Over reading week, the York Lions played host for the Ontario University Athletics Track and Field Championships held at the Toronto Track and Field Centre on February 21-22.
After two grueling days of competition, it was the Windsor Lancers men’s team and the Guelph Gryphons women’s team who were crowned the OUA champions. The Lancers’ men reclaimed their OUA title, after Guelph ended Windsor’s 14-year title streak last year, while the Gryphons’ women claimed their first back-to-back OUA championships in school history.
York was able to improve upon last year’s results, finishing the weekend in fifth place on the women’s side, while the men captured a third-place finish.
Success was not difficult for York, who would find the podium on 15 different occasions over the two-day span, collecting a total of nine gold medals and two top two finishes.
Two of the Lions’ golds came in record-setting fashion, as shotputter Brittany Crew threw a massive 15.80 metres to break the previous OUA record, while 60 metre sprinter, Khamica Bingham, set a new OUA record with a time of 7.23. York’s Dontae Richards-Kwok almost added a third new record but ended up tying the previous mark with a blazing time of 6.66 in the 60 metre final.
Richards-Kwok also enjoyed a gold medal run in the 300 metre final, with teammate Jameel Brown finishing right behind him, giving York both the first and second-place spots on the podium.
Another pair of Lions would share the podium in the men’s shotput as Eric Brathwaite and Umar Khan finished first and second with throws of 17.28 metres and 16.59 metres respectively. The gold was Brathwaite’s second of the competition, having dominated the men’s weight throw Friday morning with a toss of 19.57 metres.
York’s final two individual golds were won in the field as Richard Jansen finished atop the leaderboard in men’s triple jump with a jump of 14.46 metres, while star pole vaulter David McKay was able to claim his third straight OUA title with a jump of 4.91 metres.
The 4×200 metre women’s team earned York’s only team gold medal of the weekend, finishing ahead of Guelph and Western with a time of 1:39.95. The men’s 4×200 metre would also find a place on the podium, finishing just behind Guelph with a time of 1:29.17.
The Lions’ other medal winners included Bismark Boateng, who placed third in the men’s 60 metre, and the men’s 4×800 metre relay team who clocked in at 7:44.23 to take bronze.
After a successful OUA season, York now looks ahead to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championships in Edmonton to once again claim a team medal after the men’s team won bronze last year. All athletes who place first or second in their respective events at the OUA Championships move onto the CIS Championships along with any athletes who rank above the CIS standard for their event.
Ryan McCabe
Sports and Health Editor
