Track & Field
Track and Field Day 1: Guelph open title defences with strong performance
The Guelph Gryphons added to their lead at the U SPORTS Track and Field Championships, combining to win another 12 medals on Friday at the Universiade Pavilion.
The Gryphon men, led by Mark Bujnowski winning the weight throw, won six medals on Friday, and enter the final day of the championship with a 97-point lead over second-place Laval.
Bujnowski won on the final throw of the event, hitting the 19.68 metre mark, winning by more than one metre. Philip Osei added a gold for the Gryphon men in the 300m.
“I missed on my second-to last throw, and I knew what I did wrong. So I corrected it, but was still a bit surprised with how far my last attempt went,” said Bujnowski, who was ranked third entering the championship. “I was so shocked after it landed, and so fired up. It was crazy. I hope I can carry that momentum into the shot put tomorrow.”
The Gryphon women hold a 36-point lead over Laval after action on Friday, thanks to gold-medal performances by Zoe Sherar in the 300m and the 4x800m relay team.
One U SPORTS Championship record was set on Friday, with Female Track Athlete of the Year Michelle Harrison setting a new record mark in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.15 seconds.
The most exciting moment on Friday came in the men’s 4x800m relay, as the seventh-ranked Alberta Golden Bears stunned Guelph and Regina, winning gold with a time of 7:33.82.
The Alberta men trailed by 20 metres after two runners, before Robert Chauvet and Brendan Calef closed the gap over the final 1,600 metres.
“I’m really happy with how I raced, but I think the bigger victory, rather than just the time or the place was just how we were able to all come together and race our best,” said Calef. “It was very surreal. I mean going around the corner in the last 100 metres, coming in first place with the whole team on the corner, it didn’t even feel real.”
In total, the host Golden Bears and Pandas captured six medals, jumping into seventh and eighth place, respectively.
The final day of the 2020 U SPORTS Track and Field Championship gets underway with the women’s triple jump at 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT. The 4x400m relays will close out the championships, starting at 6:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 p.m. PT.
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— U SPORTS Track & Field (@USPORTSTF) March 6, 2020
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