Gryphons sweep OUA Track & Field Championship titles

Photo by Kevin Jarrold
Photo by Kevin Jarrold
February 24, 2018

WINDSOR, Ont. - On day two of the OUA championships, Guelph continued to put their dominance on display. Entering the day leading in both the men’s and women’s standings, the Gryphons had extended leads and captured both the men’s and women’s team titles.

The Guelph women finished with an outstanding 197 points, 70 points over the host Windsor Lancers who finished second with 127 points. The Toronto Varsity Blues finished third overall with 109.5 points.

Shyvonne Roxborough carried more than just a baton for the Guelph women as she took home gold in the 60 metre final and was an integral part of their 4x200 metre gold medal. In the field, Maja Naruszewic and Arabella Alton finished first and second in the high jump, both leaping 1.71 metres in the air to help their Gryphons to their commanding lead.

In second, the Windsor Lancers opened the day just two points back from the Gryphs and even took a slim lead after the women’s weight toss thanks to Sarah Mitton’s winning 16.57 metre toss.  Kelsey Balkwill picked up right where she left off, winning the 600 metre by more than half a second (1:30.62).

The Varsity Blues were led by a first place performance in the 1500 metre from Lucia Stafford who ran the race in 4:28.73. A second place finish by Madeleine Kelly in the 600 metre race also helped the Blues as Kelly came behind Balkwill with a time of 1:31.30.

On the men’s side, the Gryphons came in to the day with a very large lead and were likely looking to do nothing more than to maintain their 40-point lead on the rest of the teams in attendance. Guelph picked up an early win on the track with Thomas Land winning the 600 metre race in a blistering 1:19.32. Guelph’s cause got a huge boost as well when Mark Emode won the heptathlon with a score of 5017, marking a best performance for Emode.

In second for the men were the Western Mustangs with 115 points. The Mustangs’ Jack Sheffar propped up Mustangs point total with his gold medal performance in the 1500 metre, which he won with a time of 3:49.42. The Mustangs also claimed both of the lower podium postions in the triple jump with Johnny Balogun and Scott Billings jumping 14.54 and 14.32 metres respectively.

Rounding out the top three for the men’s side of things were the Windsor Lancers with 99.5 points. The Blue and Gold mainly had their 4x200 relay team to thank as they took the only gold for the host school on the second day of competition. Jaiden Brown’s third place finish in the 60 metre race added to the Lancers track success for the day as they staved off the York Lions who were at the Lancers heals with 99 points.

Up next, the University of Windsor will host the U SPORTS national championships March 8-10, 2018 at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse. Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.goLancers.ca/tickets. 

Men’s Standings

  1. Guelph Gryphons (186)
  2. Western Mustangs (115)
  3. Windsor Lancers (99.5)
  4. York Lions (99)
  5. Toronto Varsity Blues (75)
  6. Waterloo Warriors (29.5)
  7. Ottawa Gee-Gees (26)
  8. McMaster Marauders (16)
  9. Brock Badgers (3)
  10. Ryerson Rams (1)
  11. Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks (1)

Women’s Standings

  1. Guelph Gryphons (197)
  2. Windsor Lancers (127)
  3. Toronto Varsity Blues (109.5)
  4. Western Mustangs (96.5)
  5. York Lions (54)
  6. Ottawa Gee-Gees (44)
  7. Waterloo Warriors (13)
  8. Queen’s Gaels (7)
  9. McMaster Marauders (5)
  10. Lakehead Thunderwolves (4)
  11. Laurentian Voyageurs (3)

Individual Medalists – Day 2

Women’s Weight Throw

  1. Sarah Mitton, Windsor (16.47m)
  2. Ty Coulter, Ottawa (15.74m)
  3. Hanna Diebold, Western (15.05)

Women’s 600 Metre

  1. Kelsey Balkwill, Windsor (1:30.62)
  2. Madeleine Kelly, Toronto (1:31.30)
  3. Madison Clarke, Ottawa (1:31.62)

Men’s 600 Metre

  1. Thomas Land, Guelph (1:19.32)
  2. Stephen Evans, Ottawa (1:19.84)
  3. Michael Peterson, Western (1:20.65)

Women’s 60 Metre

  1. Shyvonne Roxborough, Guelph (7.44)
  2. Sarah Hammond, Guelph (7.56)
  3. Tegan Sauer, Waterloo (7.56)

Men’s 60 Metre

  1. Xavier Joseph, York (6.86)
  2. Alexander Lau, Toronto (6.87)
  3. Jaiden Brown, Windsor (6.89)

Men’s Triple Jump

  1. Nicholas Fyffe, York (15.17)
  2. Johhny Balogun, Western (14.54)
  3. Scott Billings, Western (14.32)

Women’s High Jump

  1. Maja Naruszewicz, Guelph (1.71)
  2. Arabella Alton, Guelph (1.71)
  3. Devyn Mackenzie, Western (1.68)

Women’s 4x200 metre

  1. Guelph (1:38.38)
  2. Windsor (1:40.21)
  3. Western (1:41.58)

Men’s 4x200 metre

  1. Windsor 1:28.38
  2. Toronto 1:28.91
  3. Guelph 1:29.71

Men’s Heptathlon

  1. Mark Emode, Guelph (5017)
  2. Tolu Makinde, Ottawa (4533)
  3. Ryan Evans, Western (4527)

Women’s 1500 metre

  1. Lucia Stafford, Toronto (4:28.73)
  2. Dana Earhart, Guelph (4:30.44)
  3. Danielle Jossinet, Guelph (4:32.20)

Men’s 1500 metre

  1. Jack Sheffar, Western (3:49.42)
  2. Mostafa Elkurdy, Guelph (3:50.22)
  3. Connor Black, Guelph (3:51.18)

Men’s High Jump

  1. Sean Cate, Guelph (2.12)
  2. Mitchell Torres, Guelph (2.03)
  3. Trevor Way, Windsor (2.03)

Women’s 4x400

  1. Guelph (3:46.16)
  2. Windsor (3:47.83)
  3. York Lions (3:47.94)

Men’s Pole Vault

  1. Daniel Gleason, Western (5.06)
  2. Samuel Adams, York (5.01)
  3. Graham Pitfield, Guelph (4.76)

Men’s 4x400

  1. Guelph (3:19.68)
  2. Windsor (3:22.01)
  3. York (3:24.16)