AROUND OUA: Can Am Classic

Lancers shine at Can Am Classic

The Can-Am Classic opened the Lancers 2016-17 regular season. With conference powerhouses, Guelph Gryphons, Western Mustangs, York Lions, Waterloo Warriors and Varsity Blues sending very large teams there were a number of great performances in the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse.
 
The Windsor Lancers saw 12 podium finishes over the weekend with a few athletes punching their tickets to the U Sport Championships that will take place at the University of Alberta in March.
 
Friday night saw Lancer Alumnus Nick Falk, who is preparing for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships win the men's 3000m in a time of 8:22.80 with current Lancer star Taylor McArthur right on his heels in 8:23.16. Finishing the track events on Friday night saw the men's 4x800m team take off from the competition on the last 2 legs and solidified a spot on the U Sport start line with the win and time of 7:38.45.
 
The Friday field events brought even more spectacular performances. Eli Pawliw won the men's Shot Put with an auto qualifying throw of 16.45m while Sarah Mitton did the same in the women's competition throwing 14.55m. Fourth year Rachael Wolfs wins the women's Pole Vault competition with U Sport auto in hand. Angelo Bortolin finished second with a distance of 13.80m, only 5cm off of the winning jump.
 
Saturday saw continued success for Taylor McArthur (1500m, 3:53.66) and Eli Pawliw (Weight Throw, 14.39m) who finished third in their respective events. Alison Robinson also had a strong third place finish in the 600m with a time of 1:38.63.
 
The Windsor Lancers 2016's Banner Shield Winner, Stefanie Smith cruised through to a second-place finish in the women's 1500m with a time of 4:33.97. Also, claiming second in the women's Long Jump was 5th year veteran Emily Omahen with a leap if 5.70m.
 
Alumnus Jordana Badley-Castello returned to Windsor to compete in the women's Weight Throw and would leave victorious with a throw of 17.75m. Current Lancer Pole Vaulter Chris Waugh was the lone Lancer to claim first on Saturday with a vault of 4.60m.
 
The Lancers will be on the road next weekend competing at Grand Valley State University and Indiana University.

Source: Windsor Lancers

Gryphons have strong showing at Can Am Classic

The Guelph Gryphons Track and Field Team descended upon the University of Windsor's CanAm classic this past weekend meet to shed off the rust of the holidays.  There were many incredible early season performances from many athletes across all events.
 
In the sprints, the squad saw a monumental day, advancing all entered athletes to the semifinals in the 60m. In the finals on the woman's side, the gryphons advanced four athletes to the final with huge performances from rookies Zaria Armstrong and Shyvonne-Roberta Roxborough going one-two with blazing times of 7.67 and 7.72 respectively.
 
The Gryphon men also had an exciting day in sprints with four men advancing to the final. Veteran athlete and USport championship medalist Kyle Thompson won, clocking 6.82, closely followed by rookie multi sport athlete Keysean Powell with a time of 6.87. More fantastic times came out of the 60m hurdles, with consistently fast times from the top two hurdlers in the country, Hailey Hitchings and Sarah Hammond, running 8.57 and 8.79 respectively. Also with a fantastic performance was Emma Nero, clocking a 8.86. Multi-eventers Shawn Beaudoin and Mark Emode also impressed, clocking 8.65 and 8.68 over the hurdles respectively.
 
The 300m saw the depth of excitement form the talented sprints squad. Huge runs from all female athletes, but the standout performance came from rookie Jenna Smith whose blazing time of 39.71 qualifies her for the USports Championships.
 
The men's 300m saw great excitement from all levels of athletes, led by veteran sprinter Brandon Shirk who opened with an exciting time 34.94.
 
From the distance squad, the Gryphons had fantastic performances. Leading the way was veteran athlete Thomas Land in the 600m, clocking a time of 1.19.79, earning a top spot. Honorable mention to rookie athlete Levi Fretz, coming in with a time of 1.24.15.
 
Brilliant performances by the women's 1km core, led by veteran USport championship medalist Katelyn Ayers, who clocked a time of 2.49.37 earning third. Notable performances followed by Sophia Watts, Cheryse Mitton and Charlotte Ward, who all clocked times under the 2.51.0 mark.
Across the board in the Men's 1km, there were solid performances by sophomore athletes Jeffrey Thornber and Mostafa Elkurdy who placed one-two respectively with times of 2.27.12 and 2.28.26
 
An exciting showing from the Men's 1500m, with men placing 6th-12th and 17th -21st. Led by distance veteran Brayden Seneca.

On the woman's side, a strong showing from sophomore Danielle Jossinet cemented her spot in fourth, followed by return of senior athlete Kelsey Serviss who placed ninth overall.
 
From the jumps squad, USports 2-time champion veteran Sean Cate won the high jump event with a height of 2.14 followed by rookie athlete Drew Schulz who placed second with a jump of 2.03. Rookie Erin Young jumps to a personal best of 5.46 in the long jump placing third.
 
Senior Vanessa Oliver jumped 11.38 in the TJ earning a third place, just short of a personal best.
Rookie Tessa Hamilton vaulted her way into a personal best of 3.61, earning a third spot in women's pole vault. In men's Pole Vault Graham Pitfield continued his consistency streak with jumps of 4.40.
 
From the throws squad, Ashley Connell lead the way with a throw of 14.52 in shot putt and 16.99 in the weight throw, placing third overall. And former USports Champion Jared Skeath threw a 15.56 in the shot putt to place second overall. Honorable mention goes to Mackenzie Josie, gaining personal bests in both the shot putt and weight throw events.
 
