Western, Guelph lead on Day 1 of OUA track and field championships

The Western Mustangs women and Guelph Gryphons men are the leaders in the team standings after the opening day of competition at the 2017 OUA Track and Field Championship, hosted by York University at the Toronto Track and Field Centre

The Mustangs finished Day 1 with 93.5 points, just 7.5 points ahead of the defending champion Gryphons, while the 2014 champion Toronto Varsity Blues sit in third place with 67.5 points.

On the men's side, the Gryphons have a commanding lead with 103 points. The Mustangs are second with 63 points and the Lancers third at 55 points. 

The most impressive result of the day came in the women's indoor pentathlon, where Western's Kaleigh Hole set a new meet record with 3834 points. She finished first in three of the five events to win the gold medal in convincing fashion, 656 points ahead of silver medallist Emily Bowerman. Western teammate Louise Bunce finished third with 3036 points.

The leading Mustangs also had one of their own win the gold medal in the closest race of the day as Joy Spear Chief-Morris narrowly edged Sarah Hammond of the Gryphons for top spot. The two actually had the same time of 8.28 seconds, but Spear Chief-Morris edged Hammond by thousandths of a second to claim the gold. 

Also winning gold medals for the Mustangs were Robin Bone and Kristina Popadich. Bone, the OUA record holder who set the mark in 2015, won her fifth consecutive pole vault title, topping the field with a height of 4.00m. Popadich was the champion in the 3000m, crossing the finish line in a time of 9:31.07, more than two seconds ahead of Julie-Anne Staehli of the Queen's Gaels.

In the 1000m, rookie phenom Lucia Stafford led a sweep by the Varsity Blues, posting a time of 2:44.44. Teammates Madeleine Kelly and Jazz Shukla claimed the silver and bronze medals, respectively. 

Stafford won her second gold medal of the day in the 4x800m as she ran the anchor leg to lead the Blues to a dominant victory. The Gryphons won the silver medal and the Ottawa Gee-Gees claimed the bronze.

The host York Lions had one athlete reach the top of the podium as Holly Pitters successfully defended her OUA title in the long jump with a distance of 6.06m. Windsor's Emily Omahen finished with the silver medal and Vanessa Oliver of the Gryphons won bronze. 

Rounding out the Day 1 women's gold medallists were Sarah Mitton of the Gryphons in the shot put and Katrina Innanen of the Varsity Blues in the 300m.

In perhaps the most exciting race on the men's side, Toronto's Rayshaun Franklin came into the 300m as the defending champion but was forced to settle for third place after Western's Ramzi Abdulahi ran an incredible race to win the gold in a time of 33.83 seconds. Brandon Shirk of the Gryphons finished second. 

The night's final race, the men's 4x800m, was also a thriller. The Lancers ran away with the gold medal in a time of 7:31.83, but it was U of T's Sacha Smart who was the story of the race. Trailing the Gryphons significantly when he got the baton for the final leg, he ran down Guelph's Thomas Land and caught him just as they crossed the finish line to give the Varsity Blues the silver medal by seven hundredths of a second.

The result marked the second time on Day 1 that Smart beat Land while racing head-to-head, as he also won the gold medal in the 1000m and Land finished second. Windsor's Corey Bellemore finished with the bronze. 

The Gryphons began the day with a gold medal in the weight through courtesy of Jared Skeath, who defended his title from last year with a distance of 20.23m, just off the OUA record. He also won the silver medal in the shot put, switching places with Windsor's Eli Pawliw in the second throwing event of the meet as Pawliw claimed the gold medal with a toss of 17.13m after winning silver in the weight throw earlier in the day.

Also winning a gold for the Gryphons was Greg MacNeill, who finished first in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.05 seconds. 

Rounding out the men's gold medals were a pair of champions from Western. Jack Sheffar finished first in the 3000m in a time of 8:20.58 and Riley Bell was crowned the champion in the long jump with a distance of 7.35m.

