Track athletes compete at U SPORTS championship

Photo credit Nina Barroso
Photo credit Nina Barroso

Edmonton, AB – StFX was represented by five athletes at the U SPORTS Championship, hosted by the University of Alberta, March 12-14.

Fourth year X-Women sprinter Catherine Kennedy (Antigonish, NS) competed in the 600m heats on Thursday evening and ran a personal best time of 1:34.87, placing 12th overall.

Jane Hergett (Port Williams, NS), a third year distance runner and the reigning AUS female track athlete of the year, competed in both the 1000m and 1500m disciplines. On Friday evening Hergett placed seventh overall in the 1000m race with a time of 2:48.86. She followed up with a fifth place showing in the 1500m on Saturday, clocking in at 4:30.02 as she had a strong finish to the race. The time broke the previous StFX record of 4.32.6 set in 2010 by Kelly MacDonald.

Hergett and Kennedy were also members of the X-Women 4x800m relay team, along with senior Paige Chisholm (Port Williams NS) and sophomore Aidan MacDonald (Antigonish, NS). The team ran a time of 9:28.82 to come 12th in the event. Guelph won the race with a time of 8:43.30, followed by Toronto (8:54.84) and Alberta (8:56.16).

The lone X-Men athlete to make the trip to Alberta was jumper Logan Coulet (Westville, NS) who competed in the high jump on Friday evening. His jump of 1.86m placed him 11th overall in the event.

Guelph won both the men's and women's championship banners. On the men's side they finished with 139 points over the three-day event, followed by Calgary (69) and Saskatchewan. The Guelph women's team had 138 points, with Toronto (86.5) and Laval (58) taking home the silver and bronze.

-30-

Courtesy StFX Sports Information, U SPORTS release follows

2020 U SPORTS Track and Field Championships
Gryphons sweep national titles for third straight year

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – For the third consecutive season, the Guelph Gryphons stood atop both the men's (139 points) and women's (138 points) standings, capturing the 2020 U SPORTS Track and Field Championships at the Universiade Pavilion.

Full Results

The Gryphon men and women each capped off incredible weekends by winning the 4x400m relays in the final two events of the championship. They Gryphon women also tied their U SPORTS record of 3:40.08 they set from last season, with Morgan Byng, Sadie-Jane Hickson, Jenna Smith and Zoe Sherar capturing their second straight gold.

"Every year you do this it's special, this one is particularly special. I've been here with this team six years, and this is the most fun I've ever had, the most fun our staff has ever had, and I think the most fun our athletes have ever had," said Gryphons head coach Jason Kerr, who was named both the Men and Women's Fox 40 Coach of the Year.

"We've won this meet before, but just something feels a little extra special. I feel like we were loose, excited, and we were our own teams' biggest fan over the weekend. Just an incredible group of people."

In total, Guelph captured seven medals on Saturday, adding gold medals in each of the 4x200m relay, Jenna Smith in the 600m, and Mark Bujnowski repeating in the men's shot put.

Calgary (69 points) earned the men's silver medal, adding five medals, including gold in the 1500m by George Gemer Award winner Eric Lutz, as Athlete of the Meet. Saskatchewan earned team bronze with 51 points.

The Toronto Varsity Blues picked up seven total medals on Day 3, including gold by Kristen Schulz in the women's triple jump, and Emily Branderhorst in the high jump, taking the team silver medal with 86.5 points. The Laval Rouge et Or rounded out the team podium spots with women's bronze (58 points).

Saskatchewan Huskie Michelle Harrison earned the women's Athlete of the Meet award for her record-setting performance in the 60m hurdles on Friday.

The host Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas finished eighth on the women's side with 24.5 points, with the Bears finishing seventh with 32 points.

"We had 20 something medals, we had meet records, we had school records," continued Kerr. "The biggest standout performance to me is our coaching staff and our medical staff. We had the biggest team I think you can have at this championship, 29 men and 24 women. Nobody worked harder than our chiro's, are MT's, our therapist, and our coaching staff."

TEAM STANDINGS

Men
1. Guelph, 139
2. Calgary, 69
3. Saskatchewan, 51
4. York, 43
4. Laval, 43
6. Toronto, 39
7. Alberta, 32
9. Western, 31
10. Trinity Western, 30
11. Victoria, 24
12. Montréal, 30
13. Waterloo, 19
14. Regina, 18
15. Windsor, 16
16. Dalhousie, 15
17. McMaster, 13
18. Lethbridge, 8
19. UNB, 6
20. McGill, 4
21. Lakehead, 3
21. Saint Mary's, 3
21. Queen's, 3
21. Sherbrooke, 1

