Winnipeg, MB – The Mustangs rounded out three days of intense competition at the U SPORTS Track & Field Championship with a team silver on the Women's side and the team is bringing home 13 total medals.

"After an extremely successful season with so many highs and concluding with a U SPORTS Championship meet full of challenges my staff and athletes have definitely earned some well-deserved recovery time before we start preparing for it all again." said Mustangs Head Coach Vickie Croley "We are already hungry for redemption and hope to have a similar season and cap it off with a less turbulent U SPORTS Championship next year closer to home at Windsor."

On the opening day, the Mustangs picked up a silver and a bronze. Vivian Ogor finished 2^nd in the Women's 60m while Liv Sands took 3^rd in the Women's Weight Throw.

Things picked up on Day 2 with the Mustangs winning 6 medals. Sands followed up her bronze on day 1 with a gold medal win in the Women's Shot Put, meanwhile, Kenneth West won his first medal of the weekend, taking silver in the Men's Long Jump. The Mustangs took 4 bronze medals from Favour Okpali in the Women's 300m, Sophie Coutts in the Women's 3000m, Patyon Serraglio in Women's Pole Vault & the Women's 4x800 relay team (Juliana Hendrikx, Sophie Coutts, Chloe Coutts, Hallee Knelsen).

Day 3 saw a trio of gold medal performances. Favour Okpali took top spot in the Women's 600m, same for Chloe Knox in the Women's Triple Jump and the Men's 4x200 relay team also finished 1^st. The Mustangs added two more medals, a silver from Kenneth West in Men's Triple Jump & a bronze in Men's Shot Put for Seth Edwards.
 

"The team was lead by Captain, Favour Okpali who capped off her university career with 3 school records every time she stepped on the track." said Croley "She won gold in the 600m in an inspiring run, personal best and school record time of 1:28.64. She added a bronze in the 300m after running another school record in the heats of 38.38. She closed out the meet with another historic relay split of 53.4 bringing the team from a 50m deficit to finish 4^th. Favour will now graduate as Western's top long sprinter in history."
 

The Mustangs Women's team was in a battle for the championship banner right up until the final events of the championship but rounded out the event with 102 points, trailing the Guelph Gryphons who won the event with 115 points.

"Our women showed up and competed well. We weren't expecting the perfect meet and had a couple of athletes not 100% going in or with the flu on competition days which impacted their performances." said Croley "We also had some surprise results with first-year pole vaulter Payton Serraglio with a 25cm personal best and capturing the bronze. This kind of performance is not common at this level of competition and it provided a boost to the women's team after day 2."

Western's Men's team battle injuries and illnesses throughout the weekend but finished just outside of a team podium position in 4^th overall with 55.5 points. Laval finished 3^rd with 56.5 points, while Manitoba was 2^nd at 82 points and Guelph won the men's competition with 89.5 points.

"I was disappointed for our men's team as bad luck at the worst time seemed to hit the squad. Two of our top sprinters had the flu with one not even making it to the track over the course of the three days." said Croley "The heptathlon was the event that we expected to be our biggest point-getter and we had three athletes sustain injuries and weren't able to finish their events. It was difficult for the men to overcome some of the adversity surrounding the meet and keep the Championship run alive."

While the Men's team had several uncontrollable setbacks, the coaches say a few members of the team stepped up in big ways on and off the track.

"I'm extremely proud of our men's team led by captain Matt Indome for organizing a men's team meeting after day one to rally the guys to keep fighting." said Croley " I'm even more proud of how they did but unfortunately the obstacles were just too difficult to overcome. That in combination with Guelph, Manitoba and Laval exceeding their pre meet rankings. Congratulations to those three teams for putting together outstanding team performances."

Prior to the competition starting, a member of the Mustangs was recognized with a major honour as Assistant Coach Taylor Ernhardt was named the U SPORTS Male Assistant Coach of the Year.

"I'm extremely happy for Taylor Ehrhardt on his well-deserved award. Given the number of school records and top-ranked athletes in the 60m, 300m, 600m, 4 x 200m and 4 x 400m it's amazing to see his efforts recognized." said Croley "Taylor and I are quick to point out that Lisa Grieve, his co-sprint coach is a huge part of the success of the sprint group. They have an outstanding working relationship and rapport with their athletes."



FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

WOMEN
1. Guelph 115
2. Western 102
3. Calgary 87
4. Saskatchewan 86
5. Laval 59
6. Alberta 30
7. Toronto 21
7. Dalhousie 21
9. Windsor 20
10. Manitoba 18
10. York 18
12. Waterloo 15
13. Sherbrooke 14
14. Montréal 12
15. Regina 9
16. McGill 8
17. Trinity Western 7
18. Victoria 6
19. Carleton 4
20. UPEI 3
21. Lakehead 2
21. Ottawa 2
21. UNB 2
24. Brock 1

MEN
1. Guelph 89.5
2. Manitoba 82
3. Laval 56.5
4. Western 55
5. Alberta 48
6. Windsor 42
7. Toronto 31
8. Trinity Western 30.5
9. Calgary 29
10. Regina 28
11. Montréal 24
12. Dalhousie 22
12. Saskatchewan 22
14. McGill 17
15. UNB 15
16. Moncton 10
16. Queen's 10
18. Sherbrooke 9.5
19. York 9
20. UQAM 7
20. Brock 7
20. Waterloo 7
23. Lethbridge 5
24. Carleton 3
25. Victoria 1

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:

DAY 1
 
PENT
1. SIENNA MACDONALD, CALGARY – 4164
2. REBECCA PARKER, GUELPH – 3794
3. ALYSON EDWARDS – CALGARY – 3793
 
WOMEN'S WEIGHT THROW
1. PHOEBE PRICE-ROBERTS, TORONTO – 17.98M
2. ALEXISON JOHNSON, CALGARY – 16.94M
3. LIV SANDS, WESTERN -- 16.72M
 
WOMEN'S 60M
1. AUDREY LEDUC, LAVAL – 7.26S
2. VIVIAN OGOR, WESTERN – 7.33
3. DONNA NTAMBUE, MCGILL – 7.37
 
MEN'S 60M
1. JORDAN SOUFI, MANITOBA – 6.69S
2. TYRELL DAVIS, MANITOBA – 6.73
3. KENNY BLACKMAN JR., TWU – 6.76

DAY 2

WOMEN
60M HURDLES
1. SIENNA MACDONALD, CALGARY, 8.20
2. HAILEY REID, GUELPH, 8.30
3. MAOLY ST-GERMAIN, SHERBROOKE, 8.34

300 METRES
1. NICOLE MCKENZIE, GUELPH, 37.99
2. PAIGE WILLEMS, SASKATCHEWAN, 38.10
3. FAVOUR OKPALI, WESTERN, 38.46

1,000 METRES
1. AVERY PEARSON, SASKATCHEWAN, 2:47.10
2. CAMERON ORMOND, GUELPH, 2:48.46
3. JULIA AGOSTINELLI, GUELPH, 2:48.70

3,000 METRES
1. CATHERINE BEAUCHEMIN, LAVAL, 9:36.08
2. CHLOE TURNER, CALGARY, 9:36.97
3. SOPHIE COUTTS, WESTERN, 9:37.08

4 X 800 METRE RELAY
1. SASKATCHEWAN (KAITLYN HARRISON, ATTLEIGH MALONEY, JENICA SWARTZ, AVERY PEARSON), 8:45.60
2. LAVAL (SABRINA LAVIGNE, CAMILLE BOUDREAU, CATHERINE BEAUCHEMIN, EMMA DAGENAIS), 8:46.30
3. WESTERN (JULIANA HENDRIKX, SOPHIE COUTTS, CHLOE COUTTS, HALLEE KNELSEN), 8:50.79

LONG JUMP
1. SIENNA MACDONALD, CALGARY, 6.04 METRES
2. MILENNE HABASH, GUELPH, 5.87
3. FIOLA TEJIOFO, LAVAL, 5.86

POLE VAULT
1. JENNIFER ELIZAROV, GUELPH, 4.15 METRES
2. RACHEL GRENKE, ALBERTA, 4.10
3. PATYON SERRAGLIO, WESTERN, 4.00

SHOT PUT
1. LIV SANDS, WESTERN, 15.32 METRES
2. ANNA MCCONNELL, MANITOBA, 14.84
3. KAITLIN BROOKS, YORK, 13.81

MEN
60M HURDLES
1. CRAIG THORNE, GUELPH, 7.81 SECONDS
2. DAVID ADELEYE, TORONTO 7.83
3. TAMARRI LINDO, YORK, 8.02

300 METRES
1. EMMETT BRAVAKIS, TORONTO, 33.72
2. BRANDON SMITH-DROUIN, MONTRÉAL; 34.25
3. DEVON ZUCHOTZKI, CALGARY, 34.28

