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The
Laurentian varsity track and field team concluded their
2023 season this past weekend at the Ontario University
Association (OUA) Championships hosted by the University
of Windsor. By the end of the two day competition, the
six person LU squad earned three top-10 finishes and established
four new personal bests.
Leading the Vees was MBA student Tre Ford
(Niagara Falls) who placed fourth in the men’s 60
metre final, just narrowly missing out on a bronze medal.
Ford’s time of 6.81 seconds was just one hundredth
of a second behind bronze medal winner Niko Dowhos of
Lakehead who ran 6.80 seconds. A silver lining came in
the fact that Ford’s time in the final eclipsed
his own school record of 6.94 seconds that he established
at the McGill Team Challenge earlier this season.
Second year architecture student Tristan Routhier
(Saint-Sixte, QC) also advanced to the 60 metre semi-finals
where he matched his personal best of 7.03 seconds and
would place tenth overall in the event. Routhier also
placed 14th in the men’s 300 metre event in a time
of 36.36 seconds.
Leading the Laurentian women was second year nursing student
Kristen Mrozewski (Sudbury) who placed
10th in the women’s 1,000 metre event. Mrozewski’s
time of 2:57.91 was a nearly three second personal best
and places her at number five all-time in Laurentian school
history in the event. Mrozewski also placed 16th in the
women’s 600 metre event, setting another personal
best of 1:38.28.
Second year kinesiology student, Naomi Palmer
(Sudbury) placed 22nd in the women’s 300
metre event, establishing a new personal best time of
43.65 seconds. This time places Palmer number seven on
LU’s all-time list. Palmer also placed 22nd in the
women’s 60 metre event with a time of 8.32 seconds.
Third year ADVL student Sarah Booth (Peterborough)
placed 20th in the women’s 1,000 metre event in
a time of 3:06.67. Fifth year psychology and concurrent
education student Pascale Gendron (Toronto)
placed 16th in the women’s 3,000 metre event, 10:40.63
and 25th in the 1,500 metre event, 4:59.92.
“Tre came into the OUA Championships ranked ninth
and almost came home with a medal, so we are extremely
pleased with the work we did over the past few weeks to
see this jump in performance at the right time,”
noted Assistant Coach Jim Taylor. “Tristan is also
showing that he will be a force to reckon with in both
the 60m and 300m sprint finals at the OUA level over the
next few years. He was not at one-hundred percent this
weekend due to a foot injury but all his hard work during
the season carried him through”.
“Kristen demonstrated once again that she knows
how to race at an elite level”, commented Assistant
Coach Dick Moss. “She made several strong moves
in her 1,000 metre section to ensure she remained with
the lead pack and she powered down the final straight
to earn that three second personal best and a top-10 finish”.
"Our student-athletes definitely left it all on the
track this weekend and that is all you can really ask
for at a championship event" noted Head Coach Darren
Jermyn. "I'm very proud that we contested in all
six track events this weekend including the sprints, middle
distance and distance events. We have a young squad so
the future is definitely bright."
This marks the end of the 2022-23 indoor track & field
season for the Voyageurs.
Photos from the OUA Track
Championships in Windsor are now available on SmugMug.
Thanks to trainer/photographer, Matt Keogh-Bateman, for
the great pics!
https://tinyurl.com/ty5wjm3p
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