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‘Dirty work’ delights Trojans’ Carnahan: Veteran post plays with fire and energy
CALGARY (February 1, 2012)— Her coach calls her a “real gem.” If that’s the case, Meachel Carnahan is a diamond . . . who enjoys the rough.
A defensive dynamo who wages fierce battles under the basket, Carnahan is finishing up her final season of college eligibility with gusto, rather than glamour — and isn’t afraid of rolling her sleeves up on the hardcourt for the SAIT Trojans women’s basketball team.
“I concentrate on doing all the dirty work that nobody else wants to do,” says the 23-year-old Carnahan (5th year, Turtleford, Sask., database administrator), who spent her first four post-secondary seasons with the King’s University College Eagles of Edmonton.
“I get most of my satisfaction out of doing what’s best for the team,” adds the five-foot-10 post. “If I can help somebody else score, if doing my job properly can create open looks for other players, I’m completely happy with that. I pride myself on my rebounding stats, and my hustle plays.
“If you have enough heart and determination, you can do anything you want.”
The Trojans (10-5), who sit third in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference’s South Division, now have a bye week in preparation for the season’s stretch drive. The Women of Troy will finish the regular season with three road assignments — Friday, Feb. 10 in Fort McMurray against the Keyano College Huskies (3-11), Saturday, Feb. 11 against Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan University Griffins (14-0), and Friday, Feb. 17 against the Cougars (12-3) at MRU’s Kenyon Court.
Carnahan’s finest season with the Eagles, statistically speaking, was 2009-10, when she led King’s in rebounding with 6.5 boards a game and finished fourth on the team with 8.8 points per outing. Last winter, she red-shirted for the University of Calgary Dinos during the second semester, and when teammate and fellow post Kaitie Beard (3rd year, Sherwood Park, emergency medical technician) decided to change campuses from the U of C to SAIT, Carnahan made the move with her.
Carnahan is the Trojans’ leading rebounder, her average of 6.07 a night placing her ninth in the South.
“She’s turned out to be a real gem for us, a real bonus,” says fifth-year Trojans head coach Donovan Martin. “There’s much more than meets the eye to Meachel, and you have to see her on a day-to-day basis to really appreciate her.
“She’s a really tough rebounder. She defends really hard, always against bigger people. And she’s never been a scorer, particularly, but lately she’s been doing more and more of that as well (upping her nightly average to 6.73 points). She’s turned into a tremendous bonus for us.”
Martin says Carnahan’s presence has proven especially important to this year’s team, which has five post-secondary rookies on a roster of just 10.
“Her fire and her effort, her energy, are what define her,” he says. “She has a tremendous will to win, and she works extremely hard at both ends of the floor.
“She’s a terrific role model for the girls in that regard — showing them that you need to give it all you’ve got. She’s undersized as a post — five-10, maybe — and so for her to compete at that position, it takes a tremendous amount of effort. She brings that consistently.”
Carnahan, who’s taking the fast-track database administrator program at SAIT Polytechnic to augment a degree in computer science, is thrilled to be completing her college roundball career on a high with the Trojans.
“Playing here has re-ignited my passion for the sport, I think,” she says. “This team might not have the most talent, but no one questions our heart.”
