Posted: March 19, 2005

Athletics: Multiple CIS indoor records set

MARCH 17, 2005 Ottawa – The 2005 CIS indoor track and field championships took place last Thursday through Saturday at the Max Bell Centre at the University of Manitoba. The following is a day-by-day summary of the results and achievements from this year’s grand finale to the Canadian university indoor track season.

The games got off to an explosive start on Thursday afternoon. In the inaugural event, the women’s weight throw, reigning CIS champion and number one seed Kate Forbes from the University of Lethbridge heaved the weight 19.66 m to break her own CIS record. The fourth-year Pronghorn from Truro, Nova Scotia shattered her own mark of 18.99 m, a record she set last year at the championships in Windsor.

All five events for both the women's and men's pentathlon were also completed on day one. Université de Sherbrooke student Veronique Fortin of St-Georges, Quebec won the women's gold with 3687 points, after she placed first in the shot put and long jump events. The gold was virtually uncontested, with two Guelph Gryphons, Liz Akeroyd and Brae-Anne McArthur rounding out the podium with 3453 and 3448 points respectively.

On the men's side, it was a clean sweep for the Saskatchewan Huskies. Cory Armstrong from Melfort, Saskatchewan dominated the shot put event on his way to capturing gold with 3583 points, while teammates Cole Webster of Biggar, Saskatchewan and Saskatoon’s Marc Baron took the silver and bronze with 3519 and 3452 points each.

After day one of competition, the women’s team standings were extremely tight, with the top four teams within two points of each other. Saskatchewan led with 11 total points, Lethbridge had 10, and it was Guelph and Sherbrooke tied for third with 9 points. The picture looked quite different on the men’s side as the Huskies were already beginning to run away with 16 points after day one. The second place team from Sherbrooke had only three points, and only four teams scored any points at all on opening day.

Day two of the championships saw no less than three new meet records established. Jim Steacy of the Lethbridge Pronghorns, Kelsie Hendry of the Saskatchewan Huskies and Adrienne Power of the Dalhousie Tigers all entered their names into the championship record books with outstanding performances on Friday.

Steacy, a junior from Lethbridge, successfully defended his title in the men’s weight toss with a throw of 21.59 m, breaking his own record in the process. In the women’s pole vault, Hendry, a fifth-year from Saskatoon, also defended her CIS title and broke her own meet record with a bound of 4.22 m. On the track, Halifax’s Power, a fifth-year sprinter from Dal, won the women's 300m in 37.35 seconds, also setting a meet record and defending her CIS crown.

The women’s long jump featured some history in the making of its own when Toronto's Jocelyn Adu-Gyamfi of Mississauga Ontario won gold for the fifth consecutive season – a feat never before accomplished. Her jump of 5.91m was good enough for gold and her name goes into the CIS record books.

Kate Forbes earned her second gold of the weekend in the women’s shot put. She remained the CIS women’s shot put champion with a throw of 14.73 m.

Back on the track, Winnipeg native Lisa Whalen of the host Manitoba Bisons captured two gold medals to increase her five-year total at the university nationals to five. She claimed the 1000m title in a time of 2:48.44, and anchored the Bisons' 4 X 800m relay team to a gold medal finish with a time of 8:53.06.

Other notable performances on Friday included 2004-05 CIS male track athlete of the year, David Gill of Laval, a junior from Mashteviatsh Quebec, winning gold in the 300m with a time of 2:27.37; and Jamie Ajdetey-Nelson, the 2003-04 CIS rookie of the year, becoming back-to-back CIS champion in the men’s long jump with a 7.32 metre leap.

The majority of the team points were scored on day two. The women Huskies dramatically increased their lead by climbing to 47 points. The University of Windsor and the host Bisons stood tied for second with 26 points a piece. It was equally one-sided on the men’s scoreboard with the Huskies leading Western by 17, 44 to 27, and Windsor in third with 22 points.

The final day of competition saw several athletes add to their medal haul. Gill from Laval earned his second and third gold medals of the championships with wins in the 1500m (3:53.72) and the 600m (1:20.06). Later, at the awards ceremony, he was recognized for his trio of gold by being named the Male Athlete of the Meet and presented with the George Gemer Award. On the women’s side, Dalhousie’s Adrienne Power added to her title in the 300m by winning the 60m dash in 7.44 seconds. She capped off her tremendous weekend by anchoring Dal’s 4 x 200m relay team to a gold medal finish with a clocking of 1:39.27. Power was also recognized for her performance and was named the Female Athlete of the Meet.

Steacy, the third-year student at Lethbridge, earned his second CIS championship title of the weekend with a 16.21 metre heave in the men’s shot put event.

The ladies from Saskatchewan added to their lead on day three when second-year Husky and Saskatoon native Amber Mosewich won the 600m race, clocking 1:30 while the women’s 4 x 400m relay team defended their CIS title and brought home the gold with a time of 3:47.03. Bison fans had something to cheer about on Saturday as they watched fifth-year Darolyn Trembath of Winnipeg successfully defend her title in the 1500m. Trembath came down the stretch hard with a strong finish and posted a time of 4:27.52 to capture the gold and retain her title.

Elsewhere, first-year Guelph student Neb Zachariah won the women’s triple jump with a mark of 12.30m and Kristen Matthews of York University was declared the CIS women’s high jump champion clearing the bar at 1.83m.

In men’s action on Saturday, the University of Alberta celebrated two gold medal performances. Neville Wright, a second-year student from Edmonton sprinted to a golden finish in the 60m dash with a time of 6.77 while the Alberta men captured the 4 x 200m relay title clocking 1:26.81. In the 4 x 400m relay, the University of Western defended their title, posting a time of 3:17.27. In individual competition, John Zubyck, a fifth-year student at the U. of Windsor, claimed gold in the pole vault with a 5.10 m leap. In the triple jump, it was York University’s Marlon Nangle of Oakville Ontario who was crowned champion with a jump of 15.13m.

2005 in CIS athletics was obviously a year meant for the Saskatchewan Huskies. Both the men’s and women’s teams led the competition from start to finish claiming the 2005 CIS team titles. The women’s team scored 23 points on the final day of the meet to increase their total to 67. The host Manitoba Bisons were second with 48 points, and Dalhousie came in third place with a three-day total of 39 points. University of Windsor and University of Calgary rounded out the top five on the women’s side.

In the men’s standings, the race for first was a little closer as Saskatchewan’s 55 points only bettered second place Windsor by 10. Western finished in third with 42 points while Sherbrooke and the University of Alberta completed the top five.

Source: AThletics Canada.