Sandra Garica-Bernal and Ethan Duret were the Red Deer Polytechnic Athletes of the Week for their performances over the weekend.
Garica-Bernal, the fourth-year guard from Spain broke the Alberta Colleges Athletic Association record for steals in a season with 121. She accomplished the feat in five fewer games than previous record holder Marie Lupe of the Olds College Broncos, who had 115.
In the final game of the regular season Friday against the Concordia University Thunder, Garica-Bernal was one steal short of the record. She picked up two steals in the first quarter to break the record. She finished with five steals in the 76-56 win and helped the Queens to a second-place finish in the second division. They are headed into the provincial championships next weekend ranked 12th in Canada. The Educational Assistant student averaged 32 minutes, 13.6 points and just over six steals per game this season. She will be a vital player down the stretch as the Queens look to win their first championship since the 1991-92 season.
Duret was all over the podium on Saturday afternoon at the Running Room Grand Prix #2 hosted by Red Deer Polytechnic. The Red Deer native put on quite the show in front of his hometown crowd receiving two first-place finishes, and a gold and bronze medal in both relay events.
He started his day running in the 1000 metre, where he edged out a Trojans athlete by just one second with a time of 2:36.10. A couple of hours later, he helped his fellow Kings teammates to a bronze in the 4x200m relay. In the 600m, he earned his second gold of the day with a time of 1:26.30. Capping off the day was the thrilling 4x400m relay where Duret anchored the Kings for a gold medal finish, five seconds in front of the second-place team.
With Duret’s impressive finishes alongside his teammates, the Kings were able to win the team event with 64.5 which was 21 points ahead of the Lethbridge College Kodiaks, who were in second. On top of this, combining both the Kings and Queens scores, they were able to attain the top spot overall.
Head Coach Douglas Spicer indicated that the team is well on their way to peaking at the ACAC Championships next month in Edmonton.