The crowning point of a fantastic season was reached last weekend in Sherbrooke for both the men’s and women’s track and field teams at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Championships.

The women sent a powerful and sizeable team, of which each member performed phenomenally to finish with a team score of 49 points—a tremendous second-place finish.

Leading the team were gold medallists Jocelyn Adu-Gyumfi and Yolessa Lawrence. Adu-Gymfi won her long jump event with a jump of 5.90 m. She also competed in the triple jump and 60 m dash events.

Lawrence claimed the title of best triple-jumper in the nation with a leap of 12.19 m.

Sophie Cardinal also brought home a medal, jumping 1.71 m to get third place in the women’s high jump.

On the track, Sasha Gollish led the individual runners when she finished her 1000 m race in 2:51.83s to finish in third place. She also finished fourth in the 1500 m run with a time of 4:33.23s.

It was in the relays that the women’s team really proved how well it had gelled, medalling in all three events. The 4 x 400 relay team won their race in 3:48.92s. The 4 x 200 team won silver in 1:42.51s and the 4 x 800 team raced in 9:00.71s to secure second place.

This success was an emotional one for many of the athletes. The culmination of months of hard work and dedication, the championships proved what the team was truly capable of. After a second-place finish to Windsor at the OUA championships, questions abounded as to the team’s ability to place top-two at the national championships. “With our youth and inexperience, the team competed exceptionally well,” gushed head coach Carl Georgevski. “The athletes also learned a lot along the way.”

On the men’s side, a small contingent of only five men competed. Chris Martin, who had won the MVP Male Field Athlete award at the OUA championships, was the leader, coming in third in the triple jump with a jump of 14.60 m.

“Despite being plagued with injuries, the whole team performed well,” explained team veteran and OUA bronze medallist high-jumper Imran Malik.

“We really enjoyed the competition.”

Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams are pleased with the year’s performances and ready to begin preparing for next year.

“The Varsity track and field team is very young and tremendously talented,” explained Georgevski. “We are truly looking forward to next year.”