Women collect gold and men silver in total points
The University of Guelph’s Track and Field team showed up to the 2014 OUA Championships, held at York University. In one word, the Gryphons were dominant.
The women repeated as back-to-back gold medalists, with a score of 150.5 total points, while the men put up 153 total points in a silver medal finish, second only to a Windsor Lancer team that brought home their 15th gold in the last 16 seasons.
All together, the women amassed 14 medals. Their successes began early on, with Sarah Dougherty winning gold in the weight throw with a distance of 17.22m, and continued with fifth year jumper, Julia Wallace, earning two silvers in high jump and triple jump, and a bronze medal in long jump.
“I did not expect the results that occurred this weekend at all. I surprised myself,” said Katelyn Ayers, OUA and Gryphons athlete of the week.
Ayers, in her first season running for Guelph, has already been recognized nationally, as she shattered the Canadian Junior Record in the 1000m with a time of 2:44.88. Her performance at the Championships highlighted her previous successes, as she brought home a tournament best four gold medals, sitting atop the podium in the 600m, 1000m, and as the anchor leg in the 4x800m and 4x400m. Her results earned a full 24 points for the Gryphons.
“Overall the team performed very well, only missing a few possible points in some key events,” commented Ross Proudfoot, winner of gold medals in the 4x800m relay – in which the Gryphons set an OUA record time of 7:34.57 – and the 1500m.
The rare missed points, combined with a few surprise performances by Windsor athletes, were, according to Proudfoot, where the Gryphons lost out on becoming back-to-back OUA Champions.
Guelph has thrown a wrench into the OUA Track and Field history books. The OUA and the CIS has consistently been dominated by the likes of McGill, Toronto, McMaster, Western, and of course, Windsor.
However, with the Guelph women’s team capturing their first OUA title in 2008, and the men capturing their first OUA and CIS title last season, the landscape for track and field in Canada has shifted to the suburban sprawl and agricultural heritage that is the U of G.
“The athletes that this team builds all have the same winning mindset and focus on a combined team outcome at Championship meets,” said Proudfoot of Guelph’s ability to sustain success at provincial and national levels. “Being around veterans with a winning mindset and a good work ethic brings about new generations of national medalists and continued success within the program.”
Proudfoot’s sentiments were echoed by Ayers, who attributed Guelph’s successes to two major factors: “knowledgeable and experienced coaching staff that are dedicated to training athletes,” along with the athletic prowess of the students on the team. “We are a group of dedicated, committed, and hard working student-athletes…during each grueling practice, everyone gives 110 per cent, and never anything less than that. We all know that we have high standards to keep, so we make sure that [work] gets done,” commented Ayers.
While work has been done at the OUAs, there is still work to be done at the CIS Championships, where the top two finishers in each event, plus the student-athletes that surpassed the automatic standards, will be in attendance.
Trackie.com currently has Guelph’s men’s team sitting tied for first with the York Lions in projected rankings, with 90.5 points, while the women sit second with 82.5 points; a full 14.5 points behind the Calgary Dinos.
The meet will be held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton from Mar. 2 to 5, and Proudfoot is confident with the potential for success, despite losing out to Windsor at OUAs. “We should have a larger advantage at the CIS level to overtake Windsor as we tend to have a more front-heavy team with more CIS qualifiers, and we only get stronger moving onto the national stage.”