1,000 METRES
1. MAX DAVIES, GUELPH, 2:21.00 (U SPORTS RECORD)
2. JONATHAN PODBIELSKI, REGINA, 2:22.99
3. JARED HOWSE, UNB, 2:23.66

3,000 METRES
1. JEAN-SIMON DESGAGNÉS, LAVAL, 7:59.72
2. MATTHEW BEAUDET, MCGILL, 8:01.44
3. NICHOLAS BANNON, GUELPH, 8:06.66

4 X 800 METRE RELAY
1. GUELPH (ADAM SCHMIDT, MASON BASSON, ALANZO RYAN, MAX DAVIES), 7:28.99
2. REGINA (ADAM MYTOPHER, BRAYDEN MYTOPHER, DANIEL EISWERTH, JONATHAN PODBIELSKI), 7:30.60
3. UNB (BENJAMIN PERRETT, WILLIAM BOYLE, MITCHELL KEAN, JARED HOWSE) 7:31.51

HIGH JUMP
1. NOEL VANDERZEE, CALGARY, 2.15 METRES
2. (TIE) AIDEN GROUT, TORONTO AND EMILE OLLIVIER, UQAM, 2.07

LONG JUMP
JONATHAN JACOB, GUELPH, 7.35 METRES
2. KENNETH WEST, WESTERN, 7.30
3. SOLOMON ARASE, GUELPH, 7.26

WEIGHT THROW
1. ABDELLAH HASSAR, LAVAL, 21.22 METRES
2. GRAHAM WRIGHT, MANITOBA, 18.65
3. JOSHUA SUELZLE, MANITOBA, 17.77

HEPTATHLON
1. MAX SPEISER, MANITOBA, 5270
2. MASSON ALTROGGE, SASKATCHEWAN, 5107
3. BRANDON GREMAUD, TRINITY WESTERN, 4925

DAY 3

WOMEN
600M
1. FAVOUR OKPALI, WESTERN (1:28.64)
2. AVERY PEARSON, SASK (1:29.39)
3. EMMA DAGENAIS, LAVAL (1:29.45)

4X200
1. GUELPH (1:36.90)
2. LAVAL (1:37.26)
3. CALGARY (1:38.01)

4X400
1. SASKATCHEWAN (3:45.37)
2. GUELPH (3:45.81)
3. LAVAL (3:47.77)

1500M
1. CAMERON ORMOND, GUELPH (4:23.57)
2. OLIVIA COOPER, ALBERTA (4:24.55)
3. JULIA AGOSTINELLI, GUELPH (4:24.97)

TRIPLE JUMP
1. CHLOE KNOX, WESTERN (12.72M)
2. MANDY BRUNET, WINDSOR (12.57)
3. OLAMIDE OLALOKU, SASK (12.23)

HIGH JUMP
1. LARA DENBOW, MANITOBA (1.78)
2. CELIA MARKOVINOVIC, WATERLOO (1.75)
3. CHLOE ZARASKA, GUELPH, (1.72)

MEN
600M
1. TRISTAN ALLEN, MANITOBA (1:17.96)
2. ZACH JAMES, DALHOUSIE (1:18.30)
3. DAWSON MANN, MANITOBA (1:18.44)

4X200
1. WESTERN (1:27.11)
2. WINDSOR (1:27.75)
3. ALBERTA (1:27.87)

4X400
1. ALBERTA (3:16.83)
2. MANITOBA (3:17.22)
3. WINDSOR (3:19.03)

1500M
1. MAX DAVIES, GUELPH (3:44)
2. JEAN SIMON DESGAGNES (3:44.76)
3. JONATHAN PODBIELSKI (3:45.18)

SHOT PUT
1. SAMUEL BOURQUE, MONCTON (17.40M)
2. AJ STANAT, WINDSOR (16.85)
3. SETH EDWARDS, WESTERN (16.53)

POLE VAULT
1. NICOLAS MARTIN HUERTA, TRINITY WESTERN (4.90M)
2. EVANN MANGUE, MONTREAL (4.85)
3. MICHAEL IVANOV, BROCK (4.75)

TRIPLE JUMP
1. DAXX TURNER, MANITOBA (15.82M)
2. KENNETH WEST, WESTERN (15.38)
3. TEGRA JAN-KING, ALBERTA (15.27)

MAJOR AWARDS
MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR - MAX DAVIES, GUELPH

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR - SIENNA MACDONALD, CALGARY

MEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR - JASON KERR, GUELPH

WOMEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR - JESSICA ZELINKA, CALGARY