OUA track and field roundup: Busy weekend at Fred Foot and Don Wright meets

Photo credit York Athletics

For complete results of the Toronto Fred Foot meet, click here.

For complete results of the Western Don Wright meet, click here.

York Lions:

The York University Lions track and field team returned home with 20 top-three finishes from two different meets this past weekend (Jan. 20-21).

The squad dominated at the Don Wright Team Challenge at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont., picking up 17 medals at the event, while the student-athletes at the Fred Foot Pentathlon at the University of Toronto won three medals.

At the Don Wright Team Challenge York's stellar trio of women's throwers did not disappoint as they swept the medals in the shot put and nearly accomplished the same feat in the weight throw. In the shot Cynthia Appiah (Etobicoke, Ont.) finished in first with a throw of 13.97 metres, Elizabeth Petrov (Richmond Hill, Ont.) was just behind her with a distance of 13.61 metres and Kristin Obrochta (Mississauga, Ont.) rounded out the top three with a throw of 12.57 metres.

Not to be outdone, Obrochta rose to the top of the pack in the weight throw with a toss of 16.66 metres to win the gold medal, while Appiah's best throw of 16.58 metres gave her the silver. Petrov finished in fifth place with a throw of 14.38 metres.

Both Appiah and Petrov achieved the CIS qualifying standard with their performances in the shot put, and Obrochta did the same in the weight throw.

Another thrower who had a big performance on the weekend was Daniel Novia (Mississauga, Ont.), whose distance of 19.69 metres in the weight throw won him the gold medal and was also a personal best, a school record, a meet record and a fieldhouse record. He is ranked No. 1 in the CIS in the event and also finished fifth in the shot put with a season-best throw of 15.43 metres.

Eric Brathwaite (Brampton, Ont.) picked up the bronze medal in the same event with a throw of 17.72 metres, which was also a personal best for him and met the CIS qualifying standard. He continued his strong weekend with another personal best in the shot put, reaching 14.83 metres for a seventh-place finish.

Both Novia and Brathwaite finished behind teammate Umar Khan (Scarborough, Ont.), who won the silver medal in the shot with a CIS qualifying distance of 16.60 metres.
Chris Preece (Cookstown, Ont.) hit the OUA qualifying standard in both events, finishing sixth in the weight throw and ninth in the shot put.

The Lions continued their tremendous showing in the field events with another four medals. They went one-two in the long jump as Rodney Fajardo (Concord, Ont.) won the gold medal with a distance of 6.60 metres and Dahn Pratt (Teaneck, N.J.) picked up the silver with a distance of 6.14 metres.

Fajardo also won a silver medal of his own, finishing second in the triple jump with a jump of 13.75 metres. He finished just nine centimetres behind teammate Richard Jansen (Tottenham, Ont.), whose winning jump was recorded at 13.84 metres.

On the track, the men's and women's teams combined for five medals in London, Ont., including three in the relays. Winning individual medals were Sheereen Harris (Toronto), who finished third in the 60m in a time of 7.99 seconds, and Judah Osagie (Scarborough, Ont.) who captured a bronze in the 300m in a time of 37.41 seconds.

In the relays, the women's 4 x 200m relay team of Harris, Diandra Forde (Brampton, Ont.), Kelsey Desjarlais (Maple Ridge, Ont.) and Ashley Skof (Brampton, Ont.) won the silver medal, the men's version of the same relay, featuring David Mayer (Picton, Ont.), Yasin Sohawon (Fond du Sac, Mauritius), Ricky Szeto (Scarborough, Ont.) and Osagie finished second in their race as well.

Rounding out the medals was the relay team of Birko Montinat (Toronto), Jordan Miller (Toronto), Ethan Henry (Toronto) and Osagie, who finished second in the 4 x 400m relay.

York's pentathletes got their first chance to compete this weekend in Toronto at the Fred Foot Pentathlon. In the men's event Luke Durward (Port Perry, Ont.) finished fourth and Brad Matheson (Schomberg, Ont.) was seventh, while on the women's side rookie Megan Mukai (Toronto) was 11th.

In other events at the meet, Vince DiBacco (Woodbridge, Ont.) won the silver medal in the pole vault and Yussuf Yanni (Hamilton, Ont.) finished second in the long jump, while Kazim Mirhadi (Woodbridge, Ont.) won the bronze medal in the 60m.