Women
1. Guelph, 138
2. Toronto, 86.5
3. Laval, 58
4. Saskatchewan, 51.5
5. Western, 41.5
6. Calgary, 41
7. Regina, 25
8. Alberta, 24.5
9. Ottawa, 23
10. Sherbrooke, 22
11. Montréal, 20
12. Laurier, 18
13. York, 17
14. Manitoba, 14.5
15. Dalhousie, 14
16. Windsor, 13
16. Trinity Western, 13
18. McGill, 9.5
19. Waterloo, 9
20. StFX, 6
20. Queen's, 6
22. Lakehead, 4
22. UNB, 4
24. UPEI, 3

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS

Men
George Gemer Award (Athlete of the Meet): Eric Lutz, Calgary
Bob Boucher Award (Fox 40 Coach of the Year):  Jason Kerr, Guelph

Women
Athlete of the Meet: Michelle Harrison, Guelph
Sue Wise Award (Fox 40 Coach of the Year): Jason Kerr, Guelph

INDIVIDUAL MEDALLISTS

DAY 3

Women's Triple Jump

1. Kristen Shulz, Toronto (12.49m)
2. Mowalola Adeleye, Trinity Western (12.39m)
3. Mandy Brunet, Windsor (12.19m)

Men's Pole Vault

1. Daniel Gleason, York (5.13m)
2. Giovanni Hernandez, Trinity Western (5.08m)
3. Samuel Adams, York (4.93m)

Women's 600 Metre Run

1. Jenna Smith, Guelph (1:30.90)
2. Madison Clarke. Ottawa (1:30.94)
3. Sadie-Jane Hickson, Guelph (1:31.08)

Men's 600 Metre Run

1. Vaughn Taylor, Victoria (1:19.28)
2. Levar Russell, York (1:19.51)
3. Jack Berkshire, Toronto (1:19.54)

Men's Shot Put

1. Mark Bujnowski, Guelph (18.28m)
2. Mohamed Assiff, Calgary (16.96m)
3. Liam Banks, Calgary (16.06m)

Women's 4x200 Metre Relay

1. Guelph (1:36.53)
(Morgan Byng, Shyvonne Roxborough, Zoe Sherar, Tessa Hamilton)

2. Saskatchewan (1:38.48)
(Michelle Harrison, Ashlyn Mooney, Kendra Farmer, Leadan Chartier)

3. Laval (1:39.34)
(Audrey Leduc, Émy Béliveau, Marie-Frédérique Poulin, Rose-Emilie Carrier)

Men's 4x200 Metre Relay

1. Guelph (1:26.24)
(Daniel Harper, Philip Osei, Andre Azonwanna, Josh Hamilton)

2. Saskatchewan (1:27.85)
(Karson Lehner, Jacob Murphy, Michael Akintunde, Ryan Botterill)

3. Waterloo (1:28.47)
(Immanuel Onyemah, Joshua Lorentz, Nathan Hehn, Owen Babcock)

Women's High Jump

1. Emily Branderhorst, Toronto (1.79m)
2. Madison Mayr, Calgary (1.69m)
3. Madisson Lawrence, Manitoba (1.69m)

Men's Triple Jump

1. Femi Akinduro, Toronto (15.22m)
2. Oyinko Akinola, Manitoba (14.74m)
3. Sodienye Nkwonta, Calgary (14.68m)

Women's 1500 Metre Run

1. Lucia Stafford, Toronto (4:22.21)
2. Kate Current, Western (4:24.27)
3. Sydney Pattison, Laurier (4:24.79)

Men's 1500 Metre Run

1. Eric Lutz, Calgary (3:53.44)
2. Jean-Simon Desgagnés, Laval (3:54.82)
3. Kevin Robertson, Montréal (3:55.12)

Women's 4x400 Metre Relay

1. Guelph (3:40.08) (U SPORTS Championship Record)
(Morgan Byng, Sadie-Jane Hickson, Jenna Smith, Zoe Sherar)

2. Saskatchewan (3:44.25)
(Ashlyn Mooney, Kendra Farmer, Michelle Harrison, Leadan Chartier)

3. Toronto (3:46.45)
(Maya Ryan, Lucia Stafford, Avery Garrett-Patterson, Katrina Innanen)

Men's 4x400 Metre Relay

1. Guelph (3:13.40)
(Josh Hamilton, Alanzo Ryan, Daniel Harper, Philip Osei)

2. Toronto (3:16.56)
(Jack Berkshire, Emmett Bravakis, Carson Bradley, Alexander Bimm)

3. Manitoba (3:16.88)
(Luc Deleau, Miguel Morrison, Noah Hoffman, Simon Berube)

DAY 2

Men's Weight Throw

