A small contingent of Queen’s athletes made the 7 hour trek down the 401 to participate in the 19^th Annual Windsor Team Challenge.  The eight team competition (Windsor, Guelph, UWO, York, McMaster, Detroit, and Oakland) produced some outstanding performances.  Leading the way for Queen’s was rookie phenomenon Veronica Catry.  Veronica shattered her second QUEEN’S RECORD running an electrifying 7.74 seconds in the 60m, so now sits atop both the 60m and 200m ALL TIME PERFORMANCES.  She also kept her streak of medal winning meets intact; it now stands at six.  In all the Gaels won 10 [2 Gold, 3 Silver, 5 Bronze], added two ALL TIME performances to go along with Veronica’s Queen’s Record, recorded 17 PB’s and 8 season best performances.  The women finished sixth with 20 points, just 4 back of fifth place Detroit while the men were fifth with 35 points just 7 back of UWO.  The Gaels have one preparatory meet left prior to OUA Championships; McGill Last Chance, February 16, 2008.  With things so tight in the OUA this year, there’s plenty on the line as people know they will have to upgrade seed performances if they are to earn fast section spots at Championships.

QUEEN’S RECORD

VERONICA CATRY:  60m – 7.74, PB, BRONZE, #5 CIS

With her medal streak on the line and competing against four people ranked ahead of her in the CIS rankings (#2, #4, #6, and #7) Veronica, the 6^th seed going into the meet had her work cut out.  Veronica wasn’t feeling well and looked a little lethargic as she raced to 7.87 in the heats to qualify for the final with the 5^th fastest time.  In the final she got a great start and stayed right with everyone as she powered down the track.  Billie White-Gibson (Windsor) won with 7.62 (2^nd fastest time in the CIS this year), followed by Sarah Pierce (Guelph) with 7.73 the 4^th fastest time in the CIS; then Veronica with what is currently the 5^th fastest time in the CIS.  Coach Wayne Bulak felt at the start of the season the Queen’s Record would fall… he was right!!  The only questions left to be answered are:  can Veronica post a 7.6 something and can she follow in Dupe’s footsteps and win an OUA medal?  With seven of the top 12 women sprinters in the country sitting in the OUA, a medal performance would be a remarkable accomplishment; let alone by a rookie!!!  While nothing is absolutely guaranteed, I think it’s safe to say Veronica has qualified for her first CIS Championships.

ALL TIME PERFORMANCES

MATT HULSE:  1500m – 3:54.38, PB, 4^th, #9 ALL TIME, #7 CIS

Matt stuck with the front runners, Coates and Sinclair of Windsor and teammate Braden Novakowski throughout the race.  He out sprinted Guelph’s Roundell and was closing fast on Braden to secure 4^th place, a big new PB and a leap up the CIS rankings.

JOCELYN POIRIER:  60mH – 9.52, PB, 7^th, #9 ALL TIME

Jocelyn has taken a phenomenal 0.5 seconds off her 60mH time this year.  She clipped another 0.11 off her previous best 9.63 with a power run in the heats to qualify for the final.  With both her speed and endurance significantly improved this year Jocelyn is proving to be an impact athlete in two sports:  track and rugby.

MEDAL PERFORMANCES

We have chosen not to focus on medal performances this year in favour of the quality of the performance.  Given the level of this meet, medal performances were hard to come by and were acquired only with a superb effort, hence, merit acknowledgment.

GOLD MEDAL PERFORMANCES

JEFF BARR:  3000m – 8:41.02, PB

Jeff ran a brilliant race.  He stayed with the front runners and when the pace lagged didn’t hesitate to step into the led and push things.  The McMaster athlete made things interesting jumping back ahead of Jeff after he had lead most of the race.  Jeff quickly responded surging to the lead and opened a 3-second gap which he held to the finish.

MEN’S 4x800m RELAY:  7:56.11, #8 in CIS         [MICHAEL NISHIYAMA (2:00.7), BRADEN NOVAKOWSKI (1:57.0), DAVID BURR (2:01.1), MATT HULSE (1:57.4)].

