TRK | Voyageurs Turn In Three Top-10 Finishes at OUA Championships
The Laurentian varsity track and field team concluded their 2023 indoor track & field 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.