1. Mark Bujnowski, Guelph (19.68m)
2. Joey Lussier, Laval (18.48m)
3. Andreas Troschke, Lethbridge (17.64m)

Women's 1000 Metre Run

1. Lucia Stafford, Toronto, (2:42.58)
2. Sadie-Jane Hickson, Guelph (2:43.22)
3. Avery Garrett-Patte, Toronto, (2:44.86)

Men's 1000 Metre Run

1. Eric Lutz, Calgary, (2:23.35)
2. David Gendreau-Fill, Laval (2:25.31)
3. Robert Chauvet, Alberta (2:25.56)

Women's Long Jump

1. Lorena Heubach, Dalhousie (5.90m)
2. Audrey Leduc, Laval (5.89m)
3. Joely Welburn, Regina (5.82m)

Women's 60 Metre Hurdles

1. Michelle Harrison, Saskatchewan (8.15) * U SPORTS Championship Record
2. Kendra Leger, Guelph (8.32)
3. Cassandra Grenke, Alberta (8.453)

Men's 60 Metre Hurdles

1. Matthew Coolen, Dalhousie (8.02)
2. Cameron Bruce, Toronto (8.05)
3. Wilson O'Neill, Western (8.14)

Women's 3000 Metre Run

1. Jessy Lacourse, Laval (9:31.36)
2. Lizzy Laurie, Laurier (9:38.17)
3. Kara Blair, Queen's (9:38.18)

Men's 3000 Metre Run

1. Jean-Simon Desgagnés, Laval (8:13.97)
2. Matthew Travaglini, Calgary (8:15.41)
3. Brandon Vail, Victoria (8:16.03)

Women's Shot Put

1. Osereme Omosun, Calgary (14.47m)
2. Ivonne Coulibaly, Laval (13.78m)
3. Emily Good, Western (13.64m)

Women's 300 Metre Run

1. Zoe Sherar, Guelph (37.47)
2. Audrey Jackson, Montréal (38.68)
3. Morgan Byng, Guelph (38.76)

Men's 300 Metre Run

1. Philip Osei, Guelph (33.16)
2. Karson Lehner, Saskatchewan (33.31)
3. Daniel Harper, Guelph (33.57)

Men's Long Jump

1. Scott Joseph, Regina (7.73m)
2. Keysean Powell, York (7.47m)
3. Matthew MacNeill, Guelph (7.30m)

Heptathlon

1. Landon Gill, Saskatchewan (5,252 points)
2. Gunnar Eyjolfsson, Guelph (4,968 points)
3. Jared Hendricks-Pol, Western (4,735 points)

Women's Pole Vault

1. Alexzandra Throndson, Toronto (3.95m)
2. Mia Rodney, Guelph (3.90m)
3. Katy Magoffin, Western (3.75m)
3. Rachel Hynik, Alberta (3.75m)

Men's High Jump

1. Emile Ollivier, Montreal (2.11m)
2. Colin Unruh, Calgary (2.11m)
3. Wesley Calef, Alberta (2.08m)

Women's 4x800 Metre Relay

1. Guelph (8:43.30)
(Jenna Smith, Sadie-Jane Hickson, Dana Earhart, Kiana Gibson)

2. Toronto (8:54.84)
(Sarah Kwajafa, Somerset Jarvis, Avery Garrett-Patterson, Lucia Stafford)

3. Alberta (8:56.16)
(Bella Gustin, Sophie Gelineau, Kaitlin Swartz, Olivia Cooper)

Men's 4x800 Metre Relay

1. Alberta (7:33.82)
(Royden Radowits, Nicholas Cook, Robert Chauvet, Brendan Calef)

2. Guelph (7:34.63)
(Alanzon Ryan, Mark Patton, Kyle Maddon, Andrew LeBlanc)

3. Regina (7:34.64)
(Alexander McBride, Brayden Mytopher, Ret Brailsford, Ron MacLean)

DAY 1

Women's Weight Throw

1. Ariane Dubois, Sherbrooke (18.48m)
2. Noémie Jeffrey, Laval (18.41m)
3. Emily Fawcett, Guelph (17.64m)

Women's 60 Metre Run

1. Shyvonne Roxborough, Guelph (7.29 sec)
2. Jacqueline Madogo, Guelph (7.33 sec)
3. Audrey Leduc, Laval (7.44 sec)

Men's 60m Metre Run

1. Andre Azonwanna, Guelph (6.742 sec)
2. Praise Olatoke, Trinity Western (6.748 sec)
3. Karson Lehner, Saskatchewan (6.80)

Women's Pentathlon

1. Joely Welburn, Regina (4,055 pts)
2. Nicole Ostertag, Saskatchewan (3,959 pts)
3. Madisson Lawrence, Manitoba (3,933 pts)