In the relays, the 4x800m woman suffered some technically difficulties due to lap counting but after overcoming the obstacle of running a race by themselves, the ladies punch their ticket to Edmonton with a qualifying run of 9.01.04.
 
In the 4x200m relay both men's and women's teams were able to enter two incredibly competitive teams with the Men's A' team placing first just missing standard with a time of 1.29.69 closely followed by a young B' team with a time of 1.33.31.
 
On the women's side, the A' team blazed their way to a nationally qualifying standard time of 1.40.85, earning them the top spot.  An incredibly strong finish by our B' team earned them third spot with a time of 1.42.96.
 
The Gryphons take this week to face off in UofT at the Fred Foot Classic on Saturday January 21st.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Top results for Blues on Day 1 of Can Am Classic

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's and women's track and field team is in Windsor, Ont., for the 2017 Can Am Classic, January 13-14.
 
Third-year sprinter Anthony Kwan got the Blues off to a great start, winning the men's 60m hurdles in 8.37 seconds.
 
Toronto's men's 4x800 relay team of Craig Klomp, Ben Devito, Alexander Bimm and Sacha Smart finished second in 7:40.81, while the Blues men's 4x200 relay team of Rayshaun Franklin, Alexander Lau, Jack Berkshire and Charles Sutton placed third in 1:31.81.
 
Ezana Debalkew (13.31m) and Rostam Turner (12.80m) placed seventh and ninth, respectively in the men's shot put.
 
In women's action, Toronto's 4x200 relay team of Katrina Innanen, Maddie Warren, Phoebe Simmons and Lindsay Brandys placed second in 1:42.50.
 
Brittany Salmon placed third in the pole vault, clearing 3.71m, while Kerry-Ann James was third in the triple jump with a distance of 11.73m. Laura Amoi was fourth with a jump of 11.48m.  
 
The meet wraps up tomorrow, starting with the men's weight throw at 8:30 a.m. and wrapping up with the men's 4x400 relay at 4 p.m.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Strong finish for Track & Field at Can Am Classic

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up the 2017 Can Am Classic on Saturday, January 14 in Windsor, Ont.
 
U of T's men capped off the meet as Jack Berkshire, Alexander Bimm, Sacha Smart and Rayshaun Franklin won the 4x400 relay in a time of 3:20.31.
 
Earlier in the day, Smart placed second in the men's 1500m in a time of 3:50.73, while Ben Devito was fourth in 3:54.50.
 
Bimm finished third overall in the men's 600m, crossing the finish line in 1:21.48. Nathan Tesfu placed third in the men's high jump, clearing 1.98m.
 
Noah Defreyne placed fourth in the men's 1000m in 2:31.11, while Alexander Lau finished fifth in the men's 60m dash in 6.95 seconds. Collier Peter was fifth in the men's long jump with a distance of 6.79m, with Jack Berkshire placing sixth in the men's 300m in 35.88 seconds.
 
First-year standout Lucia Stafford (2:46.71) and veteran Madeleine Kelly (2:47.19) finished 1-2 in the women's 1000m, with Stafford's time setting a new Canadian indoor junior record. Jazz Shukla placed fourth in 2:50.44. Katrina Innanen was third in the women's 300m in 40.23.
 
Stafford, Kelly and Innanen teamed up with Carolyn Adams to win the 4x400 relay in a time of 3:51.65.
 
Ekua Cudjoe got the Blues off to a good start, opening the day with a second-place finish in the women's weight throw with a distance of 17.52m. Fifth-year veteran Danielle Delage added another second-place finish in the women's high jump, clearing 1.69m.
 
Gillian Ceyhan (1:38.64) and Sarah Kwajafa (1:39.05) placed fourth and sixth, respectively, in the women's 600m, with Christiana Agustin (4:44.46) and Charlotte Dunlap (4:48.66) finishing sixth and eighth in the women's 1500m.
 
The Varsity Blues are back in action next Saturday, January 21 as they host the Fred Foot Meet at the Athletic Centre Field House.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Pitters sets school record to win gold at Can Am Classic

Fourth-year York University Lions jumper Holly Pitters set a new school record in the long jump on Saturday to win the gold medal in the event at the Can Am Classic in Windsor, Ont.
 
Pitters, from Mississauga, Ont., recorded a new personal-best distance of 6.11 metres to finish in first place by more than 40 centimetres over the rest of the field. The mark was also good enough to surpass the automatic qualifying standard for the upcoming U SPORTS championships later this season.
 
Also reaching the podium at the Can Am Classic was Mikeisha Bobb (London, Ont.), who raced to bronze in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.73 seconds. Bobb also had another top-five finish at the meet with a fifth-place showing in the 300m in a time of 40.69 seconds.
 
On the men's side the best individual showing came courtesy of Nicholas Fyffe (Vancouver), who finished in fourth place in the long jump with a distance of 6.79 metres.
 
The men's team's other top-five finish came in the 4x400m relay, where Daniele Orsini (Etobicoke, Ont.), Jalen Pidlubny (Scarborough, Ont.), Matt Fouzie (Kingston, Ont.) and Brock Martin (Grimsby, Ont.) ran to a fifth-place finish in a time of 3:33.56.
 
This weekend the Lions will be at the University of Toronto for the annual Fred Foot Memorial meet on Saturday (Jan. 21).

Source: York Lions