Everyone was running tired having competed in previous events but it was imperative to get a seed performance for OUA’s so the guys had no choice but to step on the track and produce.  It was a tight tough battle on the first leg with four teams in the mix:  Windsor, Detroit, Queen’s and UWO.  Michael, a rookie, held his own moving from 4^th to 2^nd coming into the hand-off with Braden.  Braden methodically closed the gap down and then surged to the lead.  He opened about a 5m gap which David held on his leg and Matt protected in bringing the stick home.  If the 4x8 is Friday night at McGill and the field is competitive the guys are looking at giving it another go to improve their seed time to a CIS qualifying level; not wanting to leave all their eggs in one basket and have to come up big at Championships, because in sport anything can happen!

SILVER MEDAL PERFORMANCES

CHRIS BRENS:  1000m – 2:30.66, PB

Chris ran what coach Lakins called the best race of his Queen’s career.  With no one wanting to take it out, Chris got on his horse and went.  He lead from start to within 20m of the finish line when the York runner (4^th ranked in the CIS) surged by.  This effort, for now, has put Chris in the OUA fast section.

WOMEN’S 4x800m:  9:44.59, 11 in CIS    [Natalie Desimini (2:25.5, PB), Elizabeth Miller (2:24.7, PB), Leah Larocque (2:23.9), Liza Howard (2:30.4)]

Like their male counterparts the women need to post a seed time for OUA Championships and had to do it coming back off previous races.  Natalie ran a whopper of a 1500m race posting a 5-second PB and found the energy to come back with another sizzler clipping 7-seconds off her previous 4x8 time.  Natalie did the lead-off’s job, by keeping her team in the race bringing the stick home to Liz just behind UWO, Detroit and Windsor.  Liz kept pace and moved the team up a spot in taking about 6-seconds off her previous best 4x8 split.  Rookie Leah opened a gap on Detroit and Windsor but was unable to make in-roads on the UWO team giving Liza the stick with a solid lead on the teams chasing her.  Liza who had earlier ran a great 1500m to post a 4-second PB felt the heat but kept her cool and held the charging Detroit and Windsor runners off.  As with the men if the opportunity exists to run at McGill Friday night the women will take another flier at the 4x8 and see if they can significantly improve and secure a CIS qualifying spot.

MEN’S 4x400m:  3:25.90, 9^th in the CIS   [Mikey Prime (51.7), Adrian Heller (50.5, PB), Tyler Nightingale (51.9), Russell Morrison (51.7)]

One of the big goals for the meet was for the 4x4 to improve their previous seed time and they did just that.  Despite running their fastest time of the year the guys actually dropped a spot in the CIS rankings as York who was behind us nipped us in this race.  Despite being ranked 9^th in the country the guys are 5^th in the OUA and only the top 5 teams qualify for the fast section… where you need to be to run even faster and secure a CIS berth… with the focus on individual events at McGill the guys will need to hold their breath and hope that Waterloo and Guelph who are ranked right behind us don’t manage to surpass us.  While it’s not impossible to run fast in the “slower” section, it’s just makes things that much harder.

BRONZE MEDAL PERFORMANCES

BRADEN NOVAKOWSKI:  1500m – 3:53.88, # 6 CIS

Running third for the first part of the race, Braden surged into the lead and pushed the pace through the middle part.  The Windsor runners surged past on the last lap.  Braden gamely tried to respond but just couldn’t hold on to them as they opened up the gap down the final finishing straight.  Braden gets a rematch in two weeks with OUA gold on the line.  Given how tight the 1500m is this year anyone of about 8 guys could end up on the podium.

NADIA TATLOW:  3000m – 10:23.74, PB

Nadia ran a solid race clipping off 2-second from her previous best.  Except off the start where she got squirted out the back of the pile, Nadia was never positioned worst than 5^th in the race and even held the lead at one stage.  By about the half way mark it was clearly a 4 person race.  With a 1000m to go it was a 3-person race.  The Guelph and UWO runners made their break at about 600m.  Nadia tried to respond, she closed the gap on the UWO runner but the Guelph runner was out of reach.  With her focus ahead Nadia became vulnerable to a late surge by another UWO runner but was fortunately able to hold her off and secure a medal.

