Hunter Graves breaking barriers

While he may not admit it, Hunter Graves has been a pioneer for the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks indoor track team over the past two seasons.

Graves (second year, General Arts and Science, Raymond) joined the Kodiaks last season as the first para athlete to compete in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC). He’s been fully welcomed by both the Kodiaks and the ACAC, although he remains the lone competitor in the conference.

“I was born with spina bifida, so I have been in either a chair or actually mostly on forearm crutches for my entire life,” said Graves. “I started using crutches when I was about three. Before then I had a walker that I would use.

“I use a wheelchair a little bit more now because of post-secondary just because it’s a lot easier to get from class. If I’ve got about 10 minutes between classes and I’ve got to get across campus it’s easier with textbooks and everything to just take my chair.”

The decision to become involved in track didn’t come on a whim for Graves. He’s been more active in various athletics than most able-bodied people since he was young.

“I’ve been involved in athletics, I would say, for a lot of my life,” said Graves, who comes from a very sports-oriented family . “When I was in elementary school I was always the kid doing the Terry Fox Run and triathlons. I didn’t really care if I was first or last, and often I was last.

“In Grade 9 I found wheelchair basketball with the Lethbridge Steamers and I’ve been going to tournaments with them for largely the past decade. I started in track in my senior year in high school with the Raymond Comets and went to the provincial level. I was actually pulled aside by an Alberta coach for the Canada Summer Games, so I got to represent Team Alberta for the 2017 Games in Winnipeg.”

Graves was forced to take a break from competing for a couple of years due to health issues, but when he decided to attend Lethbridge Polytechnic he started thinking about taking up track again. He contacted Sydney Graves, who had been a member of the Kodiaks indoor track team in the past, who in turn contacted some of the Kodiak coaches.

“I got an email from the head coach (Simon Schaerz) and he wanted to know more, to see if they could figure something out. So, now this is my second year competing with the Kodiaks and I’ve really enjoyed being with this team.”

Graves was accepted with open arms by the Kodiak athletes and coaches and he’s always felt like he’s one of the team.

“Even when we travel to meets I’ll make friends from other teams that want to know more as well. I’m also confident that a lot of people might know someone who might benefit in some way, to know that there are programs out there for people with physical disabilities, that there are local community clubs, that there’s places on sports teams for people if they just ask some of the tough questions.”

Graves works out with his teammates at early morning resistance training sessions. He notes some of the training is adapted for him and he focuses primarily on upper-body workouts with weights and cables. He also works on cardio with the rowing machine.

He added there’s been some positive changes to his on-track training as well. He was isolated during his sessions last season because he didn’t want his chair to interfere with the other athletes.

“My coach from last year, Sydney, and I had to go through trial by fire. We did our training sessions separate from the other athletes and every now and then there would be a member of the community that we would have to share the track with, and we saw how that went.

“It went really well for my first season and Gunnarr (Gibb, Graves’ coach this season) and I decided that we were ready to try this out and see if it worked with our team. The whole year we’ve been training with the team, which has gone really well. We’ve been able to be a pretty cohesive bunch.

“Everybody knows that when I’m down low in the chair and my head is down that they should probably stay out of my lane because I don’t want to be responsible for running over any sprinters or long-distance athletes. So far it’s worked out really well. I’ve had a clean season, no casualties, and I want to keep it that way.”

“That extra component of training with the team has been massive for me,” Graves added. “It definitely helps me to feel included. I’ve been very happy with the way training is going and I’m excited to keep pushing it for the rest of the season and beyond.”

One hope Graves had for this season was being able to race against another para athlete. However, he remains the lone wolf on the track, but he’s hopeful it will change in the future.

“There’s been interest, but the majority of the athletes that I’ve heard from are younger athletes so far. I think it might be a slow burn, but I would say it’s starting to peak some interest and in a few years we may be seeing more para athletes competing in the ACAC.”

Being a solo competitor, it’s Graves racing against the clock at every meet.

