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By Doyle Fox
For the Mercury
After only her second year of competing with the University of Regina Track Team, Shalane Haselhan is proving that she is a jack of all trades.
The 20-year-old could be found all over the track this year, as she participated in the pentathlon for the first time. In addition to participating in events she was accustomed to, such as the high jump and long jump, she took part in the hurdles, 800-metre run, as well as the shot put. At the end of each meet, all the points she obtained from those five events would be totalled and put towards a final score.
"It was a big change because I had never done hurdles before, so I had to get into hurdles and the 800 is pretty distant for me," she said. "It was a big change and lots of training had to happen in order to do that."
However, track and field head coach Bruce McCannel believes Haselhan has the ability to excel in the pentathlon because she is a hard worker.
"The work ethic was something that she came in with and that's why she has been able to improve since last year," he said. "The work ethic needs to be there if you are going to improve in an event like the pentathlon."
Haselhan grew up in Lampman, where she first found her love for track and field while she was in elementary school. She said she got "seriously" into track when she made it to provincials in Grade 9.
Haselhan added that she excelled in high jump and long jump through the rest of high school and won several gold medals. It was in Grade 12 when coaches from various universities began talking to her about her future in track.
"It was very exciting," she said. "I wasn't very sure what school I wanted to go to or what school had the best track program or what I wanted to take, but it was pretty exciting having everyone coming up and talking to you."
Haselhan decided to attend the University of Regina not only because of the full scholarship offer but because it was close to her hometown, and she has some family in Regina.
Getting used to the CIS level of competition was a fairly easy transition for Haselhan as she said she was eased into the inter-university events at a slow level.
"It was exciting, but it was a meeting that was not high pressure, it was just about making the team standards and getting to meet everyone."
However, once Haselhan started competing against other universities, she began to notice the differences between competing in high school and CIS events.
"It was pretty different from what I was used to in high school - there was more people and better competition."
In her first year, Haselhan also met the challenges of being a full-time student athlete.
"My first year was pretty difficult and was a big change with working and school and the training every day compared to not having to do very much training and having knowledgeable coaches and having their experience there."
Going into this season, McCannel helped Haselhan prepare for the rigorous training that goes with participating in the pentathlon, and she credits him with helping her improve in all her events.
"He definitely knows a lot about the sport and he has a good training program and he pushed me to be the best that I can be."
Haselhan had a minor setback this year as she tweaked her hamstring before the CIS Nationals earlier in March. She admitted that it was hard because she wanted to compete, but in order to do so, she had to cut back the intensity of her training.
She overcame the injury and managed to obtain several personal bests at Nationals and finished 11th in the high jump.
Overall the men's team finished third at Nationals and the women's team finished 12th.
Now that the track season is over, Haselhan's focus has shifted to school. In her first year, she was enrolled in kinesiology, but transferred into education this year. Getting into education was a goal she had prior to going to the U of R and was another reason she chose to go to Regina. She is currently working towards a physical education minor and a math major and would like to be a high school teacher after she graduates.
Outside of school, Haselhan works as a lifeguard at the university pool and enjoys hanging out with her friends and family.
After a successful year, McCannel firmly believes that Haselhan's best years are ahead of her.
"Having a full year of training really helped this year because she was able to push herself harder," he said. "Her capacity to learn has really improved."
