TRACK AND FIELD ROUNDUP: Don Wright Team Challenge
Warriors dominate podium at Don Wright Team Challenge
The Waterloo Warriors had an exciting and successful weekend competing at the annual Don Wright Team Challenge at Western University. Coming off of a hard meet last weekend the Warriors had some stellar results with 13 lifetime personal bests and 12 podium finishes.
The sprint squad continued to improve with the ladies dominating the 60m final. Veterans Tegan Sauer (Kitchener) and Sian Smart (Kingston) along with rookie Kelsi Darmon (Fergus) all easily qualified for the final where they placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Sauer and Smart both had season's bests running 7.98 and 7.99 to move up in the rankings. Rookie Ali Elkanouni continues to improve his 60m time with each race running a 0.10 second personal best in the final clocking in at 7.15. His reaction off the gun blew his competition away earning himself a bronze medal.
Sam Martinello (Kitchener) (36.93) and Naomi Lace (42.00) each picked up some hardware placing 2nd and 3rd overall. Both athletes are UW's strongest long sprinters.
Other notable performances for the sprinters came from Bryton Keyes (Kitchener) (300m), James Terejko (Brantford) (300m) & Meghan Koo (Markham) (60m) who all had large lifetime personal bests in their events.
Some of the most respected performances of the weekend came from the long sprints and mid-distance squad. Rookies Rachel Bronzovich (Oakville), Sabrina Marsh (Sault Ste. Marie) and Reid Hayes (Waterloo) ran impressive races. Bronzovich, who has improved her lifetime best in the 600m with each race, ran a very smart and confident race finishing with nearly a full second personal best time of 1:39.47 to win the bronze medal. Marsh improved her time by nearly two seconds in the 600m, she'll be gunning for the OUA standard at her next competition.
In the 1000m, Hayes showed self-trust running a very tactical race. Knowing the leaders were ahead of their own pace Hayes kept with the middle pack until two laps to go where he dug deep knocking off his competitors one by one. His performance earned himself the silver medal with a time of 2:29.60 which ranks him 6th in the CIS.
Both Bronzovich and Hayes are now ranked on the UW All Time List in their events – Bronzovich 7th and Hayes 5th. These athletes will be UW's finest in years to come.
A small distance squad was represented this weekend led by rookie James Milton (Kitchener) who ran a seasons best in the 1500m with a time of 4:08.24 placing 6th overall. Although not his best race, Milton is another young athlete to watch in the coming years and has already earned his place on UW's Top 10 List in the 3000m.
Some impressive performances came from the field events this weekend. Rookie Amanda Tubman (Renfew) was the third athlete of the weekend to earn herself a spot on the UW All Time List. With a 1.34m improvement, Tubman's Weight Throw mark of 11.25m ranks her 4th on UW's All Time List. Long jumper Sian Smart (Kingston) earned bronze with a jump of 5.04m, while high jumper David Nightingale (Kitchener) was just shy of the podium placing 4th with a jump of 1.85m.
All four relays teams, men's and women's 4x200m and 4x400m, won the silver medal and earned the team many points this weekend. A seasons best from the women's 4x200m team running 1:44.53 ranks them 8th in the CIS. Tegan Sauer (Kitchener), Naomi Lance (Kitchener), Jenny Carrique (Kitchener) and Kelsi Darmon (Fergus) are expected to improve much more by the next race and earning their spot in this year's CIS Championships. Lance and Darmon led the team with the fastest splits of the day.
The ladies 4x400m made up of three rookies and captain Jenny Carrique (Kitchener) ran a solid time with Bronzovich running the fastest split and personal bests from Darmon and Sabrina Marsh (Sault Ste. Marie).
Not having run either mens relay team earlier this season didn't stop them from their podium finishes. The 4x200m was led by veteran Sam Martinello (Kitchener) running the fastest split of 22.8 followed by Bryton Keyes (Kitchener), Ali Elkanouni and Alex Manuel (Stouffville). An enthusiastic 4x400m team ran with heart to earn their silver medal with great performances by all. Martinello continued to lead the squad with the fastest split time followed by Bryton Keyes (Kitchener), Reid Hayes (Waterloo) and Nicholash Bedi (Waterloo).
With over 60% of the team being rookies Head Coach Shane Ferth is very impressed with the results to date and looks forward to improvements made over the season. This promises a bright future for the team being so young.
With a hard week of training ahead the Warriors will prepare for the York Classic at the end of the month.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Western sets five new records at Don Wright Team Challenge
LONDON, Ont. - The Western track and field team competed in the 2015 Don Wright Team Challenge at Thompson Arena on Saturday January 17th, 2015. The Mustangs have been off to a great start this season with the men and women being ranked second and third, respectively, in the CIS rankings as of last week.
The Mustangs set five meet records at the 32nd annual Don Wright meet, including four arena records. The arena records were set by Damian Warner of the London-Western TFC in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.68 seconds, Daniel Novia, who competed unattached and threw 20.54m in the weight throw, Robin Bone in pole vault with a height of 4.05m, and Caroline Ehrhardt with a season's best of 12.81m in the triple jump. Additionally, Aaron Bowman, who competed unattached, ran 6.79 seconds to set the meet record in the 60m.
Taking the lead for the Mustang women were Joy Spear Chief-Morris, who placed first in 60m hurdles with a time of 8.64 seconds, Amanda Truelove, who placed first in the 3000m run, and Jen Barbon, who placed first and ran a seasons best in the 300m dash with a time of 41.10. Barbon also ran with the winning 4 x 400m women's relay team alongside Rachael Muma, Sarah Clancy, and Katie Bell.
Ehrhardt also placed second in the 60m dash and was on the winning 4 x 200m team alongside Cassandra Pascal, Sarah Clancy, and Lauren Clancy. Bone also placed second in 60m hurdles.
Leading male competitors for the purple and white include Izzy Ogieva, who placed first in the high jump with a height of 1.95m and second in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.32 seconds, Mike Giorgi, who placed first the 300m dash with a time of 36.41 seconds and second place in the 60m dash with a time of 7.00 seconds, and Triphon Moodie, who placed first in the 600m run with a seasons best time of 1:21.91. Moodie also competed on the winning 4 x 400m relay team along with Travis Moore, Ben Carson, and Evan Porter. Daniel Gayle placed first in the triple jump with a personal best of 14.53m and Robbie Gallaugher placed first in the long jump with a seasons best of 7.15m.
Western's Anthony Dandie set a new school record, breaking a record set 35 years ago by the great John Gamble at the Fred Foot Pentathlon Meet at the University of Toronto. Dandie score was 3,718, posting a time of 8.32 seconds in the hurdles, 7.00m in long jump, 11.81m in shot put, 1.85m in high jump, and 2:52.88 in the 100m. Dandie went on to finish third behind the defending CIS gold and silver medalists.
Western's third year competitor, Kaleigh Hole, placed first in the women's pentathlon with a personal best score of 3,498. Furthermore, first year student, Locky Butcher, placed fourth with a total score of 3,496 points. During the competition, Butcher achieved a CIS standard in the high jump at 2.03m.
Next up, approximately 30 Mustangs will compete at the 20th annual McGill Team Challenge on January 23-24, 2015. The two-day competition, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Richard Tomlinson Field house in the McGill Sports Centre, will feature about 900 athletes, including a number of Olympians, and is annually the largest indoor track meet in Canada. The remaining Western team members will travel and compete at Michigan's Saginaw State Valley University for the "Doug Hansen" Open on Friday, January 23, 2015.
Source: Western Mustangs