The Lions will be on the road in Montreal this weekend for the McGill Team Challenge, which takes place on Friday, Jan. 27 and Saturday, Jan. 28. They will return home the following weekend for the annual York Open event at the Toronto Track and Field Centre on Saturday, Feb. 4.

Source: Lions Athletics

Toronto Varsity Blues:

Third-year pole vaulter Townsend Benard cleared a personal best and CIS-leading 4.86 metres at the 2012 Fred Field Classic, January 20-21, at the Athletic Centre Field House.

Benard, who met the CIS standard with his vault, earned one of seven first-place finishes for the Varsity Blues.  Zain Ahmed topped all competitors in the 3000m (8:38.06), while Jason Mei finished first in the men’s triple jump (12.34m).

Leading the way in women’s action was physical education major Rachel Jewett, coming from behind in the final event to win the women’s pentathlon on Friday night.  Veteran Sarah Wells finished first in the 600m, while Laura Maessen and Alana Stewart were golden in the high and long jump competitions, respectively.

The Varsity Blues return to action next weekend as they travel to Montreal for the McGill invitational.

Source: Varsity Blues Athletics

Western Mustangs:

The Western Mustangs track and field team hosted the 29th annual Don Wright Team Challenge and the home team came out on top to win both the Men's and Women's team titles. The men accumulated 123 points to York's 67 while the women posted 175 points to York's 47.

Two school records were set on the weekend. Caroline Ehrhardt improved her own school record in the triple jump by 4 cm.  Ehrhardt jumped 12.42m to finish 2nd behind Windsor's Jaideen Lowe who jumped 12.50m.  These ladies are now 1 and 2 in the CIS rankings. Josh Archer improved the school record in the weight throw with a 16.39m throw finishing 6th in the Invitational event with one of the best fields in the country.

The women continue to show quality form with a very deep field. They had 27 medal finishes; nine golds, nine silvers and nine bronzes.  Besides Ehrhardt breaking her school record in the triple jump, Becky Pieterson completed a personal best victory in the 1500m (4:34.13) moving her to the number 4 spot in the CIS. 

Other event winners include Brenna Thomson, 60m (7.83), rookie Amy Grzywnowicz, 300m (42.69), Katie Bell, 1000m (2:58.75), Alicia Knox, 3000m (10:39.57), the 4 X 200m relay team of Rebecca Gray, Tia Semplonius, Vanessa Brathwaite and Rachel Muma (1:45.41), and the 4 X 400m relay team of Thomson, Cassandra McCaig, Sarah Clancy and Katie Bell (3:57.66).

In the field discipline, Jen Pitman won the high jump at 1.63m and Ehrhardt took the the long jump event with a 5.63m distance.

The men had 19 medal finishes; nine golds, four silvers and six bronzes.  Meet highlights included once again the gutsy winning performance by Matt Brisson in the 60m hurdles. Brisson came from behind to hold off Sherbrooke's Simone Leveille with a 8.12 to Leveille's 8.14. Archer bettered his school record in the weight throw by 16 cm with a toss of 16.39 to finish 6th in a highly competitive invitational field.

Other event winners include Miguel Wason, 60m (6.97), rookie Felipe Granja, 300m (36.55), Matt Muldoon, 600m (1:22.39), Ryan Armstrong, 1000m (2:34.70), Pat Hartman, 1500m ( 4:02.97), Kevin Blackney, 3000m (8:53.57), and the 4 X 400m relay team of Brent Bates, Brayden Bullen, Trent Sayers and Wason (3:24.66).

Rookie Chris Cauley launched into first place in the men's high jump category with a 1.90m height.

On Friday night (Jan 20), Western's Pentathletes competed at the Fred Foot Pentathlon meet at the University of Toronto.  Chris Robertson won the men's section scoring a personal best of 3280 points putting him at number 5 in the CIS.  Jen Pitman scored 3285 to finish 3rd and move to number 7 in the CIS.

Next weekend the Mustangs travel to the McGill Team Challenge with the throwers going to the Findlay Invitational.

Source: Mustangs Athletics

Waterloo Warriors:

This weekend the Waterloo Warriors broke into two groups. The majority of the team competed at the Don Wright Team Challenge in London Ontario while the team's pentathletes travelled to the University of Toronto's Fred Foot Invitational to compete in their first pentathlon of the season.  Facing stiff competition in London against teams from Western, McMaster and York, the men's and women's teams came away with respectable third and fourth place finishes that were highlighted by impressive individual performances.

