The Bisons track and field team had 69 total athletes hit their travel standard this year, making for a "good problem" for head coach Claude Berube and the team's staff. Of that group, 49 will compete at the Canada West Championships, beginning tomorrow afternoon and running through Saturday in Saskatchewan. A total of 28 men will represent the Herd, and 21 women. You can follow along with the action by checking out the live results here and the live stream here. 
 
"It was a tough decision, it went right down to the end. On the way home from South Dakota was when we were making final decisions. Even then it wasn't finally finalized. I think there were six athletes for four spots left, so Sunday morning it was back on the emails with the coaches saying okay, who are we taking? What's your opinions? It's a good problem to have," said Berube.
 
"It's never been this high. It's only been in the 60's once or twice before. You can see more and more that the athletes are training seriously year-round. They're obviously all getting good coaching, which is what we would expect from our coaches. The work in the weight room in the last few years has made a difference for a lot of them. That's a testament to Adam [Stevenson] and the work that he's doing."

 
Team preview
On the men's side, the Herd will look to add to their historic run. Ranked No. 4 in the nation, they enter competition as the four-time defending conference champions, a school record. The women will be a force as well, one year after a fourth-place finish with 69.5 total points.
 
Between the two genders, the Bisons have taken up 15 different spots in the national top 12 rankings across various events.
 
The men's triple jump sees the most Manitoba representation in the top 12, with three different athletes included.
 
Ranked No. 1 is undefeated conference champion Daxx Turner, who is going for a historic five-peat. He broke his own school record in the event at home earlier this season, jumping 16.05m, the tenth-best distance indoors in Canadian history.
 
Not far behind is Adebare Adegbosin, who's also had a career year in the event. His personal best of 15.47m is well above the national auto standard of 14.85 and places him third in the country entering the weekend. Rookie Matthew Chow is also in the top 12, and fifth overall in Canada West, with a personal best of 14.37m, while Enoch Amolegbe is ranked sixth in Canada West and 13^th in the country at 14.17m
 
"They're not trying to beat each other, they're trying to work together to get better," said Berube of the comradery amongst the jumps group.
 
"[Turner] knows there's nobody that's been that close to him for a while. He knows that Ade is breathing right down his neck. Up until we were in NDSU a couple of weeks ago, I think it was the fifth round when Daxx finally went past him. Ade was leading at that point. When he's jumping in the mid 15's, that's a national level jump. You have to jump well to get over top of that."
 

On the women's side, two-time defending high jump national champion Lara Denbow – who along with Turner represented Canada at the FISU World University Games this past summer – is ranked first in the country after setting a personal best and tying the program record with a leap of 1.80 at home earlier this year.
 
A standout in the classroom as well, the avid book-reader has balanced the demands of training with her studies in the College of Pharmacy.
 
Teammate Neveah Marynowski – one of the most versatile athletes in the country – is also ranked nationally, sitting in a tie for ninth in the country and fourth in CanWest after a personal best of 1.69m earlier this year.
 
"Lara knows how to perform in a big meet. She always has," said Berube. She hasn't had many meets this year but that was planned, because of her academic program."
 
"Nevaeh is competing in, and has PBed in the high jump, the 60m hurdles and the long jump. If she can get in the 1.70's that would be awesome. It's going to be a tough competition at the CanWest level, it always is for high jump. We thought she was going to do a pent this year, but she decided not to," added Berube.
 
"I know she's got a multi-sport background which always helps. I hear her talking about still playing some senior women's volleyball. She's getting coached by Ming, which also helps. He's always on top of his guys and girls, and they work a lot and they work hard."
 
Another record-breaking veteran to keep an eye on is men's sprinter Tyrell Davis. A U SPORTS and CanWest silver medalist, he shattered the school record at the Golden Bear Open earlier in the season with a time of 6.60 seconds. It's the second-fastest time in the country, just behind FISU alum Travis Campbell's 6.58, and Davis – one of just two Bisons in school history to run sub 6.70 – is hungry for more entering the weekend.
 
"At NDSU when he ran a 6.68, it was almost like he was disappointed that he didn't go faster," chuckled Berube.
 
"There's only one or two guys in the country that can run that fast right now, and you're disappointed with a time like that. I know he wants to be in the 6.5's. When you're at 6.60, he wants to be in the 6.65's. Maybe it'll happen this weekend, maybe at U SPORTS, we'll see."
 
Other men to keep an eye out for include Alejandro Civetta in the 600m, who's been ranked first all season, along with Noah Curtis, who's ranked fourth in Canada West and 12th in the nation in the 300m. Maxwell Fisher – also on the Bisons football team – is also ranked fifth in the conference in the weight throw, and has thrown PBs numerous times.
 
Curtis is also a big part of Manitoba's 4x200 relay team, that's already booked their ticket to nationals. Overall, five of six Bisons relay teams spread across both genders are ranked in the top 12 in the country, including the men's 4x200 and 4x800, which have both auto qualified for U SPORTS.
 
On the women's side, Nova Scotia native Ella Farquharson has made an immediate impact in the throws. She's ranked fifth in Canada West and ninth in the nation in the shot put with a best toss of 12.93m, and she's also ranked third in the conference in the weight throw, at 15.76.