Horns jersey numbers retired

By Dale Woodard on April 29, 2021.

The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns will be retiring the jersey numbers of Perry Mirkovich and Shawna (Molcak) Kolaczek. University of Lethbridge photos

LETHBRIDGE HERALDsports@lethbridgeherald.com

Perry Mirkovich and Shawna (Molcak) Kolaczek’s jersey will soon hang in the rafters of the 1st Choice Savings Centre.

But in the eyes of the two University of Lethbridge Pronghorns alumni, there were a whole lot of teammates, coaches and friends who helped put them there.

Mirkovich and Kolaczek, two of the most highly decorated Horns athletes to ever step on the court, will be enshrined in the rafters of the 1st Choice Savings Centre next season when their jersey numbers are retired as Pronghorn Athletics reinvigorates a campaign to celebrate its history.

Mirkovich, a north-side product who graduated from Winston Churchill High School joined the Pronghorns men’s basketball team in 1975.

Playing all five years of his collegiate eligibility in the Horns’ blue and gold, Mirkovich was named to the Canada West All-Star team in each of his final three seasons and won back-to-back Canada West scoring titles in 1978-79 and 1979-80.

He completed his university career by being named to the CIAU All-Canadian team in his final season and was honoured as the U of L Male Athlete of the Year in 1980.

Hailing from Cardston, Kolaczek starred for the Pronghorns from 1986 to 1991.

The Canada West Player of the Year for the 1988-89 season, Kolaczek was also a four-time Canada West All-Star, three-time CIAU All-Canadian and the U of L Female Athlete of the Year four years running (1987-91).

Thirty years later, she is still the program’s all-time leader in points (1,551) and assists (368). Her career point total is still among the top-15 in Canada West history.

Mirkovich recalled the Zoom meeting in which he received the good news.

“After we hung up, I have to admit, I got quite emotional about it. I was choked up and teary-eyed,” he said.

“It was a magical time of life, really. You’re young and your whole life is ahead of you and I was lucky because I got to play basketball and a sport I loved with a bunch of guys that became my brothers and my family. I love all of them. So for me, this is a huge thing to do, it’s a celebration of them as well, people I really care about. The coaches and the entire athletic staff and program at the university were instrumental in all of it.”

Mirkovich, who went on to be drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in 1980, said he still sees his former coach Ken Olynyk.

“We try to get together every September and we golf together as a group. It’s like a brotherhood, it’s a family and I miss it,” he said.

Still, there were a few moments on the court that stand out.

“Beating the University of Calgary was always a rush, the dastardly Dinos, but it was the guys I played with. That’s the big thing,” said Mirkovich.

At the end of his time with the Pronghorns, Mirkovich held the school’s all-time scoring record with 1,690 points, a record in place for nearly 20 years.

He remains second on the all-time scoring list and is third in career rebounds with 757.

He also set the program’s single-season record for points in a game, scoring 43 on Nov. 9, 1979 versus the Victoria Vikes — a record he shared until 2018.

Mirkovich was named to the 1980 Canadian National team, and despite Canada boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, he is officially recognized as a Canadian Olympian.

During the qualification process for the Olympics, Mirkovich helped Canada to a silver medal at an Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico.

But his time Pronghorns silks will always stay with him.

“For me, that program is a part of my life and a part of my soul,” said Mirkovich.

“I live for that program, I love that program. I go to all the games and I hang out at the practices. The coaches are really nice and they haven’t kicked me out yet. You can’t really describe it. It’s a part of your fibre. That program has done a lot and changed my life forever. I’ll never forget it until my last breath.”

Kolaczek’s time at the U of L began six years after Mirkovich’s ended.

The Cardston product made her presence equally felt in the record books.

Kolaczek was the Canada West scoring leader for the 1988-89 season and was named to the 1988 CIAU All-Tournament team as the program made its second-ever appearance ever at the national tournament.

During the 1988-89 season Kolaczek led the Canada West in scoring with 20.2 points per game. Her 85 assists were also tops in the conference that year.

That earned her the unanimous selection as the Canada West Player of the Year.

“You see different athletes around the world and to have your jersey retired, it’s very humbling and it’s a great honour because there are so many great athletes who have played at the University of Lethbridge who came before me and after me,” said Kolaczek, taking part in Wednesday’s Zoom call from her home in Aschaffenburg, Germany, where she has lived with her husband and two children for the past 20 years.

“To know my jersey is going to hang up there and there will never be another person wearing the number 10 at the University of Lethbridge. It’s one of those feelings that’s kind of in awe,

“You sit there and you think ‘Wow. I’m one of those people who has their jersey retired.'”

“It’s a great honour to know the Pronghorn family thinks of me and that I deserve it. It’s something that at first you don’t believe and it’s hard to understand it, but one day when I get there and say ‘Wow, there’s my jersey.’ It will be something special.”

Like Mirkovich, Kolaczek pointed to her teammates and coaches along the way.

“Trix Baker was my coach and Cal O’Brien was the coach the first year I played there,” she said. “At the university I honed my skills and learned stuff from different players and coaches. Your time at the university is at time you’ll never forget. It’s your first apartment, you’re living on your own and spending time with all these people.”

On the international stage, Kolaczek represented Canada from 1990 to 2000, highlighted by being a member of the 1996 Canadian Olympic team at the Atlanta Olympics.

She won a bronze medal at the 1990 World Student Games and helped Canada to gold at the 1995 America’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Kolaczek went on to play elite European professional basketball, including seven years in Germany and one in Greece, and was named a First Division All-Star on three separate occasions.

“The university gave me that springboard to the nation team and also my chance in Europe,” she said. “My time at the university is something I wont forget, not just basketball-wise, but the people and the memories you have when you walk into the gym and think that we hosted Nationals there in my second year and all of those games you win and lose. That’s something I’ll never forget from university.”

And if her place in the Horns record books is one day topped, Kolaczek said she’s fine with that.

If her record remains intact, that’s OK, too.

“Players are getting better and records are meant to fall,” said Kolaczek. “I didn’t know I was the all-time leading scorer until it came out in the Canada West stuff. If someone breaks it, that’s great.

If I keep it, that’s good for me, too.”

Neil Langevin, director of Pronghorns Athletics, said the university was excited to hand the honour to Mirkovich and Kolaczek.

“It’s one of several initiatives we have to really honour our alumni. Thankfully, Eoin (Colquhoun, manger, communications and operations and Terry (Whitehead) and the whole committee really got this going.

“These two are absolutely so deserving. They’re pretty easy picks for the committee to say ‘Yep, these are the first two that are going to go up there.’ It’s going to be really cool to see those up.”

Langevin said he didn’t get top see Mirkovich play.

“But I’m good friends with him now and I get to see him at the university,” he said. “I was lucky enough to watch Shawna play and I was always in awe of her competitive spirit. It just struck me as a true Pronghorn. That’s exactly what we want (in) Pronghorns athletes.

We have one from the north side and one from Cardston. It’s perfect and fitting to have their jerseys retired.”

Colquhoun said there are plans for a celebration in the future.

“The challenge for that right now is the uncertainty with the start of the season. But we are hopeful we’ll be able to do it early in the next Canada West season. But we’ll wait until we know for sure if we’re allowed to have spectators in the stands and do it when we can have a full building and acknowledge this accomplishment properly.”

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