Kyle Boorsma and Sarah Peirce led the Gryphon men's and women's track and field teams on multiple fronts this past weekend. The team was divided in two with Boorsma leading a small but strong contingent at the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame University with an outstanding performance in the highlight Meyo Mile event, while Peirce led the other half at the York Open with her stunning 7.54 60 metre performance.
Annually the Meyo Mile is one of the top collegiate mile races on the content, it is believed that Boorsma was the first CIS athlete ever granted the opportunity to participate in the race. Boorsma made the most of his opportunity placing fourth overall in the field with a time of 4 minutes 01.79 seconds, falling just short of becoming the first CIS athlete to break four minutes indoors.
Boorsma was one of three Gryphons to place fourth overall in the highly competitive meet. Teammate Dustin Gamble continued his incredible season adding a school record in the 800 metres to his 600 metre school record from last weekend. Gamble clocked a time of 1 minute 49.71 seconds to place fourth overall. Gamble's performance is believed to be the fastest time in the CIS in the last ten years over the 800 metre distance. Also finishing fourth overall was Rachel Cliff, who placed fourth in the women's 3000 metres. Cliff sliced another 9 seconds off her personal best from last weekend, with her time of 9 minutes 20.82, incredibly she has taken over 30 seconds off her lifetime best this season. Cliff, Boorsma and Gamble all bettered automatic qualifying standard for the CIS Championships in their events, since the CIS does not offer the mile or 800 metres, Boorsma's time will qualify him for the 1500 metres, while Gamble's will qualify him for the 1000 metres.
Also obtaining automatic qualifying standards at the meet were Rachel Aubry and Jess Vanhie. Aubry finished 11th overall in the women's 800 metres with a time of 2 minutes 9.49 seconds, while Vanhie finished 13th in the women's 3000 metres with a time of 4 minutes 53.14 seconds. Aubry's performance qualifies her for the 600 metres, while Vanhie will be running the 1500 metres.
Vanhie was also fifth in the women's 1000 metres with a performance of 2 minutes 52.32 seconds, a time that moves her into second in Canada. The CIS leader in the 1000 metres is her teammate Nadine Frost who gave the Gryphons their loan podium finish at the Meyo with her second place finish in a time of 2 minutes 51.89 seconds. Frost's twin sister Lydia was seventh overall with a performance of 2 minutes 52.49 seconds; she currently sits fourth in the CIS.
Meanwhile at York, Peirce was in full flight as she sliced 5 one hundredths of a second off her personal best performance with her 7.54 clocking. Peirce's time maintains her number two ranking in the CIS as she continues to inch closer to defending champion Genevieve Thibault of Laval. Peirce's time also bettered the CIS automatic qualifying mark; also punching their ticket to the CIS Championships in Windsor was Kim Richardson in the women's triple jump. Richardson jumped 11.49 metres to win the competition; she currently sits sixth in the country.
Other Gryphons on the podium at York were rookie Julia Wallace who won the women's high jump with a lifetime best of 1.64 metres and joined Richardson with a silver in the women's triple jump with a best jump 11.20 metres, she is ranked seventh in the women's high jump and 12th in the women's triple jump, one of four Gryphon women in the top 15 in the country in the triple jump. The Gryphons also went 1-2 in the women's 1500 metres with Tara MacDonald getting the win in 4 minutes 47.16 seconds, followed closely by Samantha Beattie in 4 minutes 49.12 seconds. The Gryphon throwers picked up three third place finishes as Meg Lowry finished third in the women's shot put with a throw 11.99 metres and Brit Herd finished third in the women's weight throw with a throw of 14.66 metres. While Brent Roubos finished third in the men's shot with a throw of 13.96 metres. Rounding out a busy weekend were Kevin Honig's third place finish in the men's triple jump with a best jump of 13.73 metres and Mike Lopatowski's third in the men's high jump with a jump of 1.81 metres.
The Gryphons will be back in action this weekend at the Team Challenge meet in Windsor, their last major competition before the OUA Championships, which will be held February 26th at York.
Also, this week the Gryphons will be hosting The Gryphon Throws Summit, one of the country's only throws only meets. The competition will get started at 4:30 pm on Friday February 12th in the Gryphon Dome.
Full Notre Dame Meyo Invitational Results UND.com
Full York Open Results AthleticsOntario.ca.
Video Highlights of Boorsma's Mile race are available at FloTrack.org.
Video Highlights of Gamble's 800 metre race are available at FloTrack.org.
Video Highlights of Cliff's 3000 metres race are available at FloTrack.org.
Chris Moulton
University of Guelph
Track and Field
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