Hunter Graves breaking barriers
While he may not admit it, Hunter Graves (second year, General Arts and Science, Raymond) has been a pioneer for the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks indoor track team. He joined the Kodiaks last season as the first para-athlete to compete in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC).
“I was born with spina bifida, so I have been in either a chair or actually mostly on forearm crutches for my entire life,” says Graves. “I started using crutches when I was about three. Before then I had a walker that I would use. I use a wheelchair a little bit more now.”
The decision to become involved in track didn’t come on a whim for Graves. He’s been more active in various athletics than most able-bodied people since he was young.
“I’ve been involved in athletics, I would say, for a lot of my life,” says Graves, who comes from a very sports-oriented family. “When I was in elementary school, I was always the kid doing the Terry Fox Run and triathlons. I didn’t really care if I was first or last, and often I was last.
“In Grade 9 I found wheelchair basketball with the Lethbridge Steamers and I’ve been going to tournaments with them for largely the past decade. I started in track in my senior year in high school with the Raymond Comets and went to the provincial level. I was actually pulled aside by an Alberta coach for the Canada Summer Games, so I got to represent Team Alberta for the 2017 Games in Winnipeg.”
One hope Graves had for this season was being able to race against another para-athlete. He remains the lone wolf on the track, but he’s hopeful that will change in the future.
“There’s been interest, but the majority of the athletes that I’ve heard from are younger athletes so far,” he says. “I think it might be a slow burn, but I would say it’s starting to pique some interest, and in a few years, we may be seeing more para-athletes competing in the ACAC.”
Being a solo competitor, it’s Graves racing against the clock at every meet. “It’s not the thing I want to be doing most, which is competing against other athletes, but it’s been a great honour to be able to compete at all, to represent people with disabilities, to represent the Kodiaks.”
Running with a legacy: Kodiaks cross country success
Following in the footsteps of a legendary collegiate coach may be daunting for some people. But, like his cross-country runners, Simon Schaerz has taken it in stride.
Schaerz took over the reins of the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks cross-country team in 2018 from Bertil Johansson, and in his seven years has won a Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) women’s team title in 2019 and has been named Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) coach of the year four times. His honours include twice as cross-country coach of the year, including this season, and twice as indoor track coach of the year.
Schaerz joined the Kodiaks as an assistant coach with Johansson in 2014 before assuming a co-coaching role where he focused on the women’s team, helping them become nationally competitive, winning a national championship in 2019 after Johansson retired.
“Bertil has instilled a huge legacy, and we have recognition even across the CCAA; everybody knows who Lethbridge is,” says Schaerz. “They look out for us because we want to do quite well. That was really nice to be part of that, to kind of learn what it takes to succeed at that level.”
Schaerz has also amassed a quality coaching staff which he says has been key to the success of the Kodiaks cross-country and indoor track programs. “Their dedication and efforts have been instrumental in advancing the indoor track.
The men’s and women’s cross-country teams earned silver medals at the ACAC Championships this past season, as did the men’s indoor track team. The women’s indoor track team took home bronze.
For more Kodiaks news, visit www.gokodiaks.ca.
