February 22, 2013
Gryphons sweep OUA track and field titles
WINDSOR, Ont.- It came down to the final event of the women's competition, but the Guelph Gryphons swept the OUA banners on Friday afternoon at the University of Windsor's St. Denis Centre.
It was the first time in 14 seasons that Windsor did not take home the men's team title, as the Gryphons earned their first-ever provincial banner. For the women, it was their first OUA title since 2008-09, as the Lancers had won the past three Championships.
For links to results and more information, please visit the OUA Track and Field Championship page.
The host Lancers kicked off the final day of the Championships by taking gold and silver in the women's weight throw. Ami Schimanski (17.51m) and Shaelyn McLaughlin (17.39m) both met the CIS standard, while York's Cynthia Appiah finished third with a throw of 16.86m.
In the first track finals of the day, it was Olympian Sarah Wells of Toronto that took home gold in the women's 600 meter timed finals with a time of 1:31.97. Her teammate Natalie Geiger (1:32.26) captured silver with Ottawa's Emma Galbraith (1:32.32) finishing third.
The Blues added another gold as Khamica Bingham streaked to gold with a time of 7.41 in the women's 60m final. Guelph's Karry-Ann Cornwall (7.59) picked up silver and Jalicia Clarke (7.60) added a bronze for the host Lancers.
Toronto took over the team points lead after Laura Maessen claimed top spot in the women's high jump with a height of 1.71m. Julia Wallace (1.68m) and Jen Pitman (1.68m) took home silver and bronze respectively.
The Varsity Blues contined to remain hot on Day 2 of the Championships, as the 4 x 200m team of Bingham, Alicia Brown, Hayley Warren and Natalie Geiger ran the fastest time in the CIS this season (1:39.21) to edge out Western (1:39.32) with Windsor (1:40.37) finishing third. All three relay teams met the CIS standard en route to the podium.
The Gryphons stymied the Blues momentum and re-took the points lead by finishing first and second in the women's 1500m. Andrea Seccafien and Carise Thompson ran times of 4:28.66 and 4:29.54, while the Blues Colleen Hennessy (4:29.59) picked up bronze.
Caroline Ehrhardt and Mila Simulik helped the Mustangs into third place in the triple jump, leaping for 12.50m and 12.19m respectively. Guelph added another medal as Julia Wallace notched bronze with a jump of 12.16m.
That brought the team title down to the women's 4 x 400m relay. Down by six points, the Varsity Blues needed to win the event and have Guelph finish fifth or less. They looked well on their way to the conference title as the team of Geiger, Wells, Rachel Jewett and Alicia Brown captured gold with an OUA meet record of 3:42.21. However, Guelph's anchor Rachel Aubry made up an incredible deficit, overtaking Ottawa on the final homestretch to steal fourth place and with it the women's OUA banner by just a single point.
On the men's side, the Gryphons increased their points lead courtesy of Anthony Romaniw who captured gold in the men's 600m finals with a CIS standard time of 1:19.63. Western's Scott Leitch (1:20.31) and Toronto's Michael Trnkus (1:20.31) finished second and third respectively.
In the men's triple jump, Western's Taylor Stewart earned a CIS standard jump of 14.66m to earn gold, while Dahn Pratt (13.74m) and Daniel Gayle (13.71m) took home silver and bronze respectively.
Aaron Bowman of Windsor streaked to the top of the podium in the men's 60m with a time of 6.72, while Ottawa's Oluwasegun Makinde (6.83) earned silver. Ike Omoruna (6.87) picked up bronze. Bowman then helped his 4 x 200m relay team to gold along with Leonae Nichol, Matt McKeegan, and Shane Kelly, posting a time of 1:29.10. McMaster (1:31.19) and Western (1:31.65) picked up second and third place to round out the top three.
Windsor's Matt Walters picked up his second gold medal of the Championships, winning the 1500m in a time of 3:53.06 in front of Guelph's Yves Sikubwabo (3:53.86) and Steve Holmes (3:54.33).
However, the Gryphons continued their dominance on the weekend, as Mitchell Torres earned gold in the high jump with a height of 2.05m, beating out Toronto's Brett Georgievski (2.02m) and Brandon Wilhelm (1.99m) of Windsor.
With the team title well in hand for Guelph heading into the men's 4 x 400m relay, second-place was still up for grabs. Western's team of Brent Bates, Triphon Moodie, Matt Muldon and Scott Leitch earned top spot in a heated battle of the country's three best squads. They posted a winning time of 3:19.11, while Guelph (3:19.216) squeaked out second over Ottawa (3:19.219).
David McKay of York grabbed gold in the men's pole vault with a height of 4.86m. The Mustangs Matt Diston's 4.81m gave him second place, but critical vaults from Jake Pfaff (4.81m) and Milos Savic (4.71m) gave Windsor enough points to overtake Western for second place in the final points standings.
Men's Final Team Points
1. Guelph 175.50
2. Windsor 118.50
3. Western 114
4. Ottawa 69
5. York 64
6. Toronto 56
7. Waterloo 25
8. McMaster 25
9. Queen's 7
10. Ryerson 3
11. Lakehead 2
12. Brock 2
Women's Final Team Points
1. Guelph 148
2. Toronto 147
3. Western 134
4. Windsor 115
5. Ottawa 47
6. York 30
7. McMaster 13
8. Queen's 11
9. Lakehead 9
10. Waterloo 4
11. Laurier 2
12: Brock 1
12. Laurentian 1
Source: Windsor Sports Info
It was the first time in 14 seasons that Windsor did not take home the men's team title, as the Gryphons earned their first-ever provincial banner. For the women, it was their first OUA title since 2008-09, as the Lancers had won the past three Championships.
