AROUND OUA: 35th Annual Can Am Track Classic

Lancers shine at Cam Am Classic

The Lancer track & field team kicked off 2016 in high fashion with a number of impressive performances at the 35th Can Am Classic this weekend at the St. Denis Centre.
 
The two day meet saw a new school record set, a new indoor personal best and three Lancers qualify for the national championships in March,
 
New Lancer Jordana Badley-Costello set a new Lancer record in the women's weight throw with an impressive toss of 17.95m early Saturday morning. Badley-Costello placed second in the event behind York's Brittany Crew who set a new meet record with a throw of 18.10m.
 
Christopher Waugh and Milos Savic both qualified for the national championships in the men's pole vault, both jumping 4.79m and placing one-two in the event.
 
On the women's side, Rachel Wolfs set a new indoor personal best in women's pole vault with a height of 3.78m. Wolfs placed second overall in the event.
 
The Lancers also captured three additional gold medals over the two day event. Branden Wilhelm placed first in the men's high jump with a height of 2.05m, while Alex Ullman placed first in the men's 1000m with a time of 2:28.26. For the women, Stefanie Smith placed first in the women's 3000m in a time of 10:00.56. Smith also placed second overall in the women's 1500m in a time of 4:27.95.
 
Former Lancer great, and Canadian Olympian, Melissa Bishop set a new meet record in the women's 1500m  with a time of 4:17.91. Bishop also teamed up with former Lancer all-Canadian Nicole Sassine, Noelle Montcalm, and Heather Kurpe for the 4x400m relay where the tandem placed first overall and set a new meet record with a time of 3:44.85.
 
For complete results of the Can Am Classic, please click here.
 
The Lancers will now travel to Allendale, Michigan next Friday for the Bob Eubanks Invitational.

Source: Windsor Lancers

Skeath leads Gryphons at Can Am Classic

WINDSOR, ON - It was the Gryphon field athletes time to shine as the University of Guelph Track and Field team got the second half of their season started at the University of Windsor's Can-Am Classic.  Jared Skeath led the team with a pair of wins, capturing gold in the shot put and weight throw.  Returning to the site where he captured last year's CIS title Skeath continued his flare for the dramatics with a massive personal best toss of 16.09 in the shot put to move from sixth to first in the final round, the throw ranks him third in the country.  His throw of 18.99 in the men's weight throw is the top ranked performance in the country.  Skeath's teammate Ashley Connell, finished second in the women's shot put and weight throw.   Her throws of 14.37 (shot put) and 17.22 (weight throw) rank her second and fifth in the CIS.  

Other top filed event performances from the weekend were rookie Eric Chatten's runner up finish in the men's high jump with a best jump of 2.00 metres, a mark equalled by teammate Mitchell Torres.  Chatten remains ranked second in the CIS behind teammate Sean Cate, who did not compete this weekend.  In the men's long jump Audley Cummings was the top collegiate athlete with a massive personal best jump of 6.82 metres. Cummings, a transfer from Dalhousie, jump was 29 centimetres further than his previous best.  Clare Thompson finished second in the women's triple jump with a best jump of 11.21 metres.

On the track, highlights included Jackson Cheung's 8.24 hurdle performance that currently ranks him second in the CIS.  The Gryphons posted two medal performances in the 60 metres, with Katharine Sieling grabbing the bronze in the women's race in 7.71 seconds and Kristian Benjamin finishing as the top collegian in the men's race with a best time of 6.96 seconds.  Sieling was part of an all rookie Gryphon 4 x 200 metre relay team that finished third in 1:42.90.  In the women's 1500 metres Katelyn Ayers grabbed a bronze medal in 4:33.48 seconds, a time that ranks her second in the CIS.  Ayers was part of the silver medal winning women's 4 x 800 metre relay that recorded a time of 9:12.90.   In the men's 3000 metres Christian Gravel was the top collegian with a best time of 8:33.98 seconds.

