The Windsor Lancers Track and Field team had another impressive day on the track during Day 2 of the CIS National Championships at the St. Denis Centre in Windsor.
On the women’s side, a photo finish was needed to decide the result between the 2010 CIS women’s track athlete of the year Noelle Montcalm and the 2010 CIS women’s field athlete of the year Jen Cotten.
University of Windsor’s Montcalm eventually was crowned the winner narrowly edging out Cotten with a time of 8.54 seconds. Hayley Warren of McGill rounded out the top three as she finished with a time of 8.79 seconds.
Montcalm later added another silver medal to her growing collection. The standout for the first place Lancer women emptied the tank in the 300 metre race posting a time of 38.73 seconds to finish second. Calgary’s Amonn Nelson topped the podium with speedy time of 37.92 to win her second gold medal in as many years. Finishing in third, Saskatchewan’s Sharai Siemens clocked in at 39.33 to improve on her 5th place finish last year.
The gold rush on day two continued for the Lancer women’s team. Star middle distance runner Melissa Bishop ran a terrific 1000 metre race and finished with a time of 2:47.50 to give the Lancers their second gold of the day. She outdueled Megan Brown of Toronto who finished with a time of 2:48.35. Dalhousie's Celia Peters was clocked at 2:48.98 for the bronze.
In the women’s 4x800 metre relay, the highly decorated Lancers capped off their impressive day adding another CIS gold medal to their resume. Windsor built up a big lead from the get go and left the final leg up to captain Melissa Bishop. The Lancers broke the tape with a time of 8:58.40 to capture the gold. Rounding out the top three were the Guelph Gryphons and McMaster Marauders with 8:59.90 and 9:05.78 respectively.
On the men's side, Matt Walters of Windsor made an amazing late surge in an extremely close men’s 1000 metre race. He fell just short of gold finishing with a time of 2:25.34, which was good enough for silver. Queen’s University’s Matt Hulse held off the field to claim the gold with a solid time of 2:25.08. Rounding out the tight top three was Micheal Del Monte from Toronto who clinched the bronze finishing just behind Walters with a time of 2:25.37.
A close 4x800 metre race on the men’s side saw Victoria capture their first gold of the meet as they broke the tape with a time of 7:37.62. The battle for the silver saw the University of Toronto slightly edge Laval. Toronto put up a time of 7:38.07 to better Laval’s time of 7:38.12.
With only thirty minutes between races, Toronto’s Meghan Brown captured her second silver medal of the day as she finished the 3000 metre race with a time of 9:23.90. Guelph’s Rachel Cliff won the gold with her time of 9:21.29. The top three was closed out by Julia Tschanz with her time of 9:50.17 to give Victoria their first medal in the competition.
Kyle Boorsma of Guelph repeated as the 3000 metre champion as he posted a time of 8:15.09 to capture gold. Western’s Kyle O’Neil finished with a time of 8:16.42 en route to winning the silver medal. Windsor’s Dave Weston rounded out the top three and claimed the bronze with a time of 8:21.19.
In the men’s 60 metre hurdle final, 2009 bronze medalist Justin Baker from Regina eclipsed his time from a year ago to narrowly edged York’s Chris Theriau for the gold medal. Baker finished 0.004 seconds ahead of Theriau to earn the win with a time of 8.51. Western’s Matt Brisson grabbed the bronze with his time of 8.09 seconds.
The number one ranked high jumper Simon Watts of Dalhousie did not disappoint as he captured the gold with his jump of 2.07 metres. The race for the silver was tight as McGill’s Justin Darlington narrowly edged Regina’s Jeremy Eckert. Both athletes jumped an impressive 2.04 metres; however Darlington claimed the Silver due to retrogression, leaving Eckert to settle for bronze.
In the women’s pole vault, the 2009 results were repeated with all three vaulters improving on last year’s results.
Leading the way, York’s Heather Hamilton set a new CIS record with her vault of 4.23 metres en route to her second gold medal in as many years. Leah Vause of Saskatchewan returned to earn the silver medal with her jump of 4.00 metres. Windsor’s Erika Reiser continued her strong vaulting as she launched herself back into the bronze medal position for the second straight year. Reiser cleared 3.85 metres to improve on her 2009 result by 0.10 metres.
Sam Effah of Calgary continues to turn heads as the 60 metre sprint champion added a gold in the 300 metres to his collection. Effah broke the tape with a time of 33.76 seconds on his way to break the 25 year old facility record previously held by Olympian Desai Williams. York’s Dontae Richards-Kwok and Westerns Jason Kerr rounded out the top three posting 34.31, and 34.51 respectively.
In the men’s weight toss, Dustin McCrank from Guelph bettered his second place result from 2009 to claim the gold with a throw of 18.61m. The 2009 bronze medalist Garth Suppes from Manitoba clinched the silver medal with his throw of 17.36 metres. Rounding out the top three Guelph’s Tim Hendry grabbed the bronze with a 17.05 metre toss.
Jen Cotten continued her strong performance in field events scoring 5.96 metres as she won the women’s long jump. Montreal’s Tamara cap bettered her 5th place performance from last year as she captured the silver with a solid jump of 5.81 metres. Finishing with a jump of 5.77m Regina’s Nicole Breker brought home the bronze.
Women’s shot put concluded with Taryn Suttie from Saskatchewan setting a new CIS record with her 15.32 metre toss to claim the gold. Rounding out the top three was York capturing both the silver and bronze. Cynthia Appiah put in a solid effort to win the silver with a toss of 14.34 metres, while Elizabeth Petrov threw 13.90 metres.
The men’s long jump concluded with Ottawa’s Christopher Greenaway set a new meet and new facility record with his 7.88 metre jump en route to the gold. Western’s Andrew Judge held onto his first jump of 7.18 to win the silver, while Guelph’s Guyson Kuruneri edged Windsor’s Anthony Dandie for the bronze.
TEAM STANDINGS: AFTER DAY 2 (of 3)
Women
1. Windsor, 75 points
2. Saskatchewan, 42
3. York, 40
4. Western,36
4. Guelph, 36
6. Toronto, 29
7. Sherbrooke, 27
8. Calgary 24.5
9. Manitoba,18.5
10. McGill, 16
11. Laval, 13
11. Montreal,13
13. Alberta, 10
13. Dalhousie, 10
15. Regina, 9
Men
1. Guelph, 55
2. Windsor, 47
3. Western, 36
4. York, 31
4. Regina 31
6. Saskatchewan, 29
7. Ottawa, 28
8. Calgary, 25
9. Toronto 17
10. Victoria 15
11. Dalhousie 14
11 Manitoba, 14
13. Sherbrooke, 13
14. McGill, 12
15. Queens 11