SPORTS FLASHBACK 1984: Records fall at seventh Bill Russell Memorial Meet

No fewer than a dozen meet records and at least one provincial record fell as more than 1,000 athletes competed at the seventh annual Steinbach Knights of Columbus Bill Russell Memorial Meet.

Hugh Hamilton of the Flying M Track Club set the pace as he captured five gold medals, set two meet records and one new provincial mark on his way to being named the male athlete of the meet.

Hamilton won the 17 and under 80 metres in a time of 9.87 seconds and followed with a new meet record and provincial mark of 1.94 metres in the high jump. A meet record of 6.25 in the long jump added another gold medal to his collection. He finished off the meet by running the anchor for his team in gold medal performances in the 4×100 and medley relays.

The best female athlete of the meet picked up four gold medals. Stephanie Oland of AOTC ran the 80 metres in 11 flat and posted a time of 44.7 in the 300. She won the 16 and under high jump with a height of 1.50 and struck gold in the long jump with a distance of 4.79.

Both athletes received meet trophies sponsored by Manitoba State Knights of Columbus.

The best relay team at the meet this weekend came from Springfield. Jennifer Kobyll, Michelle Lalonde, Christy Nicholsen and Laurie Lavis competed in the 14 and under category. They received the Merit Sports Trophy for their relay performances.

The Barb Cheop Memorial Trophy, presented to the best local athlete in the Steinbach Knights of Columbus Bill Russell Memorial Games, was won by Allison Kreutzer.

Kreutzer set a new meet record in the 19 and under long jump with a distance of 5.18.

While most of the spotlight was on high school and university athletes Saturday, students from elementary schools in Steinbach and New Bothwell displayed their skills all day Friday.

Southwood School athletes topped the list with three teams in action, picking up a total of 157 points. Elmdale School also had three teams in the competition and earned second spot. Woodlawn’s three teams were third and New Bothwell with two teams was fourth overeall.

Meet chairman Verne Kulyk said organizers were well pleased with the way the meet ran this year. Entries were down somewhat because a Saturday morning storm prevented three city schools from competing, but the number of records set spoke of the quality of the competition.

The co-operation of the arena staff helped immensely, Kulyk said, for in spite of finishing the meet Saturday night and having to remove the indoor track early Sunday morning, the ice was back in superb condition for Sunday afternoon’s Central Amateur Senior Hockey League playoff contest.

The Steinbach Huskies, idle since Thursday because of the track meet which took over the arena for most of the weekend, were no match for a well-rested East Kildonan Millionaires team and were shut out 4-0 in a brawl-filled contest which evened the first-round CASH League playoff series at a game apiece.