Right place at the right time? OK, fine. But talent has a little something to do with Justin Palardy’s ascent to the top of the Atlantic University Sport record books, too.
The Saint Mary’s Huskies kicker is edging closer to setting the AUS record for career field goals and could tie Jadran Minarevic’s 23-year-old record of 56 with four more in Friday’s 7 p.m. home game against the Mount Allison Mounties.
Palardy hasn’t missed a single game since earning the Huskies’ starting kicking job in his freshman season.
“I’ve played every game since I got here,” said Palardy, a Truro native and two-time conference all-star. “I’m just consistently doing my job, and it all adds up, right?”
Palardy is 52-of-69 in his career and boasts a success rate of better than 75 per cent. Inside 40 yards, he’s a deadly 46-of-57 and from 50 yards and beyond, he’s 6-of-16.
While Palardy is humble about his success, he won his job as a freshman over a proven Canadian Interuniversity Sport talent in Steve Wozimirsky and has maintained that spot by working hard and delivering consistent results.
“You’ve got to have a long career to achieve those things, but you also have to have to be good or you won’t have a long career,” said Huskies head coach Steve Sumarah.
Palardy’s goal is to play in the Canadian Football League, but he plans to return to the Huskies for a fifth season. If he does, he’s within reasonable striking distance of Frank Jagas’s 13-year-old CIS record of 70 career field goals.
It’s quite a thrill for the long-time Huskies fan.
“I used to run home Friday afternoons after high school practice to watch them on EastLink,” he recalled. “Now I’m playing for them and now I’m closing in on a couple of records.
“It’s pretty awesome.”
