Last weekend, U of T’s nimble and quick descended on the University of Windsor to take part in the national Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) track and field championships. The Blues women’s team started the weekend off right, ranked fourth in the country after winning the Ontario provincial championships. The men’s team also entered the nationals with high hopes, ranked seventh in Canada.

After winning the Ontario University Association (OUA) title, the U of T women’s hopes were running high. Leading the way for the Blues were veterans Jocelyn Adu-Gyumfi-a star sprinter and jumper, and Sandy Wells-one of the country’s most accomplished long-distance runners.

But it wasn’t meant to be. This was in part due to Adu-Gyumfi’s arduous schedule. Even though the competition was spread over three days, her four events were crammed into approximately four hours. It’s exhausting simply thinking about what the athlete was asked to do-hustling from the 4 x 200m relay to the long jump, and then the next day from the triple jump right to the 60m to the relay finals.

“I’ve been doing this for the past three years” said Adu-Gyumfi. “You’d think you’d get used to it…but I seemed more nervous this year than others.”

Those nerves did not show in Adu-Gyumfi’s performance. In winning the long jump, placing fourth in the triple jump, and running a near seasonal best time to finish fifth in the 60m, as well as anchoring the 4 x 200m relay team to a bronze medal, she showed true fighting spirit. “It went well for the training I put in,” she adds.

After her dominating performance at the OUA championships-where she made like Shaq and crushed her opponents-fifth-year runner and team co-captain Wells developed plantar fasciitis (heel spurs), forcing her to miss training for the CIS championships. Due to the unforeseen injury, Wells sat the nationals out. The highly anticipated showdown between Wells, the first team all-Canadian, and the rest of the skilled field didn’t happen.

“I was undefeated this year (except the 3000m at OU’s),” said Wells in response to her absence from nationals, “so I was really looking forward to the competition. CIS was looking like it was going to be a derby, especially the 1500m, and I wanted in! CIS track was my last stand, so to speak, and I was ready to go out with a bang.”

Wells heads of for Italy Monday, where she will compete as part of the Canadian university team for cross-country-an honour she received for placing fourth in the CIS cross-country championships back in the fall.

“I’m 99 per cent sure I’ll be running. Actually, who am I kidding? I’ll run the thing on crutches if I have to. It’s worlds!” she exclaimed. “You don’t just sit out at worlds.”

On the men’s side, Blues standout Luke MacInnis led the team with a fourth place finish in the 300m, and helped bolster the 4 x 200m relay squad to a bronze medal.

In high jump, U of T favourite Mark Dillon didn’t disappoint, successfully completing his rookie campaign by winning with a jump of 2.08m. Although it was well under what he had jumped earlier in the season (2.19m), Dillon’s performance proved to be a test of his strength and grit. Like Wells, he was also suffering from a foot injury-one that had previously caused him to bow out of provincial competition, and settle for an OUA silver.

Fellow rookie Cameron Sahadath also finished a great rookie year by earning silver in the 60m hurdles, running a time of 8.35 seconds.

One of head coach Carl Georgevski’s favourite aspects of his team was the competitiveness of this year’s version of the Blues. “Both the men’s and the women’s teams really scrapped for every one hundredth of a second…every millimetre they could attain. [It’s] very gratifying for a coach to see the athletes demanding the very best of themselves.”

If next year’s version of the Blues have that same fire, then more success is sure to follow. “Our future looks extremely bright, both on the mens and women’s side” said Georgevski.

Both teams ended up placing seventh overall at the national championships. The results might seem a disappointing at first glance, but if success is measured by the heart of a team, then the Blues have won in spades.