CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: Gee-Gees track and field team set for U SPORTS National Championships
The Gee-Gees track and field team is gearing up for the 2022 U SPORTS National Championship. Hosted by the University of New Brunswick, the championship takes place from Mar. 31 through Apr. 2 at the Irving Oil Field House in Saint John, N.B.
The schedule and live results of the three-day meet can be found HERE
Sydney Smith headlines the Gee-Gees six-athlete delegation to the championship. The fifth-year Ottawa product has enjoyed a tremendous season, and currently has the fastest time in the country in the 600m (1:29.38 at Windsor in March). Smith took gold at the OUA Championship, besting Guelph's Sadie-Jane Hickson, who ranks second nationally.
Smith has been named the Biosteel Gee-Gees Female Athlete of the Week twice, and edged two-time Canadian Olympian Noelle Montcalm when setting her season-best at the Windsor Team Challenge.
"Ever since 2020 U SPORTS I've been focussed on winning U SPORTS," says Smith, whose past experiences at nationals have also been instructive. "uOttawa has had such strong girls in the 600 [Madison Clarke and Maeliss Trapeau] and I've learned by watching them."
"Trust the race," says Smith. "Pockets will open up and you can make a move. Trust in yourself and that you'll make the right move. Those things have stuck with me."
In addition to the 600m, Smith will anchor the Gee-Gees 4x400m relay team. The quartet of Smith, Doyin Ogunremi, Frédérique Bell and Hannah Frazer finished just out of the medals at the OUA Championship.
"I remember watching the 4-by-4 team in my first years with the team and making that a goal of mine," notes Smith. "Going to U SPORTS with 4-by-4 team in 2018-19 was a big milestone for me."
The Irving Oil Field House features a 200m, non-banked track, meaning distance times achieved at the championship will be converted.
In the field events, rookie high jumper Thomas Sénéchal-Becker has a legitimate shot at the podium. A silver medallist at the OUA Championship, Sénéchal-Becker ranks third among U SPORTS athletes this season with a leap of 2.05m at the Windsor Team Challenge.
The Health Science student from Ottawa has cleared 2.00m in each of his last three competitions, and has finished no worse than third at any event this season. No Gee-Gees athlete (male or female) has ever won a high jump medal at the National Championship.
Shot putter Brianna Asiamah rounds out the Ottawa contingent. The Social Work student finished seventh at the OUA Championship, and her throw of 12.48m earlier this year ranks her 10th nationally.
Gee-Gees track athletes have collected 46 total medals at U SPORTS National Championships, including 22 golds. Their lone medal in 2020 was a silver won by Madison Clarke in the 600m.