Swish! Dinos land high school prodigy

By Scott Lepp

After a stellar high school career as a starting guard for Calgary’s own Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers, Jen Elford committed to bring her basketball game across town to the University of Calgary.

"The Dinos have one of the best programs in the nation," says Elford. "I love the team and the coaching staff and I can stay at home in Calgary."

Elford, a five-foot-eight guard, put up excellent numbers for the Lancers during her final season scoring 14 points per game to go along with 5.5 boards.

When Elford isn’t busy playing or working on her game she likes to hang out with her friends, hit the slopes, or do some kayaking.

U of C Women’s Head Basketball Coach Shawnee Harle couldn’t say enough about Elford’s game.

"Jen brings a great level of intensity," she said. "She’s extremely tenacious and has a great work ethic."

A coach’s dream: someone the coach can send onto the court to give 100 per cent every night, someone who will dive into the stands in an attempt to save the ball at one end of the court and then hustle back and shut down one of the opposing teams solid offensive threats at the other end.

And don’t think Elford came to university just because she is an amazing basketball player. Elford can also hit the books. During high school she held an academic average of 85 per cent. This is incredible when you think of how much time she spends on the court. In addition to all this, Elford is super friendly, she wears a huge smile and is very easy to get to know.

When asked who her role models were, Elford emphatically answered, "I look up to all of the players on the team this year. Especially Leighann [Doan]."

Immediately following this she said her favourite player was Michael Jordan, "Who else?" Elford’s major is kinesiology and she wants to have a full career with the Dinos.

After asking Harle for a final comment about Elford, she smiled and said, "She reminds me of the Energizer Bunny, she doesn’t go away."

For the sake of all Dinos fans, you have to hope Harle is right.

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