“It’s not the thing I want to be doing most, which is competing against other athletes, but it’s been a great honour to be able to compete at all, to represent people with disabilities, to represent the Kodiaks. This style of competition has been really good for me in multiple aspects. Even though I’m not racing other athletes there’s been huge personal growth and development, even though I’d love to have some minor changes I believe those changes will come if I just put in the work.”

Helping Graves put in the work this season is Gibb, who has taken over the coaching duties from Sydney Graves. Gibb, who hails from Cardston, brings an impressive resume with three years of competing for the Kodiaks in the sprint events, helping the team to two straight ACAC men’s indoor track championships.

Gibb graduated from Lethbridge Polytechnic last spring with a diploma in Exercise Science, something he’s been able to use as he focuses more on coaching.

“When we found out that Sydney wasn’t able to come back to coach Hunter this year, since I was graduating and looking to get into coaching and having a little bit of a background in coaching with the Lethbridge Track Club, we got together and talked about it. He said ‘hey, do you want to be my coach?’ Just seeing how close Hunter and I have become over the last season, it was a no-brainer. I love to try something new, he’s a great guy who works extremely hard and it makes my job easy.”

Everybody who has lived for any period of time in southern Alberta knows there’s a great rivalry between Raymond and Cardston, but that was never apparent with Hunter and Gunnarr.

“We’d met a few times at house parties, things like that. He brought up the story of how we competed against each other when we were younger for the swim club. I was too young to really remember that, but he told me the story and my mom remembered him.”

Gibb’s success on the track with the Kodiaks was a pleasant surprise as he had never participated in the sport, focusing on football and baseball in high school. One of his instructors at Lethbridge Polytechnic was the coach of the track team and spoke with him.

“I was a wide receiver on our football team so I was used to running as fast as I could, so I gave it a shot.”

With Gibb’s Kodiak career behind him, he is focusing on coaching Hunter as well as youth athletes with the Lethbridge Track and Field Club. He also coaches with the Lethbridge Fitness Club, focusing on sport performance, weightlifting and biometrics.

“In coaching Hunter there’s a lot of figuring out on my part,” said Gibb. “Being a track athlete I have to take how I was coached and how I’ve coached other able-bodied athletes in the past and apply it to him. In a sense all the energy systems, all the training is pretty close to the same. Hunter just utilizes it a lot differently than other athletes.”

Gibb said Hunter’s advancement so far this season has been impressive.

“Especially from the first meet and training and whatnot, him staying within the lines, stuff like that, from him keeping low . . . his technique has advanced quite a bit since we started and his times have dropped quite drastically. Just seeing the times that Sydney gave me from his PBs (personal bests) last year, he’s already dropped 10 seconds and it’s only the second meet of the season.

“I’m quite excited to see where he goes with a month more of training when we get to see him at the Butterdome (for the ACAC Championships in Edmonton).”

While Graves has learned a lot from Gibb, it’s a two-way street as Gibb has also learned a lot from Graves.

“No matter what is affecting you, you can always make the best out of any situation,” said Gibb. “Hunter sees himself just like anybody else and no matter what comes up, whether it’s something that keeps him out of training, he’ll still do everything he can and still push himself to be able to compete as hard as he can, no matter what.

“It doesn’t matter what affects you, you can always work hard and always find a way to reach the goals you’re going after.”

As for the future, Graves is hoping to continue his track career next year at the University of Lethbridge.

“I do plan on continuing with the sport throughout my academic years and we’ll see what happens beyond that,” said Graves. “Gunnarr and I are trying to figure out some things to do in the offseason that are pretty exciting.

“Gunnarr talked about the physical component being very important to him, wanting to compete and being able to compete for as long as he possibly can. I’m of a very similar mindset. I love being active, I love the sport, I love how I feel after a good push or a good race. It’s a great feeling and it’s something I want to maintain this level of activity for as long as I possibly can.”

Graves and the Kodiaks will next be in action when Lethbridge Polytechnic hosts the Running Room Grand Prix #3 meet on March 1 at the U of L  Centre for Sport & Wellness.

The season will wrap up with the ACAC Indoor Track Championships March 15-16 at the University of Alberta Butterdome.