Things
are looking good when records begin to fall.
But erasing some very long-standing
standards was only part of the good news as the Laurentian
Voyageurs indoor track and field team competed at the
29th Annual McGill Team Challenge on the weekend.
The highlight, on an individual
basis, came courtesy of fifth year veteran and team leader
Keon Wallingford as the North Bay native trimmed roughly
a second and a half off the 3000m mark that was established
by Vaughn Johnston (8:26.7) back in 1975.
In posting a time of 8:25.05,
Wallingford slid into 18th place in the overall rankings
in the country for the current U Sport season after battling
serious injuries at various times during his tenure at
Laurentian.
"The record has been
in my mind for a while now, going back to last year,"
noted Wallingford in the team media release. "I felt
good in my season opener and I knew that I might not get
a better opportunity to run it."
"I executed my race
plan well, going out fast in the first kilometer and hanging
on for as long as possible. I was able to close my final
400m in 63 seconds; I knew I had the record as I crossed
the line."
Joining Wallingford in the
L.U. record books are the women's quartet of Kristen Mrozewski,
Sarah Booth, Maeve Blake and Alissa Diavolitsis as the
foursome covered the 4 X 400m relay in a time of 4:11.11,
placing fourth in the event and taking down a mark that
had stood since 1995.
Top eight finishes by the
women were also recorded by the relay team of Mrozewski,
Booth, Abby Lanteigne and Claire Scholl (4 X 800m - 9:52.16
- 3rd place) and Naomi Palmer, Maeva Sullivan, Erika MacNeill
and Alissa Diavolitsis (4 X 200m - 1:54.96 - 7th place).
On the men's side of things,
the quartet of Brandon Radey, T.J. Green, Patrick Leroux
and Travis Annett finished fifth in the 4 X 800m relay
(8:25.39), a placing that was matched by Radey, Green,
Annett and Alan Wilkin in the 4 X 400m race (3:40.24).
The sprinters weren't far
behind as Skyler Savage-Perreault, Josh Kim, Abdul Abiodun
and Tristan Routhier clocked in at sixth place in the
4 X 200m, crossing the line in 1:35.84.
Jumper Shelley Hladin closed
things off with a pair of top-ten performances, jumping
5.20 metres in the long jump (7th) and 10.44 metres in
the triple jump (9th).
The Voyageurs are back in
action again next weekend, heading to Toronto for the
York Open.
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