The second and final day of action will kick off bright and early Saturday morning when the women's weight throw starts at 9am at the Toronto Track and Field Centre. The team banners will be handed out at the conclusion of the meet later in the day. 

TEAM STANDINGS – DAY 1 

Women
1. Western, 93.5 points
2. Guelph, 86
3. Toronto, 67.5
4. Windsor, 45
5. York, 23
6. Ottawa, 17
7. Queen's, 8
8. McMaster, 5
9. Waterloo, 2 

Men
1. Guelph, 103 points
2. Western, 63
3. Windsor, 55
4. Toronto, 39
5. Waterloo, 20
6. York, 12
7. Ottawa, 11
8. McMaster, 3
9. Queen's, 2

INDIVIDUAL MEDALLISTS – DAY 1 

Weight Throw (M)
1. Jarek Skeath, Guelph, 20.23m
2. Eli Pawliw, Windsor, 17.09m
3. Ezana Debalkew, Toronto, 16.29m

1000m (W)
1. Lucia Stafford, Toronto, 2:44.44
2. Madeleine Kelly, Toronto, 2:46.21
3. Jazz Shukla, Toronto, 2:46.50 

1000m (M)
1. Sacha Smart, Toronto, 2:23.13
2. Thomas Land, Guelph, 2:23.76
3. Corey Bellemore, Windsor, 2:23.87

60m Hurdles (M)
1. Gregory MacNeill, Guelph, 8.05
2. Locky Butcher, Western, 8.18
3. Jackson Cheung, Guelph, 8.28 

60m Hurdles (W)
1. Joy Spear Chief-Morris, Western, 8.28
2. Sarah Hammond, Guelph, 8.28
3. Devyani Biswal, Ottawa, 8.35

Indoor Pentathlon (W)
1. Kaleigh Hole, Western, 3834  OUA Meet Record
2. Emily Bowerman, Guelph, 3178
3. Louise Bunce, Western, 3036 

Pole Vault (W)
1. Robin Bone, Western, 4.00m
2. Rachael Wolfs, Windsor, 3.90m
T3. Brittany Salmon, Toronto, 3.60m
T3. Amina Sherif, Toronto, 3.60m

Shot Put (W)
1. Sarah Mitton, Windsor, 15.75m
2. Ashley Connell, Guelph, 15.48m
3. Brooke Hoxar-Moore, Western, 14.43m 

3000m (W)
1. Kristina Popadich, Western, 9:31.07
2. Julie-Anne Staelhi, Queen's, 9:33.73
3. Hannah Woodhouse, Guelph, 9:35.11

3000m (M)
1. Jack Sheffar, Western, 8:20.58
2. Benjamin Workman, Guelph, 8:24.04
3. Brayden Seneca, Guelph, 8:24.23 

Long Jump (M)
1. Riley Bell, Western, 7.35m
2. Keysean Powell, Guelph, 7.26m
3. Scott Hancock, Ottawa, 7.13m

300m (W)
1. Katrina Innanen, Toronto, 38.98
2. Jenna Smith, Guelph, 39.41
3. Caroline Stricelj, Western, 39.70 

300m (M)
1. Ramzi Abdulahi, Western, 33.83
2. Brandon Shirk, Guelph, 33.92
3. Rayshaun Franklin, Toronto, 34.38

Long Jump (W)
1. Holly Pitters, York, 6.06m
2. Emily Omahen, Windsor, 5.91m
3. Vanessa Oliver, Guelph, 5.57m 

Shot Put (M)
1. Eli Pawliw, Windsor, 17.13m
2. Jared Skeath, Guelph, 16.71m
3. Brett Boersma, Windsor, 15.81m

4x800m (W)
1. Toronto, 8:51.10
2. Guelph, 8:57.55
3. Ottawa, 8:59.79 

4x800m (M)
1. Windsor, 7:31.83
2. Toronto, 7:40.27
3. Guelph, 7:40.34