Posted: April 21, 2005

Athletics: Perdita Wins Season Opener. Canadians Strong at Mount SAC Relays

April 19, 2005 Ottawa – In her first outdoor race since last year’s Olympics in Athens, Pickering, Ontario’s Perdita Felicien raced her way to a first place finish in the 100m hurdles at the Mount San Antonio College Relays yesterday. Her winning time of 12.73 was .02 seconds faster than American Virginia Powell. It would appear that Felicien has made a full recovery from the deep bone bruise on her heel that she suffered in Athens last August. It’s a great start to the spring season for Felicien as she gears up for the IAAF World Championships this summer.

Other Canadians had great performances on Sunday. London, Ontario’s Jason Tunks captured first in the men’s discus throw with a 64.30m toss. Dana Ellis of Kitchener, Ontario placed second in the women’s pole vault with a leap of 4.4m in her first event of the spring season. Dylan Armstrong from Kamloops, British Columbia heaved the shot put 19.40m and took second place in that event after a personal best the day before of 19.83m to win in Pomona, while Jennifer Joyce of Richmond B.C. just missed the podium in the women’s invitational hammer throw. Her toss of 67.28m was good for fourth place.

With a pair of first and second place finishes, and a fourth place, it was a great day at the Mount SAC Relays for Canadian athletes.

Other Canadians who finished in the top five of their respective events included:

Rebecca Johnstone of Simon Fraser University who finished in second place in the women’s 1500m University Open with a time of 4:27.56, just .03 behind the winner.

Jennifer Kemp, running for West Virginia, place third in the 1500m OD University Open with a time of 4:21.30.

David Gill of the Rouge et Or track club placed second in the men’s 800m OD University Open crossing the line in 1:49.85. Gill will represent Canada at the Pen Relays on April 30th.

Making his debut in the 5000m, Brantford, Ontario’s Kevin Sullivan placed fourth in the invitational with a time of 13:27.29. Sullivan, primarily a 1500m runner, finished behind Bernard Lagat, and Boaz Cheboiywo of Kenya and Christian Belz from Switzerland.

Eric Sproll of Kansas State placed third in the men’s 800m OD University Open with a time of 1:48.98, just .21 seconds slower than the first place finisher.

In the women’s 1500m invitational, Courtney Inman, who trains with the Valley Royals Track Club in B.C., placed fifth with a time of 4:18.98.

Other results posted by Canadians at the SAC Relays are listed below:

Men’s 800m University Open
Adam Currie - Notre Dame: 10th (1:51.83)

Women’s 1500m University Open
Dana Buchanan – Hawaii University: 8th (4:31.82)
Kristen Kolstad – Simon Fraser: 14th (4:36.43)
Sabrina Reeve – Hawaii University: 23rd (4:40.45)
Shannon Elmer – UBC: 24th (4:40.93)
Leah Boekermann – Simon Fraser: 25th (4:40.95)

Women’s 3000m Steeplechase University Open
Meredith Macgregor - Simon Fraser: 7th (10:49.55)

Men’s 3000m Steeplechase University Open
Ryan Weber – Simon Fraser: 25th (9:23.17)

Women’s 5000m University Open
Heather Lee – Unattached: 11th (16:50.17)
Natalie Rogers - Northern Arizona University: 22nd (17:11.58)

Men’s 5000m University Open
Henok Lechebo – Florida: 17th (14:14.53)

Women’s 1500 metre OD University Open
Darolyn Trembath – Manitoba Bison’s Track and Field Club: 8th (4:23.00)
Julia Howard – Simon Fraser: 11th (4:23.23)

Women’s 800m OD University Open
Paula McLaughlin – University of Toronto: 11th (2:10.07)

Men’s 5000m Invitational
Simon Bairu – Wisconsin: 12th (13:43.72)

Women’s 10,000m Invitational
Lauren King – Notre Dame: 15th (34:11.78) PB/Debut

Men’s 10,000m Invitational
Joe Dionne – Providence University: 19th (29:27.05) PB
Matt McInnes – University of Toronto: 29th (29:56.15)
Ken Myers – Unattached: 42nd (30:27.13)

Girl's 400m HS Invitational
Whitney Wellington - Fleetwood Park: 6th (57.63)

From Athletics Canada.