graham Black and Adam Paslawski — and the 4×400 metre relay team, made up of Peters, Black, Winston Williams and Jaden Porte.

Fifth-year Peters, who took home three golds on the weekend, said this season was a year in the making and was proud to earn the title at home.

“It was quite enjoyable being here at home, being in front of friends and family. We [the relay team] met last year around this time and talked about this season, so it’s been a year of progress to get here. It feels good and it’s a great accomplishment,” Peters said.

“It was pretty sweet to get it at home. We last won in Regina three years ago, so it was definitely great to win it at home,” Olson added.

Black (300-m), Cole Digel (heptathlon), Williams (60-m) and the 4×800 metre relay — including Porte, Mackenzie Dawson, Jared Welsh and Ryan Kowalchuk — also landed on the podium in their respective events. Perhaps the best moment of the meet was provided by the 4×200 metre relay team, as they broke a 16-year old Huskie record in that event, with a time of 1:26.87.

The quartet has been dominant in the event all year and it wasn’t a surprise to anyone, not even Black, when they won gold.

“We knew we had to beat ourselves if we weren’t going to get it — we would’ve had to miss a handoff or drop the baton or something. [The record] is so special considering all the people that have come through the program — to be the fastest team ever, I think that’s really special,” Black said.

McTaggart spoke highly of the four runners on the team and says they are the epitome of what happens when you’re willing to put in the work.

“They’ve really gelled together — and they’re all in their fourth or fifth year. It just goes to show that if you really work at it and put in the time, it will pay off in the end,” McTaggart said.

The women’s team also had some excellent showings at the meet. Olena Olenick (weight toss), Naomi Manske (triple-jump) and Astrid Nyame (60-m hurdles) all were individual gold medal winners. Nyame was busy, collecting three total medals, by placing in long jump and the 60 metre sprint as well. Jessica Buettner (shot put), Courtney Erickson (pole vault) and Julianne LaBach (1000-m) all earned medals at the meet.

Many athletes from the men’s and women’s team qualified for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships, which take place at York University in Toronto, Ont. on Mar. 10 and 11. This will be their final meet of the season and a chance to compete with some of the best athletes in the country. McTaggart and her team is excited for the meet, but her biggest concern now is making sure everyone is in peak condition in time for the championships.

“At this level, it’s not too hard to keep them focused. They want to go and win and they’re very focused in their training,” McTaggart said. “The hard part is sometimes keeping them from training too much, especially in the last few days, to prevent injuries.”