Media Releases >
Media Releases Archive
> Rugby star ponders leap from mud to ice
Rugby star ponders leap from mud to ice
Document Tools
February 21, 2003
When you play a sport where fighting through mud and bodies is routine, a backseat ride down a funnel of ice might seem quite civilized. Jenny Harvey calls it smooth. And definitely fast.
Harvey, who has been scoring tries for SFU as part of the women’s rugby team for the past six years, tried out for the national bobsled team last fall after representatives of the Vancouver-Whistler Bid Corporation approached the rugby team looking for recruits last August. Harvey knew little about the sport but learned that her speed made her a good candidate. She decided to give it a try and trained with the team for two weeks. Her efforts were strong enough to turn heads.
"There’s no other word to describe it, but fast," says Harvey, who has since been ranked third, as brakeman, on the national team. Women compete in the two-seat sled competition, and Harvey’s job is to work behind the driver. "Making a run requires a great deal of stamina from each of us," says Harvey, who has just returned from a tour of bobsled runs in Europe.
She now has to decide whether to continue with study plans beyond graduating this summer or move to Calgary and train in earnest for next year’s world championship in Konigsee, Germany. Continued success could mean a spot on the 2006 Olympic team, and better yet, a chance to compete on a new facility in her own backyard if Vancouver gets the 2010 winter games.
For now, Harvey will pursue plans for further study at SFU in the fall. But she’ll spend the next few months weighing her options. Meanwhile, her daily training for rugby and regular play will keep her in shape. "It’s hard not to consider how exciting this could be," she says.
—30—
Contact
Steve Frost, Sports Media office, 604.291.4057, steven_frost@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl/Julie Ovenell-Carter, 604.291.4323, marianne_meadahl@sfu.ca
Harvey, who has been scoring tries for SFU as part of the women’s rugby team for the past six years, tried out for the national bobsled team last fall after representatives of the Vancouver-Whistler Bid Corporation approached the rugby team looking for recruits last August. Harvey knew little about the sport but learned that her speed made her a good candidate. She decided to give it a try and trained with the team for two weeks. Her efforts were strong enough to turn heads.
"There’s no other word to describe it, but fast," says Harvey, who has since been ranked third, as brakeman, on the national team. Women compete in the two-seat sled competition, and Harvey’s job is to work behind the driver. "Making a run requires a great deal of stamina from each of us," says Harvey, who has just returned from a tour of bobsled runs in Europe.
She now has to decide whether to continue with study plans beyond graduating this summer or move to Calgary and train in earnest for next year’s world championship in Konigsee, Germany. Continued success could mean a spot on the 2006 Olympic team, and better yet, a chance to compete on a new facility in her own backyard if Vancouver gets the 2010 winter games.
For now, Harvey will pursue plans for further study at SFU in the fall. But she’ll spend the next few months weighing her options. Meanwhile, her daily training for rugby and regular play will keep her in shape. "It’s hard not to consider how exciting this could be," she says.
—30—
Contact
Steve Frost, Sports Media office, 604.291.4057, steven_frost@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl/Julie Ovenell-Carter, 604.291.4323, marianne_meadahl@sfu.ca