It was a medal-filled weekend for University of Guelph athletics. The men’s track and field team won the U Sports championships and the women’s team captured silver, and the women’s hockey and men’s volleyball teams won awards at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships.
It was the fourth national title for the men’s track and field team, which finished with 141 points — 73 points ahead of the University of Windsor. It’s U of G’s first national banner since 2013. The women’s team finished with 86.83 points, placing second to the University of Toronto.
Thomas Land was named Male Athlete of the Meet. He won gold in the men’s 600-metre race and silver in the men’s 1,000-metre. On the women’s side, Ashley Connell won gold medals in the weight throw and shot put.
Medals also went to:
Gold: Gregory MacNeill, men’s 60m hurdles; Jared Skeath, men’s weight throw; Kyle Thompson, men’s 60m.
Silver: Jordan Bates, women’s triple jump; Sean Cate, men’s high jump; Jackson Cheung, men’s 60m hurdles; Keysean Powell, men’s long jump; Shyvonne Roxborough, women’s 60m; men’s 4x200m relay (Kristian Benjamin, Gregory MacNeill, Brandon Shirk, Kyle Thompson); and women’s 4x800m relay (Dana Earhart, Charlotte Ward, Cheryse Mitton, Katelyn Ayers).
Bronze: Mark Emode, men’s heptathlon; Vanessa Oliver, women’s triple jump; Brayden Seneca, men’s 3,000m; Jenna Smith, women’s 300m; and men’s 4x800m relay (Mostafa Elkurdy, Andrew Leblanc, Taylor Lyman, Thomas Kemp).
The U of G women’s hockey team won the McCaw Cup Saturday to defend the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) title.
The Gryphons beat Nipissing University 6-1 in front of a hometown crowd.
“It’s just as good, but it’s completely different,” said goaltender Valerie Lamenta, who was named the McCaw Cup’s most valuable player after stopping 16 of 17 shots.
The team will compete in the U Sports championships March 16 to 19.
The men’s volleyball team beat Ryerson University Saturday in the OUA bronze medal game. It was the team’s best finish in seven years.
“We missed our opportunity last night to make nationals and that’s going to hurt for a while, but I think when we look back at this season as a whole and how far we’ve come over the last year, it’s pretty satisfying,” said Gryphons head coach Cal Wigston.