Just over a week ago, nine women’s and eight men’s track and field teams from across the province convened at York University with one goal in mind: to try and strip the University of Windsor of its double-both men’s and women’s-Ontario University Association (OUA) track and field titles.
After a jaw-dropping performance on the first Friday night of the provincial championships, the Varsity Blues established themselves as the team to beat. Rumour has it that after the Blues’ outstanding Friday showing, the defending champions, the Windsor Lancers, were so worried that they held a Saturday meeting to discuss the Toronto threat.
Why were the Lancers so concerned? Because the Blues had won the 1500m distance race, the long jump, the 4 x 200m relay, the 4 x 800m relay, and swept the medals in the pole vault. The only competition the Blues didn’t win was shot put-the single event with no U of T athletes competing.
“Based on how they did Friday, we knew we had a shot to win,” said assistant coach Jill Mallon. “You could see the swing coming our way…and the Windsor team could see it too.” Mallon was a member of the 1997-1998 Varsity Blues track and field team-the last Blues team to win an OUA title.
The Lancers fears were not misplaced. That weekend, the U of T women went on to win the OUA’s in convincing fashion, scoring in 10 of the 11 possible events and earning 10 medals in seven events. “A great retirement present,” is how long-time sprints coach Dave Hunt described the win.
Certain exceptional performances marked the championship. Jocelyn Adu-Gyumfi earned four gold medals (60m, long jump, triple jump, and 4x200m), receiving the distinction of ‘Outstanding Female Performer.’ Teammate Sandy Wells’ two gold medals-in the1500m, 4x800m-and one silver in the 300m, earned her second team OUA all-star honours. Pole-vaulter Kate Sauks was honored as ‘Rookie of the Year’ for her OUA gold. Head coach Carl Georgevski also came away on top, earning acclaim as ‘Women’s Coach of the Year.’
Many members of the men’s team, which placed fifth overall, reached new heights at these provincial championships. Highlights included Toronto’s Luke MacInnis’ two gold medals (60m, 4x200m), silver (300m), and bronze (4x400m). There was also Cameron Sahadaph, who placed second in the 60m hurdles. Fifth-year Blues runner Trevor “the body” Cadwell took home a silver (1500m) and a bronze (3000m), and helped his 4x800m team secure a berth in the national championships coming up this weekend.
All in all, it was what distance coach Ross Ristuccia described as “a dream weekend for a coach.”
This weekend, the teams will head down the highway to Windsor to compete in the Canadian Interuniversity national championships. U of T’s relay teams, Adu-Gyumfi, MacInnis, and Caldwell will all have their hands full with the heavily favoured University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The Huskies men’s and women’s teams are both ranked first in the nation, and are preparing to sweep the competition. The Blues will have to muster all of their strength to take on the formidable Huskies that hail from the prairies.
