Men’s Track & Field
U SPORTS honours top track & field season performers
SASKATOON, SK (U SPORTS) - After the first day of competition, the Regina Cougars and the Guelph Gryphons sit atop the leaderboards at the 2023 FFUN U SPORTS Track & Field Championship presented by Discover Saskatoon.
With just 1 of 17 scored events finishing up on the men’s side, the Regina Cougars are in first place with a score of 16, thanks to impressive performances in the men’s 60m race. Waterloo sits in second with eight points, followed by Laval in third with six.
The women have finished up 3 of 17 scored events, with the Guelph Gryphons taking top spot after day one with a score of 22. The defending champions are chased by the Calgary Dinos with a score of 15, and the Western Mustangs with a score of 13.
The first medal awarded at the championship was in women’s weight throw. After an impressive performance at the Canada West Championship, Lethbridge’s Jinaye Shomachuk was the heavy favourite in the event, and she did not disappoint, taking home gold with a throw of 18.75m. Guelph’s Emily Fawcett took home silver with a throw of 17.67m, and Western’s Margartia Belova nabbed the bronze with a 17.21m throw.
Much of the afternoon was dedicated to heptathlon and pentathlon events, with Jared Hendricks-Polack from Western (3015 points) leading the way in the heptathlon after the 60m race, high jump, long jump, and shot put events. Toronto’s Cameron Bruce (2825 points) is close behind in second, with Manitoba’s Max Speiser sitting in third place (2796 points).
In the women’s pentathlon, Manitoba’s Madisson Lawrence took top spot with a score of 4114. Regina’s Joely Welburn took second place with a score of 4037, and Waterloo’s Hannah Blair nabbed third place with a score of 3954.
Jaqueline Madogo from Guelph captured gold in the women’s 60m, racing across the finish line with a time of 7.29. Onome Gbinije of Toronto grabbed silver with a time of 7.40, and Dawn Richardson-Wilson from Calgary is taking home the bronze at 7.42.
Defending men’s 60m champion Usheoritse Itsekiri from Regina once again struck gold with a time of 6.61, followed closely by Immanuel Onyemah from Waterloo at 6.67 and teammate Storm Zablocki at 6.71.
Friday’s track events get underway at 4:30 PM CST with the 60m hurdles heats kicking things off at the Saskatoon Field House. Field events will begin at 2:00 PM CST with the men’s weight throw. Catch all the action live on CBC Gem and on CBC YouTube.