Two current Tisdale residents and one former resident were recognized by the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame for being part of a legendary University of Saskatchewan track team.
Scott Brinklow and Harvey Weber are now teachers at the Tisdale Middle & Secondary School. Brian Thompson attended Tisdale Unit Composite School in his youth. All were part of the Huskies’ 1986-87 Men’s Track and Field team, which was inducted into the hall of fame Nov. 5.
“It was tons of fun,” Weber said. “It was a little bit surreal because when you haven’t seen a lot of the fellow athletes for 30 years, when you meet again, it’s like a time warp has taken place.”
It was a chance, he said, to reminisce about old times and see how his teammates are similar and how they’ve changed in three decades.
In the 1985-86 season, the team had placed last in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships. That changed in the 1986-87 season. The team, which was made of all Saskatchewan boys with one exception, scored so many points in Canada West Championships that they secured victory in the first of two days. They then went on to win the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships of that year.
Weber said it was a cool experience being at the event and feeling the memories rush back as the PowerPoint presentation displayed the team’s achievements.
“It was a special moment, to get called up there as a team,” he said. “Everyone, in 30 years, has gone in so many different directions.”
Of the team’s 25 athletes, 19 made it back for the ceremony.
Thompson still holds the University of Saskatchewan’s record for the 600-metre race in 1985, with a time of 1:17.06. He later competed on the Canadian team at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and the 1987 International University Sports Federation (FISU) Games.
Brinklow’s 4 x 800 metre relay team placed fourth in the competition.
Weber’s 1,500 metre time ranked him as the third-fastest Husky of all time in that type of race. In the last 30 years, only one other person has gone faster, bumping him down to fourth.
“When you think of all of the runners that have gone through the University of Saskatchewan Husky track program – and a lot of them are very, very talented runners – to think that only one guy has been able to run faster than I did, it’s pretty cool,” he said.
Weber said the track team was, in many ways, like a secondary family to him. They would spend weekends training together and would see each other every day. They would also hang out during their spare time.
The team member said it would be great for the team to gather again.
“Everybody’s been on email, talking about how we need to get together again in 10 years or 20 years to see where everybody’s at.”
