Harding making his mark at Lethbridge College

By Cyrtis Phillips
ACAC Sports Writer

The name Alex means “to defend, help” or “defending men,” so it was no surprise that Taberite Alex Harding and Alex Andres led the way for the Lethbridge Kodiaks as they captured all seven of the indoor track men’s event slate last month at the 2014-2015 The Running Room Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Indoor Track Championships held at Edmonton’s Garrison and co-hosted by the Concordia University College of Alberta Thunder and Grant MacEwan University Griffins.

“It was awesome…the expectation was that we would do well but not to sweep every event in the men’s competition,” said Kodiaks head coach Bertil Johansson. “This must be a new record? Who does this? How does this happen? We kept talking about it afterwards.”

Harding, who took this fall off from cross country running, returned to the indoor track scene to win the 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000 metre distances.

“It is too bad we did not have him for the cross country team this year, as we would have won it all,” lamented Johansson, of Harding a third-year student/athlete (Exercise Science) from Taber, Alberta.

Johansson has coached the Kodiaks men to seven ACAC cross country banners since 2000.

Andres a second year student/athlete (Criminal Justice – Policing ) from Wetaskiwin, Alberta, crossed the line first in the 300 metre and 600 metre, which have replaced last year’s 400 metre and 800 metre.
He, along with Harding and two other teammates, Evan Brown, Boaz Korir, also captured the 4x 400 relay event.

REBEL YELL: The former W.R. Myers Rebels athlete’s accomplishments earned him a Lethbridge College Athlete-of-the-Week accolade last week along with recognition as an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week. Johansson, his coach thinks he has the potential to run 3000 metres in 8:45 which would see him in the running to compete on a more national level.