The Gryphons will have a split squad next weekend with a group heading to Grand Valley State for the Bob Eubanks Open and a group heading to London for the Don Wright Team Challenge.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Blues solid at Can Am Classic

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues track and field team competed at the annual Can Am Classic, January 8-9, at the University of Windsor.

Veteran runner Rachel Jewett earned a first place finish in the women's 600m in a time of 1:33.14, with rookie Sarah Kwajafa placing third in 1:36.97. Madeleine Kelly and Avery Garrett-Patterson placed 1-2 in the women's 1000m in 2:50.03 and 2:56.13, respectively, while Katrina Innanen was third in the 300m (39.85). Madeline Warren finished fourth in the 60m dash in 7.75 seconds and Honor Walmsley was fourth in the 1500m in 4:34.56

The Blues women's 4x800 relay team of Garrett-Patterson, Jewett, Honor Walmsley and Kelly finished first overall in a time of 8:58.84.

In the field, Julia Stille earned the top spot in the triple jump (12.30m) and finished fifth in the long jump (5.51m). Brittany Salmon placed third in the women's pole vault with a height of 3.78m.

In men's action, Rayshaun Franklin earned a first-place finish in the 300m in a time of 34.31, while Sacha Smart took the top spot in the 1500m in a meet record time of 3:50.48. Riley Alvarez finished third in the 1000m in 2:29.61 and Alexander Lau also placed sixth in the 60m dash in a time of 7.08 seconds.  

Toronto's 4x200 relay team of Franklin, Isiah Weathers, Alexander Lau and Kostas Renieris placed first overall in a time of 1:31.33, while U of T's men's 4x800 relay team of Alvarez, Ben Divito, Simon Egzaw and Sacha Smart also finished first in a time of 7:41.34.

Jonathan Yue and Ahmad Nizamani placed 6-7 in the men's high jump, clearing 1.95m

The Varsity Blues return to action next weekend (Jan. 15-16) as the host the Fred Foot Classic at the Athletic Centre Field House.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Lions reach podium 13 times at Can Am Classic

The York University Lions track and field team had a dominant Saturday (Jan. 9) at the 35^th annual Can Am Track Classic in Windsor, Ont. The Lions took home multiple first-place finishes with a pack of Lions finishing in the top three and qualifying for the CIS championships.
 
Brittany Crew (East York, Ont.) received two first-place finishes while obliterating CIS standard marks in the women's weight throw and shot put. She threw for 18.12m in the weight throw and 14.39m in shot put and is ranked No. 1 in the CIS in both events.
 
The women's 4x200m relay was captured by the Lions as Christy Ihumaegbo (East York, Ont.), Sheereen Harris (Toronto), Shania Payne (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and Mikeisha Bobb (London, Ont.) finished with a time of 1:41:41 to also qualify for the CIS championships.
 
Harris picked up her second medal of the weekend by placing second in the 300m with a time of 38.94. History was made during the event as the University of Toronto's Alicia Brown tied the meet record of 38.62 which was set by Beverly Grant in 1994.
 
Also winning an individual gold medal on the women's side was Holly Pitters (Mississauga, Ont.) in the long jump with a personal-best distance of 5.92m.
 
In the men's events, the lone individual gold medal was won by Richard Jansen (Bradford, Ont.), who came away with a first-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 14.18m.
 
Also in the field, Nicholas Fyffe (Vancouver) picked up a bronze medal in the long jump with a distance of 6.82m, while Chris Preece (Cookstown, Ont.) and Anojan Sivalingam (Scarborough, Ont.) went two-three in the weight throw with marks of 17.31m and 15.41m, respectively.
 
Ayo Agusto (Lagos, Nigeria) finished the 300m dash in 34.49 seconds to automatically qualify for the CIS championships and win the silver medal at the Can Am Classic. He also won a bronze in the 4x200m relay along with Brandon Shoukour (North York, Ont.), Jalen Pidlubny (Scarborough, Ont.) and Daniele Orsini (Etobicoke) with a time of 1:32:29.
 
