Wednesday. October 18, 2000 ~ North Shore News ~ 37

THE RUNNING MAN

North Shore marathon runner Colin Dignum, 34, rana time
of 2:26:52 to beat another 2.700 racers to the finish line for
a first-place finish at the Royal Victoria Marathon on Oct. 8.
Dignum. a teacher at West Van secondary, also took top
spot in the annua! Grouse Grind Mountain Run this year
and is planning on tackling the Boston Marathon this Aprit.

HOWES SWEET IT IS

West Van's Struan Howes scored the lone goat to iead the
Simon Fraser University men’s soccer team to a shutout win
over the Roberts Wesleyan Raiders from New York on
Saturday. The Clan, which now has won ten straight games
and sports a 10-3 NAIA season record, outshot the Raiders

9-1 in the first half. Howes joined the team in 1997.

Carol Montgomery deals
with disappointing end
to Summer Olympics

Jan-Christian Sorensen
Sports Reporter jsorensen@nsnews.com

- IT took a chocolate Lab puppy named Rio
to snap Carol Montgomery out of her post-
Olympics funk. ;

The North Vancouver triathlete was competing at
the Summer Games in Sydney, Australia last. month
when her medal run came to an unfortunate — albeit
unavoidable — end.

After. having successfully completed the 1.5-km

_ swim portion of the triathlon, Montgomery was carly
into the biking leg and making good time — only
about a minute behind the pack leader — when the
hand of fate plucked her from the field.

One of the racers in front of her took a tumble.
Four other bikers — including Montgomery — were
tenpled like tenpins in the ensuing snarl.

“The gisl in front of me was reaching for a water
bottle, took her eyes off the road for a second and hit a
pothole,” said Montgomery.

She injured her hip, ageravaced an old. back injury
‘and broke several small bones in her hand.

Her race — and her first Olympic experience — was
over, :

-“Lhit my head pretty hard,” she said. “I don’t know
how long I was lying there — it seemed like an eterni-

_ ty. Sometimes when you're hit you've gor so much

adrenaline you just hop back on your bike and then you
realize that you really hurt yourself, but I hit hard
enough that I didn’t even think about getting up.”

. It was a disappointing finish to the Games for

+ Montgomery, a five-time national’ champion’ who
clocked second place in the World Triathlon

“Championships in Perth, Australia in April. She also has
three Pan Am Games medals — two bronze and a silver
— to her credit in the triathion, 5,000 and 10,000 m
events, respectively.

 & Mentgomery — who was also slated to run the
10,000 m but was forced to withdraw because of her
injuries — was poised to become the first Canadian
woman to ever compete in two separate events at the
same Olympics. ‘

~The day after she arrived home from Sydney her

2 husband. Mark: surprised her with Rio, a new four-

> fegged sibling for her cight-vear-old chocolate lab
Hershey. :

-Mark must have. been psychic: the puppy came at
the perfect time. SO

“He’s trying to give m2 a reason to wet out of
bed in the morning,” said Montgomery, who was

‘understandably disappuinted with the carly end to
the Olympics. .
= “It really sunk in when I came home the first
couple days. Ic was pretty hard, realizing what |
had been through, because I had* such high

- expectations.” -.. ;

47 chink it would have been better if 1 had caused

the crash; then at least it would be my fault. Bur

when something happens that’s completely out of
my own control it’s almost harder to take.”

"The Sydney Games marked the first time the
triathlon had Deen included as a medal sport in the
Games. 2S

a These days Montgomery — who scl sports a cast

2 on her left arni — is gingerly casing her. way back

“into training. ;

.“P’ny just catching up with family triends these days. I’n: starting co run a lictle bit
but I’m not really into it that much yet.”

Once her cast is cut off in a few weeks time, she said, she'll start hitting the pool

more seriously and get her bike back on the road. .

..... Montgomery, now 34, moved to North Vancouver when she was 13. She gradu-

“ated from Sutherland secondary in-1983 and now calls Deep Cove home.

