LIONS IMPRESS AT FINAL MEET BEFORE OUA CHAMPIONSHIPS

With only a week away from the OUA championships, the York University track and field team competed at the Hal Brown Track Meet on Friday (Feb. 17) at the University of Toronto. The Lions came away with impressive results, including three gold medals and a total of eight podium finishes.

The throwers were on display as the trio of Cynthia Appiah (Toronto), Elizabeth Petrov (Richmond Hill, Ont.), and Justine Vidal (Arnstein, Ont.) swept the shot put event. Appiah brought home the gold with a throw of 14.63 metres; followed close behind by Petrov, who threw 14.25 metres, which was a season best. Both throws reached CIS qualifying standards. First year thrower Vidal rounded out the medals with a season best throw of 12.47 metres.

Also in the shot put, rookie Ciji Service (Sarnia, Ont.) finished fifth with a throw of 11.41 metres.

The men's shot putters nearly matched the women with Daniel Novia (Mississauga, Ont.) winning the gold with a throw of 16.21 metres and Eric Braithwaite (Brampton, Ont.) winning silver with a 15.63 metre throw. Novia's throw was a CIS qualifying standard; while Braithwaite's reached the OUA standard. Both of their throws were personal bests.

On the track, teammates Dontae Richards-Kwok (Mississauga, Ont.) and Olu Ogunde (Lagos, Nigeria) sprinted to a photo finish, with Richards-Kwok winning the gold with a time of 6.94 seconds, which was a mere three hundredths of a second faster than Ogunde.  

In the 300m event, Judah Osagie (Scarborough, Ont.) raced to a bronze medal and a personal best time of 37.03 seconds. His time was also an OUA qualifying standard.

The Lions will now welcome the best track and field student-athletes in the province and compete in the OUA championships at the Toronto track and field centre on the campus of York University this weekend. The championships get started on Friday and conclude Saturday evening. For more information, please visit 2012 OUA Track and Field Championships website.