At the Akron Pole Vault Convention in Akron, Ohio, three-time CIS gold medallist David McKay (Victoria) cleared 5.20m to win the gold medal and qualify for this year's CIS championships, while rookie Samuel Agnew (Renfrew, Ont.) was 4cm off the national standard at 4.75m and finished ninth.
 
The Lions next test is next weekend (Jan. 15-16) when the team travels across town for the Fred Foot track meet at the University of Toronto.

Source: York Lions

WINDSOR, Ont. - The Western Mustangs track and field team returned to Windsor for the 35th Annual Can Am Track Classic at the St. Denis Centre on January 9.

Joy Spear Chief-Morris led the mustangs to earn Western's Female Athlete of the Week distinction, standing out as a top competitor in two events at the highly contested meet. She placed second in both the 60m (7.62) and 60m hurdles (8.58) events and also ran on the 4 x 200m (1:41.76) relay team that placed a close second to York alongside Rachael Muma, Jen Barbon, and Lauren Clancy.
 
Both of Chief-Morris' individual results are good enough to lead the CIS and, despite falling short of  gold, she demonstrated her outstanding skill and drive as an athlete while coming close to the performance of Nikkita Holder, a bronze medalist at the Pan Ams this past summer who placed first at this competition.
 
Placing in the top three for the women were Alysha Matthews, who finished third in the 60m hurdles (8.89), Amy Stephenson, who was third in the 3000m (10:17.65), Kaleigh Hole (1.65m) and Reena Fancis (1.60m), who finished first and second, respectively, in the high jump event, Kristen Gibson (11.14), who was third in triple jump, and finally Brooke Hoxar (13.86), who finished third in Shot Put.
 
Additional top eight finishes from individuals came from Ainsley Nantes (4^th), Michele Moakler (7^th), and Stephanie Nevison (8^th) in the 3000m event, Reena Francis (5^th) in pole vault, Annie Maslak in triple jump, Jordan Stapleford (7^th) in 600m, Kristina Popadich (7^th) in the 1000m, Lauren Clancy (8^th) in the 300m, Emilia Graja, Shaelyn Laurie (4^th), and Tara White (6^th) in high jump, Brindlay Jantzi (8^th) in weight throw, and Katie Flemington (8^th) in long jump.
 
The 4x400m team of Courtne Langille, Lauren Winquist, Ali Burkett, and Leah Wagner finished also finished top ten at fifth.
 
Placing in the top three for the men were Isoken Ogieva (2^nd), who ran a season's best of 8.17 in the 60m hurdles, Mac Campbell (2^nd/1:24.79) and Travis Moore (3^rd/1:25.05) in the 600m, Triphon Moodie (2^nd/2:28.74) in the 1000m, and Jack Scheffar, who placed third with a personal best time of 8:34.84 in the 3000m. The team of Keagan Croley, Mac Campbell, Travis Moore, and Triphon Moodie claimed gold with a time of 3:29.63 in the 4 x 400m event.
 
Additional top eight finishes were achieved by Locky Butcher (4th and 7th in high jump and hurdles respectively), Adam Devon (4th in high jump), Aleks Rapps (4th and 7th in weight throw and shot put respectively), Brian Choja (4th in pole vault), Daniel Gleason (5th in pole vault), Eric Cowan and Cole Zanchetta (both 6th in pole vault), Keagan Croley (6th in the 600m), Stuart Cameron (8th in shot put), and the 4 x 200m team of Ogieva, Chris Cauley, Locky Butcher and Nikye Atherden.
 
Next up, the Mustangs take on the Don Wright Team Challenge on Saturday January 16.  Guelph, Waterloo, and McMaster will also be competing.

Source: Western Mustangs