And despite the premature finish at the Games, Montgomery was the epitome of
the good sport and team player, remaining in Sydney to cheer on the remainder of
the Canadian contingent as they vied for medals. ;

She said the Olympic Village — despite rumours to the contrary — was pretty

*. subdued but the close quarters afforded her an opportunity to get acquainted with
some of her fellow Canadian athletes that bad made the ck Down Under.

“I didn’t really meet many athletes from other countries. You don't really

©“ even know the athletes from Canada. | just hung out with the Canadians and it

art of cool, because mostly all of the athletes stayed in ilfage except for

NEWS photo Paul McGrath

DEEP Cove triathtste Carol Montgomery and the chocolate Lab puppy named Rio that was
awaiting her return after the Sydney Summer Games in September.

Bruny Surin and Donovan Bailey.”
Obviously the hold-no-grudges type, Montgomery said she plans to spend
the winter months in Australia. .
And despite the cries of some Canadian athletes — read: swimmer Marianne
Limpert — that the slim national medal tally was partly due to the government not

doing enough to fund and support its athletes, Montgomery thinks that the focus on. .

athletes needs to be pulled much earlier.

“I chink it starts with the school programs,” she said. “Getting phys. Ed back into the.

schools and introducing kids to sport more is probably the answer. Yeah, | wish I had a lit-
tle more money to train with, but I think you have to start even below us and look at our
phys. Ed. programs in schools.” : ;

Her next goal is training for the Commonwealth Games in 2002. Beyond
that, she said, she’s not sure whether the road will take her to another
Olympics or not.

“Til just tackle it year to year after the Commonwealth Games and see what hap-
pens.” . : * ;

_ D. Cove Royals

. Norvan H. Sound

SOCCER

B.C. COLLEGES ATHLETICS ASS'N

Men's west
Team

Langara College
Capilano College
Malaspina
Douglas College

W-L-T
8-1-0
4-2-3
4-3-2
1-7-1

Men's east
Team

Cariboo (UCC)
TWU

Okanagan (GUC)
Fraser Valley

W-LT
5-2-2
3-3-3
2-5-2
2-6-1

Women's west
Team

Capilano College
Malaspina
Douglas College
Langara College

W-L-T
6-3-0
5-3-1
4-3-2"
0-8-1

Women’s east
Team

Cariboo (UCC)
TwWU

Fraser Valley
Okanagan

W-L-T
7-1-1
5-3-1 °
3-3-3,
1-71

GF Pts
24 24
13 15
17 14

GF Pts
24 22
23 16
16°14
10 1

GF Pts
24 22
23.16
23 12
5 4

VANCOUVER METRO SOCCER

, LEAGUE
Division 18
Team
AC Milan
Westside FC B
Rchmne Utd A
City FCA ;
W. Union Polska
FC Serbia
Bosna SC
Van. Olympics

W-LT
4-1-1
3-1-1
2-4-0
3-1-2
3-0-3
2-2-2
1-2-3
1-2-3
1-2-2
Portugese A 0-3-3
Division 2

Team

Croatia B
Pegasus Spurs
Rehmnd Utd B
Sporting 8
Met-Frd Magpies
Lobbars B

W-L-T
6-1-0
5-0-2.
5-0-1
81
3-1-2
2-0-4
11-4
1-1-4
0-3-3
0-1-5 -

Deep Cove Alum.
Hagars B
Indo FC C

Division 2A
Team

Club Ireland ~
City FCB
Alpen Club
Wesiside Rgrs.-
Bby. Fury
Shaheen Hawks © -
Binger's Ary
Signmaster FC

WOT
+ Aotet,

Division 2B
Team

Meraloma SC

PG United
Wside Knights.
NS Utd Clearnet
Bombastic A
Cliff Ave Juv. 1-2-5
Wesiside C 1-2-3
Elephant Watk FC 0-3-3

4-2-0
4-0-2
3-1-2
3-0-3
2-2-2

Division 26
Team

Pt. Grey Rgrs. A
Alemania FC

NS Utd. JBs
Nomads FC
Uniglobe/PP

B United

NK Hrvatska
Firefgtrs C-lects

4-0-2
4-0-2
3-4-1
2-4-3
2-0-4
1-253

4-0-2

GF Pts

0-08 5