en local athletes ready for Games Victoria 94 XV Commonwealth Games™ XV Jeux du Commonwealth AUGUST 18-26 AOUT 1994 WITH THE 15th meeting of athletes from Commonwealth countries just eight days away, 10 North Shore athletes are in the final preparations for an experience of a lifetime. Some, like track star Charmaine Crooks, are seasoned international competitors. Others, like West Vancouver high jumper Sara McGladdery, will be experi- encing their first Commonwealth Games. . NAME: Dave Brown HOME TOWN: North Vancouver EVENT: Lawn Bowling COMPETING ON: Friday, Aug. 19, finals on Thursday, Aug. 25. A native of Coventry, England, Brown moved to Canada for good in 1980, and has bowled for the Canadian National Team since 1981. His 13-year stint on the men’s team (four members) has taken him to three previous Commonwealth Games and a number of internation- al competitions. As a member of the North Vancouver Lawn Bowling Club, Brown has won numerous district and provincial honors, and continues to give back to the sport by coaching at the club level. Brown, a home detailer by trade, is the number-two man on the team. NAME: Charmaine Crooks HOME TOWN: North Vancouver EVENT: 800m, 4 x 400m relay AGE: 31 PERSONAL BEST: 800m, 1:58.52 COMPETING ON: 800m — Friday, Aug 26; 4 x 400m — Sunday, Aug. 28. As the most experienced. and successful, athlete of the North Shore contingent, Crooks continues to maintain world-class speed in the 800m. The four-time Olympian was the first Canadian woman to break the two-minute barrier in the 800m (1:58.52), and through 1992 was an eight-time Canadian national cham- pion in the 400m. A graduate of the University of Texas, Crooks was a member of two gold-medal winning 4 x 400m relay teams in Commonwealth competi- tion (Australia in 1982, Scotland in 1986). In 1992 she was the ranked number-one in the 400m amongst athletes from Commonwealth nations. NAME: Bruce Deacon HOME TOWN: North Vancouver EVENT: Marathon AGE: 27 PERSONAL BEST: 2:13 hours COMPETING ON: Sunday, Aug. 28. The Victoria Games mark the first Commonwealth competition for Deacon. As one of three Canadian men entered in the 26-mile marathon, the Simon Fraser University graduate has expectations of a top-ten finish. “T don’t think it will be a very fast course,” Deacon says of the hilly Victoria-area road race which begins and ends in front of the provincial legislature building. “No One on our team knows if the Kenyans are going to be competing. so I’m just focused on the top-ten.” If the traditionally strong Kenyan marathoners do show up, Deacon added, they'll take all three spots on the pedium. gate NAME: Paige Gordon HOME TOWN: West Vancouver EVENT: Diving (im, 3m, 10m) COMPETING ON: Saturday, Aug. 20 (10m tower), Wednesday, Aug. 24 (one-metre) and Thursday. Aug. 25 (three-metre). After Charmaine Crooks, Paige Gordon is the North Shore's best hope for bringing home a ‘Shooting (rifts, Baad Tap) Seanich Pai Gay Highway Cycling (inn time tie!) Greater Victoria Cyciing (road race) Aquatics, (zal mn synchronized , (earn A taimming and aia) COMMONWEALTH GAMES competitors will be competing throughout the Greater Victoria area. Commonwealth Games medal. As the only Canadian to enter ail three women’s diving events, expec- tations are high that the number four-ranked diver in the world will make a podium appearance. Gordon said last week that she is looking forward to the Commonwealth Games, a competi- tion she believes is geared more to the athletes than the “nightmare” and “overwhelming” nature of the Olympic Games. Gordon competed at the Barcelona Games in 1992. “OF course I'd like to win gold. but I just want to put in a good per- formance,” she says. Following the Victoria competi- tion, Gordon will compete at the world championships in Rome. In the fall she will dive into International Studies at UBC. NAME: Curtis Heywood HOME TOWN: Penticton EVENT: Pole Vault AGE: 25 PERSONAL BEST: 5.3m COMPETING ON: Saturday. Aug. 27. Heywood, a native of Penticton, he has been training with the NorWesters club for the past three years, using the facilities at West Vancouver secondary school for his training. A recent graduate of university in Oregon, Heywood is one of three Canadian men who qualified for the pole vault competition. Earlier this year, the 25-year-old finished an impressive fourth at the Francophone Games in Paris, and is hoping to carry that success into Victoria in two weeks. His expectations for the Victoria Games are to be the top Canadian vaulter, and to make the final round (the top 12 athletes qualify). NAME: Sara McGladdery HOME TOWN: West Vancouver EVENT: High Jump AGE; 25 PERSONAL BEST: 1.84m COMPETING ON: Qualifying round on Tuesday, Aug. 23; Finals on Sunday, Aug. 28. McGladdery, a Sentinel gradu- ate, qualified for her first-ever Commonwealth Games competi- tion by winning the national high jump te in Victoria on July 28 with a jump of 1.8m. “The home-court advantage (at the Nationals) really helped,” she said recently, adding that returning to Victoria for the Games will defi- nitely boost her confidence. The SFU graduate posted her personal best during the provincial championships, just two weeks prior to the national competition. She admits to being “blown away” at the prospect of represent- ing Canada at the Games. NAME: Carol Montgomery HOME TOWN: North Vancouver EVENT: 10,000m AGE: 29 PERSONAL BEST: 32:26.78 minutes Montgomery is the number-one Canadian woman in the 10,000m. The Sutherland graduate and SFU cross-country team member recently moved back to the North Shore after Jiving in California. In 1993, a year in which she won three World Cup triathlons, she was named Triathlete of the Year by Triathlon Canada. Since that time she has concen- trated on getting back to her cross- country roots. Qualifying to com- pete at the Commonwealth Games 1s the realization of that pursuit. Active in training up-and-com- ing triathletes, Montgomery is hop- ing to get involved in coaching in the future. See more profiles page 16