Western men, Guelph women lead after Day 1 of track and field action in Windsor
WINDSOR, Ont. (U SPORTS) – The first day of the 2024-25 BioSteel U SPORTS Track & Field Championships at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse ended with two familiar faces sitting atop the standings. On the men’s side, the Western Mustangs hold a one-point lead over Manitoba, sitting at 14 to the Bisons’ 13, with the Guelph Gryphons’ nine points rounding out the top three. On the women’s side, the Gryphons used a late surge to garner 31 points, leading the second place Mustangs who accumulated 21. The host Windsor Lancers sit third with 17 points after Thursday’s action.
While the first day of competition featured many preliminary competitions, there were five events that did award medals, highlighted by a new U SPORT pole vault record, as well as a facility record in women’s weight toss.
A long battle in the pole vault saw Jennifer Elizarov of Guelph set a U SPORTS record by vaulting 4.35 metres on her way to gold. Her jump bested the 2016 record of 4.25 metres that was held by Robin Bone of Western. Joining Elizarov on the podium were Rachel Grenke of Alberta and Windsor’s Grace Elford, who each grabbed silver with jumps of 4.10 metres.
In the pentathlon, Madisson Lawrence of Manitoba was the best across all five events capturing gold with a total score of 4,119 points. She was able to hold off strong challenges from Rebecca Parker of Guelph, who leapt 5.99m in the long jump on her way to the silver, and Regina’s Shelaine Pritchard, who blazed an 8.30 in the 60m hurdles to land the bronze in the event.
The afternoon started off with a drawn-out battle in women’s weight throw, where Jordana Badley-Castello of the host Lancers made 19.45 metres, beating Lethbridge’s Jinaye Shomachuk’s 19.23-metre effort, on her last throw. Both athletes broke the existing facility record of 18.99 metres. Western’s Liv Sands rounded out the medals with a best of 18.14 metres.
On the track, the only finals of the night were the men’s and women’s 60m dashes, which produced double golds for Western. In the women’s race, the Mustangs’ Vivian Ogor followed up her fastest qualifying time with a gold medal run of 7.23 seconds. Gabrielle Cole of Guelph nabbed the silver with a time of 7.32, just besting Donna Ntambue of McGill’s, who ran 7.34.
On the men’s side, Immanuel Onyemah laid down a time of 6.63 seconds to nab the Mustangs’ second gold in just ten minutes. Hot on his heels were Jordan Soufi of the Bisons and Travis Campbell of the Gryphons, who placed second and third with times of 6.64 and 6.66 seconds respectively.
Over in the heptathlon, Jared Hendricks-Polack of Western leads after the first four events with 3,090 points, highlighted by a high jump of 1.96 metres. Tristen Miscia of Windsor is 105 points behind, in second place, while Emanual Desilets of Western and Edouard Lavoie-Beaulieu of Sherbrooke are also both within 150 points of the lead.
Day 2 action kicks off on Friday at 2:30 p.m. with the men’s weight throw, with the first field event set for 4:15 p.m.
Tickets are available at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse, or at golancers.ca/tickets. The meet can be seen on CBC and Radio-Canada’s digital platforms, with coverage on Friday set to get underway at 4 p.m.
- U SPORTS -
TEAM STANDINGS *after Day 1
WOMEN (after 4 events)
1. Guelph, 31 points
2. Western, 21
3. Windsor, 17
4. Toronto, 12.5
5. Laval, 12
6. Calgary, 11
7. Manitoba, 10
8. Lethbridge, 8
9. Alberta, 8
10. Dalhousie, 7
11. McGill, 6
Regina, 6
13. York, 4.5
14. Ottawa, 1
MEN (after 1 event)
1. Western, 14 points
2. Manitoba, 13
3. Guelph, 9
4. Regina, 2
EVENT RESULTS
(W) 60M
1. Vivian Ogor, Western: 7.23 seconds
2. Gabrielle Cole, Guelph: 7.32
3. Donna Ntambue, McGill: 7.34
(M) 60M
1. Immanuel Onyemah, Western: 6.63 seconds
2. Jordan Soufi, Manitoba: 6.64
3. Travis Campbell, Guelph: 6.66
(W) Pentathlon
1. Madisson Lawrence, Manitoba: 4119 points
2. Rebecca Parker, Guelph: 4103
3. Shelaine Pritchard, Regina: 4021
(W) Pole Vault
1. Jennifer Elizarov, Guelph: 4.35 metres (U SPORTS record)
2. Rachel Grenke, Alberta: 4.10
2. Grace Elford, Windsor: 4.10
(W) Weight Throw
1. Jordana Badley-Castello, Windsor: 19.45 metres (Facility Record)
2. Jinaye Shomachuk, Lethbridge: 19.23
3. Liv Sands, Western: 18.14