London, ON – Multiple showcase performance were on display this weekend as Western hosted the 41^st annual Don Wright Team Challenge on Saturday.

The Mustangs were led by Liv Sands setting meet records in weight throw and a school record in shot put. Sands threw a season's best and a new indoor personal best with a shot put throw of 16.43m to claim gold. In the women's weight throw, Sands set the tone with a new meet record of 18.74 m, securing her the gold!.
 
Starting the day in the men's weight throw where Sam Morrow placed 5th with a personal best throw of 14.42m. Alvi Kasmi threw a personal best toss of 13.39m to finish 8th. While Sands led the way, there were several notable performances including Rinnah Badom, who threw a best distance of 13.50m for fifth place, and Anij Sparenberg threw a best of 12.44m for a top eight finish. In the men's shot put, Seth Edwards threw a season's best of 16.66m to grab the gold. Austin Riha finished in fourth place with a new personal best of 13.21m. Sam Morrow and Marcus Robinson both placed in the top eight with 12.69 m from Morrow and 12.50m from Robinson. 

Anij Sparenberg  and Rhinnah Badom placed fifth and sixth in women's shot put for a top 8 finish with 11.40m from Sparenberg and 11.01m from Badom.

In the men's triple jump, Banujan Kulainthiran secured 1st place with a jump of 14.48m.

On the women's side, Kalista Elliot claimed 1st place in triple jump with a jump of 11.67m, followed by Brianna Rand in 2nd place with 11.55m.

In the women's long jump, Chloe Knox took 1st place with a jump of 5.72m, Charlie Ostapowich finished 2nd with 5.53m, and Christie Collins secured 3rd with 5.50m.

The women's high jump saw Tara Johannink place first with a jump of 1.69m and a personal best. Robin Selkirk was 2nd with 1.61m and Michele  Horak was 3rd with 1.56m. The men's high jump was won by Zach Courtney with a season's best jump of 1.99m followed by Mustangs Fuaad Abiola (1.89m) and Theo Russell (1.84m).

In the men's pole vault, Manu Desilets placed 2nd and vaulted a huge 20cm personal best with a height of 4.80m to finish 2nd behind Brock's Michael Ivanov who broke the meet record with a lead of 5.11m. Mustang Ian Defoe vaulted 4.65m for 3rd.

On the track, the Women's 60m featured a Mustang sweep with Olivia Reevie taking gold in 7.78, Maya Chande silver in 7.79 and Tieghan Wallace bronze in 7.83. Cora McQuinn won the 300m in 40.98 a personal best, first time breaking 41s barrier. First year Mustang Natalie Burrows ran a personal best of 43.20 placing 3rd. National Para team athlete Natalie Thirsk was 7th in 49.27. The men's 300m Champion was Thomas Helland running a 34.84 personal best on a flat track, one-tenth off of U SPORTS Auto-Qualification and moves him to 6th in the country. Caleb Clarke was 3rd with 37.48 a season's best time.

The Women's 4x200m team of Olivia Reevie, Taya Keast, Natalie Burrows, Maya Chande finished 1st in 1:45.14. The men's 4x200m team of Caleb Clarke, Simon Belaisis, Adam Exley, Markus Grant ran 1:34.51 for 2nd.

The men's 4x400m team of Kwame Karangwa, Dylen Belanger, Ayden Blain, Jared Hendricks-Polack ran 3:24.89 to take the win.

Western's hurdle crew had a very successful showing this weekend, finishing in first place for both the men's and women's races. Ayden Blain finished first for the men's race, just shy of his season's best in a time of 8.24. Adam Exley finished third (8.34) and Jared Hendricks-Polack finished fourth with a personal best (8.58). For the women's race, Rachel Watson had a big season's best run to take the win in a time of 8.58. Findlay Weir took third place running 9.02.

The mid-distance crew continued to deliver strong performances this weekend. Chloe Coutts ran to a 1st place finish in the 1000 with a time of 2:50.94. Ben Fox (1:21.24 PB), Vincent Moore (1:22.57 PB), Kyle Koyanagi (1:22.74 debut), and Dylen Belanger (1:23.28 PB) took spots 2-5 in the men's 600. Tieghan Wallace dominated the women's 600 with a new PB of 1:34.46, while first-year Kelly Mantel was 3rd (1:38.39).

The track and field team's success continued on the distance side, with standout performances in the 1500m, and 3000m. The Western women had a strong showing in the 1500m. Hallee Knelsen ran a season-best 4:32.99 to secure second place, followed by Ashley Maguire, who placed fourth with a time of 4:35.07. Additional highlights included EJ Boston (4:40.14, season best), Olivia Roussel (4:40.49, season best), Anna Carruthers (4:41.26, season best), Clara Fava (4:44.42, season best), Sandra Guga (4:52.18, season best), and Brooke Power (4:56.91), who all contributed to an impressive team effort. On the men's side, Justin Sanders led the way, finishing 4th in 3:56.61. Liam Smith followed closely, running a season-best 3:57.41. Marcel Scheele (3:58.92, season best) and Tom Boers (3:59.71, season best) also broke the four-minute mark. The men's 3000m was a standout event on the men's side. Satveer Gill ran an indoor personal best of 8:28.34 to take first place, while Robin Faricier also achieved a personal best, finishing second in 8:41.26.
 
Next weekend is off for most of the team. Aaron Thompson and Liv Sands were invited to compete in the Knights of Columbus meet at the University of Saskatchewan. Jared Hendricks-Polack, Quinn Cameron, Winston Clarke and Robin Selkirk head to The University of Illinois to compete at the Fighting Illini Challenge and Combined Events.