OUA Championships Preview: Middle Distance leads Gee-Gees into Conference meet
The Gee-Gees track and field team heads to York University this weekend for the 2020 OUA Championships. The team of thirty will compete Friday and Saturday at the Toronto Track & Field Centre, with most events starting at 3:30 on Friday and at 11:15 on Saturday.
For the full event schedule, visit the York Lions event page.
Webcast on OUA.tv (free subscription required)
The big event to watch for Ottawa will be the women's 600m. Maeliss Trapeau and Sydeney Smith recently took first and third in the 600m at the Windsor Team Challenge, topping runners from Toronto, Western, Guelph, and Regina. Madison Clarke then topped Trapeau's winning time at last week's home meet, and all three Gee-Gees go into the OUA Championships as a medal threat in the 600m. Marie-Eve Dahms will also be fighting hard for a top time in the 600m as she is just outside of the national top 12 and looking for a nationals qualifying time.
Going up the distance ladder, Madison Clarke is the top runner for the Garnet and Grey this season in the 1000m and 1500m while Rebecca Brennan will be looking for a nationals qualifying time in the 3000m.
Caroline Poirier has been establishing new Gee-Gees records with each passing weekend, improving on her personal best in the pole vault. Her PB now stands at 3.75m, a twenty-three centimeter improvement on her fourth-place height clearance from the 2019 OUA Championship. If Poirier can maintain her recent success, she could be stepping onto the OUA podium this year; 3.75m would have won the bronze last year while the silver medallist was at 3.77m.
On the men's side, Quinn Lyness will compete for a top eight time in the 600m, and Tyler DaCosta will look for a strong performance in the 60m hurdles semis. Kyle Sprague's season-high jump of 1.95m in the high jump, which he has accomplished at three meets, ranks in the top five provincially, with Derek Brougham right behind him at 1.90m.
At the 2019 OUA Championships, the Gee-Gees women's team placed sixth with 37 points, and the men placed seventh with 26 points, and the team won a total of three medals led by two golds from now graduated Stephen Evans.