VERONICA CATRY:  60m – 7.74, PB, #5 CIS

MEN’S 4x200m RELAY:  1:32.05, #12 CIS                       [Mikey Prime (23.0), Adrian Heller (22.6, PB), Andrew Sisley (22.9), Russell Morrison (23.5, PB)]

Upgrading this seed time was another priority for the meet; goal achieved, though the guys had hoped to run a bit faster.  Mikey put in a solid lead-off giving the stick to Adrian in fourth.  Adrian stayed in this position through the first lap before surging down the back stretch to give the stick to Andrew in second place.  Adrian had himself a phenomenal meet, posting 3 PB’s – 60m, 4x2 and 4x4.  Andrew was a late fill-in for Brian Wilson who wasn’t feeling well.  Andrew did a great job holding position.  Russell worked as hard as he could to hold off a speedy Detroit runner who not only caught him but the UWO runner just ahead.  We held off Guelph for another meet (clipped them at McGill Team) but they are uncomfortably close and 1:31.81 sitting 5^th in the OUA, the guys will have one more shot to leap frog U of T and Waterloo sitting just ahead of us and hold off the Gryphons snapping at our heels this coming weekend at McGill.

WOMEN’S 4x200m RELAY:  1:47.48          [Veronica Catry (25.2, PB), Jen Tam (26.6), Michele Krech (27.6), Angela King (27.8)]

Well the rookie did what she could, putting in a sensational lead-off leg.  Jen Tam ran her best 4x2 leg of the year and kept the team in second behind Windsor who was off to the races and a CIS automatic qualifying time.  Hand-offs were the girl’s nemeses and cost them big time.  With clean hand-off the gals may well have stayed ahead of Guelph and maintained their position in the CIS rankings to earn a trip to Nationals.  The road to McGill in March just got that much harder; it will take a Herculean effort to secure a CIS qualifying spot not to mention perfect hand-offs.

ATHLETES OF THE MEET

ROOKIES:  Veronica Catry hands down on the women’s side… impossible to argue against a QUEEN’S RECORD, a medal and one of the fastest times in the country this year.  It’s a toss up on the men’s side between Mikey Prime (two solid relay lead-off efforts; a solid 60m) and Joshua Potvin who put in a solid effort in the 1000m for his fastest time on a 200m track.  Being part of the silver medal and bronze medal relays tilts the scales in favour of Mikey.

VETERANS:  Jocelyn Poirier on the merits of an ALL TIME performance gets the nod, but Natalie Desimini with two great races and two big PB’s made things interesting.  Take your pick:  Adrian Heller, Braden Novakowski, Jeff Barr, Chris Brens or Matt Hulse – all had a superb meet.  Factoring in medal performances – there was only one individual gold on the weekend and that belongs to Jeff Barr and an ALL TIME PERFORMANCE which moves him into the CIS top 12 and that belongs to Matt Hulse I think these two edge ahead… nice to be in this dilemma!!!

PERSONAL BESTS

MEN:

1. Jeff Barr:  3000m – 8:41.02                     old PB 8:45.02
2. Chris Brens:  1000m – 2:30.66                 old PB 2:31.31
3. Adrian Heller:  60m – 7.35                       old PB 7.37
4. Adrian Heller:  4x2 – 22.6                        old PB 23.0
5. Adrian Heller:  4x4 – 50.5                        old PB 51.3
6. Matt Hulse:  1500m – 3:54.38                  old PB 3:58.08
7. Russell Morrison:  4x2 – 23.5                    equals PB
8. Joshua Potvin:  1000m – 2:35.26              old PB 2:35.53 ** for 200m track
9. Mikey Prime:  4x2 – 23.0 L-O                   old PB 23.1

WOMEN:

1. Veronica Catry:  60m – 7.74                    old PB 7.81
2. Veronica Catry:  4x2 – 25.2  L-O              old PB 25.4
3. Natalie Desimini: 1500m – 4:51.46             old PB 4:56.00
4. Natalie Desimini:  4x8 – 2:25.5                 old PB 2:32.5
5. Liza Howard:  1500m – 4:58.81                old PB 5:02.25
6. Elizabeth Miller:  4x8 – 2:24.7                  old PB 2:30.5
7. Jocelyn Poirier:  60mH – 9.52                   old PB 9.63
8. Nadia Tatlow:  3000m – 10:23.74             old PB 10:25.53