Banner Season: Gryphons get off the blocks quickly to open championship weekend
Windsor, Ont. (via Windsor Lancers) – The OUA Track & Field Championships kicked off the first day of action on Friday at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse in Windsor.
Some of the highlights and noteworthy achievements from Day 1 were the defending champion Guelph Gryphons who led the way with several podium appearances in a plethora of events. Guelph ended the day with top scores in both the men’s and women’s categories ranking them first so far amongst all competing schools present at the provincial championships.
DAY 1 RESULTS
TEAM SCORES
The day got underway in the men’s weight throw with an identical podium finish to last year’s provincial championship. Mark Bujnowski from Guelph claimed gold with a throw of 19.43m, Anthony Atkinson once again captured the silver medal with a throw of 17.99m, and Christian Panhuis from Western brought home the bronze at 17.98m.
The women’s pole vault saw some close competition with its final results from a pair of Gryphons in Jennifer Elizarov and Mia Rodney. The Gryphon duo took home the gold and silver medals managing to achieve 4.13m and 4.08m respectively. Elizarov challenged the OUA record of 4.21m for the event, but was unable to hit the mark.
The Gryphons Day 1 dominance was also on full display when they swept the podium first in the women’s 60m hurdles event with Tyra Boug winning the gold medal, followed by fellow teammate Kendra Leger in second, and bronze being awarded to Adenike Abiodun. Boug also placed second later in the day behind her Guelph teammate Zoe Sherar in the women’s 300m.
The Gryphons second dose of sweeping excellence came during the women’s 1000m when Cameron Ormond won the gold medal while her teammate Sadie-Jane Hickson captured silver and the bronze was taken by their teammate Nina Whitford.
The McMaster Marauders managed to sweep the podium in the men’s 3000m with their medal triad of Alex Drover, Dylan Alick, and Andrew Davies coming away with the gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively.
Hannah Blair from the Waterloo Warriors dominated the women’s pentathlon claiming gold with a total of 4014 points. Rebecca Parker from Guelph finished second at 3643, and Audrey Goddard from Western was third at 3564.
The Western Mustangs saw some other representation at the podium, including a pair of medals in the women’s shot put as Liv Sands placed second, and Adele St. John finished third.
Eric Che of the Toronto Varsity Blues claimed gold in the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.36m, while teammates Cameron Bruce was third in the men’s 60m hurdles, and Alexzandra Throndson hit an impressive day in the women’s pole vault claiming third.
The host Lancers saw their fair share of Day 1 success from a few of their own blue and gold athletes in their home facility with a good crowd of local support on hand to cheer them on. Mandy Brunet and Taryn Lamorie brought home silver and bronze, respectively, in the women’s long jump, while the men’s 4x800m relay team captured silver.
UP NEXT
Day two of the event continues on Saturday with the women’s weight throw at 9:00am.
Fans can tune into the action live on OUA.tv or catch the feed locally in Windsor-Essex County on YourTV Cable 11.