The day started off with a medal in the men's 60m sprints with Kofi-Kwarko-Fosu putting together his best string of races of the season.  With fellow star Warrior Shlomo Dunyo (Hamilton) not competing this weekend, Kofi had some big shoes to fill and he did not disappoint.  Finishing second overall in the 60m, Kwarko-Fosu was rewarded with a season's best time of 7.09 seconds.  Tying his seasonal best in the prelims (7.18) when qualifying for the final, Kofi's 7.09 second performance places him 22nd in the country.  Joining Kofi in the finals was Mohammed Yassin who had also easily qualified for the finals in second place overall with a time of 7.17 seconds.  Hampered by a poor start in the finals, however, Yassin had too much ground to make up and eventually finished fifth in the field with a time of 7.27 seconds.

Not to be outdone, the Warrior women sprints group also qualified two athletes to the 60m final, with Katrina Vandervoort (Ottawa) and Victoria Haffner (Dorchester) qualifying in fifth and seventh place respectively with times of 8.23 and 8.37 seconds.  Running very close to her personal best in the final, Vandervoort maintained her qualifying seed, finishing fifth with a time of 8.21 seconds.  Slightly behind, Haffner also maintained her seed, running through the line tied for seventh overall in a time of 8.44 seconds.

The men's and women's long sprinting group also posted some very strong results, with a number of athletes finishing with lifetime personal bests.  In the men's 300m, rookie Philip Zablocki is now the 4th athlete on the team to break the 37 second barrier this season.  He has consistently chipped away at his 300m time this season, and in London, he was rewarded with another personal best and second place finish in a time of 36.96 seconds.  On the women's side, Victoria Haffner (Dorchester) came back from the women's 60m to score some points for the team in the 300m.  Registering her second best time of the season, Haffner finished third in a time of 43.45 seconds.   Close behind Haffner in fifth was Vandervoort who finished with a personal best of 44.13 seconds.

Also noteworthy, competing in a stacked 600m race, team captain Jacob Muirhead (Elmira) posted a personal best to finish fifth in a time 1:23.85.  A testament to how competitive the race was, Muirhead's fifth place time ranks him as the seventh best performer on the Warriors all-time list.

With the majority of the team's field crew competing in Toronto, rookie Andrew Leest (Alliston) stood out in London, with strong third and fourth place finishes in the men's high and long jump competitions. Soaring 1.75m in the high jump, Leest also leaped 5.74m in the men's long jump.

Although far off their season's bests, also noteworthy were the men's and women's 4x200m relays.  On the men's side, a team consisting of Kofi Kwarko-Fosu (Toronto), Mohammed Yassin, Jacob Muirhead (Elmira) and J.P Brown finished first overall. Particularly impressive in the men's relay was Yassin, who clocked a personal best 22.5 second relay split.  On the women's side,  Victoria Haffner (Dorchester), Katrina Vandervoort (Ottawa), Samantha Yang (Unionville) and Stephanie Hinton (Brantford) also finished on the podium in 3rd place.     
 
In Toronto, pentathletes Justin Conlon (Ayr) , Sasha Ameri (Mississauga) and Chantel Pilon (Trenton) all had successful outings in their first full pentathlon competition of the season.  For Ameri, it was his first pentathlon ever. Still working out the technique of the shot put, hurdles and long jump, he did very well to finish all 5 events successfully.  For veteran Justin Conlon (Ayr), the Fred Foot Invitational was a chance to size up his competition prior to the Provincial championships which take place later in February. A successful outing, Conlon came away with a new personal best of 3033 points and a third place finish in a field of 13 athletes.  This mark places Conlon 10th in the country.

Also successful in her first pentathlon of the season, Chantel Pilon (Trenton) registered a personal best as well finishing all five events with 2618 points.  Far off from her personal best in the women's shot put and long jump, the personal best is encouraging for Pilon, who can certainly add another few hundred points onto that mark by the time the provincial championships come around.

Look for the Warriors next weekend as they head to McGill to compete in one of the biggest indoor meets in the country.

Source: Warriors Athletics

McMaster Marauders:

London, Ont. - The McMaster men's and women's track teams competed at the Don Wright Meet hosted by the Western Mustangs on Saturday. The women would take third overall with 25 points and the men would finish fourth behind some strong team throughout the OUA.

The only gold medal winner of the meet for the Marauders was Laura Morrison (London, Ont.) in the 600m with a time of 1:38.45 for the OUA standard. McMaster's Claire Stewart (Mississauga, Ont.) took the bronze in the 1000m, also running the OUA standard.

