Varsity Blues Stafford, Gryphons Bujnowski earn OUA Athlete of the Week honours
Burlington, Ont. – Lucia Stafford and Mark Bujnowski have been named Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Athletes of the Week for the period ending March 8, 2020.
Female Athlete of the Week – Lucia Stafford, Toronto Varsity Blues, Track & Field
A fourth-year middle distance specialist, Lucia Stafford reached the podium four times in leading the Varsity Blues women’s track and field team to a silver-medal finish at the 2020 U SPORTS championships in Edmonton.
The engineering major won both the 1000m and 1500m gold medals in dominant fashion. In the former, the first team all-Canadian turned in a result of 2:42.58 to top the field by over half a second. Her time in the latter, meanwhile, helped Stafford to cross the finish line more than two seconds ahead of her next closest competitor. The 4:22.21 performance helped her to wrap up the individual part of her championship just like she started it – with gold around her neck – but she wasn’t done there. Stafford would also join her fellow Blues in a pair of top-three finishes in the relays. The Toronto, Ont. native anchored the Blues 4x800 relay team to a silver-medal finish, while helping the 4x400 relay team to the bronze medal, bringing her hardware haul up to four for the meet.
Overall, Stafford played an instrumental role in Toronto’s second-place showing, as she wrapped up the three-day meet with 23.5 points earned to make her the top female point-getter on the national stage.
Male Athlete of the Week – Mark Bujnowski, Guelph Gryphons, Track & Field
Through his first three seasons as a member of the Gryphons track and field program, Mark Bujnowski has already established himself as one the top throwers in a program history. The third-year agricultural science major added to his already lengthy resumé this past weekend with his best-ever performance at a U SPORTS Championship.
On March 5, Bujnowski was named the U SPORTS Field Athlete of the Year in recognition of his dominant performances throughout the course of the entire 2019-20 season. On Friday and Saturday, the native of Mount Brydges, Ontario would provide even further justification that he was a deserving recipient of the national honour, by capping his tremendous junior season with a double-gold performance at nationals.
On Friday afternoon, Bujnowski would earn his first of two gold medals on the weekend with a dominant performance in the men’s weight throw. His throw of 19.68m allowed him to separate himself from the field, with the next closest competitor finishing more than a metre behind the Gryphon standout. On Saturday, Bujnowski successfully defended his national title in the men’s shot put, this time producing an even larger margin of victory. Each of Bujnowski’s five recorded throws were over 17m – something no other athlete in the field reached – with the gold-medal winning throw of 18.28m threatening the U SPORTS record and blowing away the competition.
Bujnowski’s double-gold performance was part of an all-time dominant performance from the U of G men’s team, who finished 70 points ahead of the 2nd-place Calgary Dinos in the final team standings. In his three years as a Gryphon, Mark has now racked up five U SPORTS medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze) while helping lead the Gryphon men to national team titles in each of those three seasons.
