Victrack Alumni

ALUMNI NEWS

June 28, 2010 Congratulations to Keith Newell a VTFC alumni member and provincial and national level official. Keith recently won the FOX 40 Kitch MacPherson Award of Excellence presented by the Sports Officials Canada association for his 40 plus years as an official and administrator. Many of our club athletes will recognize Keith from his work as a starter's assistant or track referee at many of our local school track and field meets. Keith's officials assignments include working at two Commonwealth Games, two Pan American Games and three World Championships. Within Canada, Keith has officiated at 15 National Senior Championships, 10 National Junior Championships and numerous provincial championships.
Keith Newell [left] and David Weicker [right] officiating at the 2008 North American Indigenous Games.

April 16, 2010 SHERIDAN, Allan (Bim) Ralph February 7, 1957 April 6, 2010 Al died 14 months after being diagnosed with ALS. Much loved husband of Mary (nee Cavin) and devoted father of Sara and Ben, he was predeceased by his father, Dick and mother-in-law, Belle. He is survived by his mother Pat, father-inlaw Des, brothers-inlaw Peter and Mike, sisters-in-law Laura, Cathy and Margaret, nephews Craig, Andrew and Paul, niece Emily, sisters Anne and Sandy Bennett and family, relatives and friends. Al was an accomplished athlete, running hurdles, playing soccer, football, golf and rugby. He coached Sara and Ben in soccer and softball and enjoyed running the soccer sidelines. A skilled craftsman, he designed and created jewellery, furniture and custom home projects. If you were a client, you were most often a friend or soon became one. His love of the outdoors grew from family camping trips to Mahood Lake and continued with fishing trips with his dad and camping in the B.C. Interior with family, cousins and friends. An early riser, Al always had the coffee perking! Al's sense of humour did not fade and the twinkle never left his eyes. Please join us to remember Al on Saturday, April 17 between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Prospect Lake Community Hall, Saanich, B.C. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the ALS Society or the charity of your choice. To read a personal memory of Al Sheridan, written by Gerard Dumas, please click here.
Alan Sheridan 1957 to 2010

January 17, 2010 Congratulations to David Lingwood, another VTFC alumni, who is beginning a career in the television field. David is one of 4 friends who have written, produced and filmed a new MTV series beginning this week on Monday nights at 10:00pm. The series is titled The Buried Life and is about the four young friends who hit the road to complete an epic list of "100 things to do Before You Die" while helping others along the way. David's role on the team is listed as unlimited energy! While David was with VTFC he had to balance his time between running hurdles and break dancing!

January 17, 2010 Congratulations to Sean White, a VTFC alumni member, who has built a hugely successful career with National Geographic. Beginning with home movies, Sean moved on to filming his unique adventures climbing in the Himalayas, unicycling down a mountain in Mexico, rock climbing and hang gliding. Sean began working as a cinematogographer on shoots with Vision Network and is now working as a director and filmmaker with National Geographic television productions. Check out some of the long list of films that Sean has written, produced, filmed, directed and/or edited: Into the Thunder Dragon, Beyond Gravity, Sinking a Destroyer, Sinking an Aircraft Carrier, Last Battle of Hampton Gray, Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe [including Africa - Madagascar, Alaska - Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska - Glacier Bay, Alaska - Katmai Coast, Bolivia - the Altiplano], Blowdown and Ultimate Engineering [Anchor Wat and Machu Picchu].

October 3, 2009 Congratulations to Megan Huzzey, a VTFC alumni member, who won the 10k racewalk event at the Francophone Games in Beruit, Lebanon. Megan is one of our most successful walkers who now competes for the University of British Columbia.

September 14, 2009 Three of our club alumni competed this past weekend in the World Triathlon Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. Brent McMahon finished 18th out of 51 finishers in the Elite Men's Division, Andrew McCartney finished 15th out of 53 competitors in the Under 23 men's race while Kirsten Sweetland still recovering from injuries was forced to withdraw from the Elite Women's race. Congratulations to all three alumni members!

August 24, 2009 Shawn Nelson, a graduate of our middle distance program, recently broke his own record for running the entire 47 kilometre Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. Shawn's new time of 5 hours and 28 minutes beat his previous best of 6 hours and 15 minutes over the very muddy and rugged trail.

How many of these vaulters can you name? Hint, one is our current club president.

Gwen Little at the Dogwood Meet. Gwen is one of the original founders of both Victoria Track and Field Club and the Dogwood Meet.

Justin Robinson, Owen Clements and Stuart Love

1995: Our first group of women pole vaulters, Kelowna.

1994: Owen Clements on his way to becoming the Canadian Champion!

		PHIL NELSON Phil has coached with VTFC for the past 16 years starting with his two sons and now his daughter, Kaitlin. Phil is certified level 3 NCCP and is currently working on his level 4 courses. He is the coach of our sprints and middle distance program for midget and older athletes and also coaches in our cross country program during the fall and winter months. Phil retired from coaching in August 2009 with the graduation of his daughter, Katie. The club owes him a huge debt of thanks for his years of coaching with our middle distance athletes.