Other notable finishes for the women's team included rookie Sarah Wilson (Stratford, Ont.) with fourth place in the 600m and Katie Schurr's (Komoka, Ont.) four in the 1000m. Veterans Sarah Haliburton (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Victoria Coates (Newmarket, Ont.) finishes 4th and 5th, respectively, in the 1500m. The Marauders now have four women ranked in the top 15 in the country in the 1500m.

For the men, medal winners included Ruby Baronette's (Hamilton, Ont.) silver medal in the 600m at 1:22.72, rookie Blair Morgan's (Yarker, Ont.) bronze in the 1500m at 4:07.84, who ran the OUA standard and a personal best, and a bronze medal in the 4x400m relay. The Marauders relay team was made up of George Dicenzo (Brampton, Ont.), Matt Pawelke (Waterdown, Ont.), James Noordam (Millgrove, Ont.) and Baronette and finished with a time of 3:34.16.

In the sprints, Latisha Rhooms (Richmond Hill, Ont.) was a respectable 7th in the women's 60m and Garrick Mok (Richmond Hill, Ont.) took 9th in the men's 60m.

Next up for the Marauders is the McGill Team Challenge taking place over two days on January 27-28.

Source: Marauders Athletics

Windsor Lancers:

The Lancer women and men's 4 x 400m relay teams stamped their ticket to Winnipeg, Manitoba for the March 8-10 CIS Track and Field Championships this weekend at the Mike Lints Invitational in Allandale, Michigan.
 
"We came to qualify for the CIS Championships in the 4 x 400m relay and that we did", commented head coach Dennis Fairall.  "That puts us # 1 in the men's 4x400m relay and # 1 in the men's 4x800m relay, events that build team spirit. We now must put a solid effort in the men's 4x200m relay in Manitoba in two weeks and we will have all three relay teams qualified."
 
The automatic standard is based on the top six performances at previous CIS Championships. The relay team consisted of Brendan Dills, Chris Reid, Matt McKeegan and Dustin Eldridge.
 
The Lancers captured the gold medal in all three relay at last year's National finals and they need to put themselves in a position to challenge that feat this year as well.
 
Meanwhile the women's squad ran exceptional and took over the No. 1 spot in the 4 x 400m relay in the Nation, as they also qualified for the National finals.  The relay team of Emilie Halle, Andrina Slegers, Nicole Sassine and Heather Kurpe got the baton around in 3:51.40 for a strong second place finish.

Source: Lancers Athletics

Laurentian Voyageurs:

TORONTO, ON - The Laurentian Women's indoor track team competed at the Fred Foot Memorial at the University of Toronto this weekend, returning with four medals and three qualifying marks for the OUA Championships.

The Lady Vees finished with a one-two sweep in the 1500m, with Adrienne Wilson, of Kitchener, winning the event with a personal best time of 4:41.12. Wilson took the lead from the gun and increased her pace over each of the final three laps to win by over 50 metres. Her time qualified her for the OUA championships.

Sudbury native, Katie Wismer led the chase pack in the 1500m and fought off three runners from Queens and Toronto to place second with a personal best time of 4:51.16. Wismer also competed in the 1000m, where she placed 9th with a time of 3:08.73.

Emma Tallman qualified for the OUA's in both the 600m and 1000m events. Tallman, of Mindemoya, placed 4th in the 600m with a time of 1:39.74 and 5th in the 1000m with a time of 3:03.30.

The Lady Vees unveiled their new horizontal jumps group, under the direction of Track North coach Jim Taylor, with medals in both the long and triple jumps. Alicia Violin, of Sudbury, placed 3rd in the long jump with a leap of 4.90 and also 5th in the triple jump with a mark of 10.49. Jackie Bray, of Midland, placed 3rd in the triple jump with a distance of 10.69, and 4th in the long jump with a leap of 4.86.

Also competing was Toronto's Morgan Rammo, 7th in the 600m with a time of 1:42.67 and 10th in the 1000m with a time of 3:12.86. Both times were personal bests. Jenna Thornber, of Uxbridge, placed 11th in the 1500m with a time of 5:17.54.

"It was a good first competition for most of our athletes," said head coach, Dick Moss. We got some people qualified for the OUA' s and we now have some baseline performances that we can key our workouts around."

The Lady Vees' next competition is the York Open in Toronto on February 4th.

Source: Laurentian Athletics