For links to results and more information, please visit the OUA Track and Field Championship page.
The host Lancers kicked off the final day of the Championships by taking gold and silver in the women's weight throw. Ami Schimanski (17.51m) and Shaelyn McLaughlin (17.39m) both met the CIS standard, while York's Cynthia Appiah finished third with a throw of 16.86m.
In the first track finals of the day, it was Olympian Sarah Wells of Toronto that took home gold in the women's 600 meter timed finals with a time of 1:31.97. Her teammate Natalie Geiger (1:32.26) captured silver with Ottawa's Emma Galbraith (1:32.32) finishing third.
The Blues added another gold as Khamica Bingham streaked to gold with a time of 7.41 in the women's 60m final. Guelph's Karry-Ann Cornwall (7.59) picked up silver and Jalicia Clarke (7.60) added a bronze for the host Lancers.
Toronto took over the team points lead after Laura Maessen claimed top spot in the women's high jump with a height of 1.71m. Julia Wallace (1.68m) and Jen Pitman (1.68m) took home silver and bronze respectively.
The Varsity Blues contined to remain hot on Day 2 of the Championships, as the 4 x 200m team of Bingham, Alicia Brown, Hayley Warren and Natalie Geiger ran the fastest time in the CIS this season (1:39.21) to edge out Western (1:39.32) with Windsor (1:40.37) finishing third. All three relay teams met the CIS standard en route to the podium.
The Gryphons stymied the Blues momentum and re-took the points lead by finishing first and second in the women's 1500m. Andrea Seccafien and Carise Thompson ran times of 4:28.66 and 4:29.54, while the Blues Colleen Hennessy (4:29.59) picked up bronze.
Caroline Ehrhardt and Mila Simulik helped the Mustangs into third place in the triple jump, leaping for 12.50m and 12.19m respectively. Guelph added another medal as Julia Wallace notched bronze with a jump of 12.16m.
That brought the team title down to the women's 4 x 400m relay. Down by six points, the Varsity Blues needed to win the event and have Guelph finish fifth or less. They looked well on their way to the conference title as the team of Geiger, Wells, Rachel Jewett and Alicia Brown captured gold with an OUA meet record of 3:42.21. However, Guelph's anchor Rachel Aubry made up an incredible deficit, overtaking Ottawa on the final homestretch to steal fourth place and with it the women's OUA banner by just a single point.
On the men's side, the Gryphons increased their points lead courtesy of Anthony Romaniw who captured gold in the men's 600m finals with a CIS standard time of 1:19.63. Western's Scott Leitch (1:20.31) and Toronto's Michael Trnkus (1:20.31) finished second and third respectively.
In the men's triple jump, Western's Taylor Stewart earned a CIS standard jump of 14.66m to earn gold, while Dahn Pratt (13.74m) and Daniel Gayle (13.71m) took home silver and bronze respectively.
Aaron Bowman of Windsor streaked to the top of the podium in the men's 60m with a time of 6.72, while Ottawa's Oluwasegun Makinde (6.83) earned silver. Ike Omoruna (6.87) picked up bronze. Bowman then helped his 4 x 200m relay team to gold along with Leonae Nichol, Matt McKeegan, and Shane Kelly, posting a time of 1:29.10. McMaster (1:31.19) and Western (1:31.65) picked up second and third place to round out the top three.
Windsor's Matt Walters picked up his second gold medal of the Championships, winning the 1500m in a time of 3:53.06 in front of Guelph's Yves Sikubwabo (3:53.86) and Steve Holmes (3:54.33).
However, the Gryphons continued their dominance on the weekend, as Mitchell Torres earned gold in the high jump with a height of 2.05m, beating out Toronto's Brett Georgievski (2.02m) and Brandon Wilhelm (1.99m) of Windsor.
With the team title well in hand for Guelph heading into the men's 4 x 400m relay, second-place was still up for grabs. Western's team of Brent Bates, Triphon Moodie, Matt Muldon and Scott Leitch earned top spot in a heated battle of the country's three best squads. They posted a winning time of 3:19.11, while Guelph (3:19.216) squeaked out second over Ottawa (3:19.219).
David McKay of York grabbed gold in the men's pole vault with a height of 4.86m. The Mustangs Matt Diston's 4.81m gave him second place, but critical vaults from Jake Pfaff (4.81m) and Milos Savic (4.71m) gave Windsor enough points to overtake Western for second place in the final points standings.
Men's Final Team Points
1. Guelph 175.50
2. Windsor 118.50
3. Western 114
4. Ottawa 69
5. York 64
6. Toronto 56
7. Waterloo 25
8. McMaster 25
9. Queen's 7
10. Ryerson 3
11. Lakehead 2
12. Brock 2
Women's Final Team Points
1. Guelph 148
2. Toronto 147
3. Western 134
4. Windsor 115
5. Ottawa 47
6. York 30
7. McMaster 13
8. Queen's 11
9. Lakehead 9
10. Waterloo 4
11. Laurier 2
12: Brock 1
12. Laurentian 1
Source: Windsor Sports Info
