Gryphons sweep track and field banners for the fifth straight time

SASKATOON (U SPORTS) – The Guelph Gryphons made it five golden sweeps at the 2023 FFUN U SPORTS Track & Field Championship presented by Discover Saskatoon. Guelph handily won both team banners, marking the fifth straight time that the Gryphons had swept both the male and female team championships.

On the women's side, the Gryphons posted 166 points, 100 points ahead of the silver medalist Western. The Saskatchewan Huskies narrowly missed out on the silver medal, as their 65 points was one point short of the Mustangs.

For the men, the Gryphons also dominated the standings, scoring 123 points. Toronto took home the silver with 55.5, and the Manitoba Bisons were close behind and took home the bronze team medal with 55 points.

There were two U SPORTS records broken on Saturday. In the men's triple jump, Kenneth West of Western jumped 16.24 metres to break the record of 15.81 metres, set by Sherbrooke's Olivier Huet in 2013. The silver medallist, Femi Akinduro of Toronto, also beat the old record as he posted a jump of 15.98 metres.

The other record to fall came in men's shot put, where Guelph's Mark Bujnowski posted a throw of 19.08 metres, a full 60 centimetres more than the mark set by Andrew Smith of Saskatchewan in 2011.

Bujnowski was named the male athlete of the meet for his efforts as he won gold in both the shot put and weight throw, giving him a total of seven individual U SPORTS gold medals for his career. Madisson Lawrence of Manitoba won female athlete of the meet honours after taking home gold in the pentathlon and the high jump. Jason Kerr of Guelph was named both male and female team coach of the year.

Field Events

The first medal of the day was the women's triple jump. Mandy Brunet of Windsor was the gold medalist with a jump of 12.39 metres, followed by Kristen Schulz of Toronto with a jump of 12.33m for the sliver. Western's Ayasha Horner went home with the bronze with a jump 12.28m.

Guelph's Brennan Seguin was golden for Guelph in the men's pole vault, with a vault of 5.02m. Alberta's Spencer Allen took home silver at 4.97m, and Jaime Eduardo Martinwent home with the bronze medal, also with a vault of 4.97m.

In women's high jump, three centimetres separates the podium finishers. Madisson Lawrence of Manitoba took top spot with a jump of 1.76 metres. Hannah Blair came in second with a jump of 1.73 metres, and Emma Dale of Toronto was third at 1.70.

The men's triple jump saw the U SPORTS record broken twice. Lauchlan Irish from Lethbridge took home bronze with a jump of 15.00m. Femi Akinduro of Toronto nabbed silver with a jump of 15.98 metres, and Kenneth West from Western won with his record-breaking jump of 16.24 metres.

Mark Bujnowski of Guelph won the shot put for the fourth straight time, shattering the U SPORTS record with a throw of 19.06 metres. His throw was nearly three metres ahead of silver medalist Samuel Bourque. The Moncton Aigle Bleu posted a throw of 16.40 metres and was followed closely by Anthony Labbé of Laval's 16.39-metre throw.

Track Events 

First up on the track on Saturday was the women's 600 metres. Emma Dagenais of Laval took gold with a time of 1:28.11, with Saskatchewan's Avery Pearson taking silver at 1:28.83 and teammate Kendra Farmer with the bronze at a time of 1:29.02.

The men's 600m race was tight, with Montréal's Yassine Aber taking first place in 1:17.94, followed by Laurent-Olivier Dumont from UQTR at 1:18.29, and Micael Anku from Sherbrooke with 1:18.50.

The most exciting event of the afternoon was the men's 4x200-metre relay. The crowd was on their feet to celebrate an incredible performance from Regina, who won with a time of 1:27.74. Guelph was not far behind with a time of 1:27.99. Laval took bronze with a time of 1:28.22.

In the women's 4x200m relay, Guelph took gold with a time of 1:37.53, followed by Saskatchewan (1:38.13) and McGill (1:41.47).

An incredibly close race in the men's 1500 metres saw the top three separated by just hundredths of a second. Max Davies from Guelph was the winner with a time of 3:50.26, followed by McMaster's Alex Drover from McMaster at 3:50.54, and Andrew Peverill from Saint Mary's with a time of 3:50.98.

Guelph nearly swept the podium in the women's 1500 metres. Cameron Ormand was golden with a time of 4:24.47, and teammate Nina Whitford took home silver at 4:25.60. Laval's Florence Caron broke up the sweep as she took bronze with a time of 4:26.00.

The women's 4x400-metre relay saw Guelph take top spot with a time of 3:41.63, followed by Saskatchewan in 3:43.73 and Western at 3:48.84. The men's race saw Manitoba overtake Guelph in the final leg to win gold with a time of 3:16.14, followed by Montréal in silver at 3:17.02, and Guelph fell to bronze in a time of 3:17.04.

The end of competition marks a successful return of the U SPORTS Track & Field Championship to Saskatoon, which acted as host for the championship for the first time since 2006.