02 Feb, 2009 -- The University of Toronto Varsity Blues track and field team had athletes participating at three different meets this weekend (Jan. 30-31) in Canada and the United States.
A large majority of the team travelled to Montreal to participate in the 14th annual McGill Team Challenge, while three athletes flew to Washington, competing in the University of Washington Indoor Invitational, and Blues pentathletes went to Ohio for the Findlay Indoor Track and Field Classic.
2008 CIS cross country champion Megan Brown (Guelph, Ont.) led the way for the Blues at the McGill. She set a new personal best and broke a Varsity record, running the 3000m in a time of 9:11.69, 42 seconds ahead of Queen’s runner Lesley Sexton. With this time, Brown will now be number one in the Sporting Canada rankings.
Other notable performances on the track in Montreal included Kate Ruediger’s (Oakville, Ont.) second-place finish and Athena McBean’s (Mississauga, Ont.) fourth-place finish in the women’s 300m race.
In the field, Laura Maessen (Dartmouth, N.S.) placed second in the high jump, while Christie Bray (Midland, Ont.) picked up a fifth-place finish in the pole vault.
The women also did well in the relay events: McBean, Ruediger, Maureen Atine (Brampton, Ont.) and Thandiwe Vela picked up a gold medal in the 4x200m relay, while McBean and Ruediger teamed up with Chantelle Maryuen (Markham, Ont.) and Mary Hein (Vancouver, B.C.) for a third-place finish in the 4x400m race.
In men’s action at McGill, Doug Creighton (Toronto) and Jason Wurster (Stevensville, Ont.) placed second and fourth respectively in the pole vault event, while Andre Labelle (Capreol, Ont.) picked up a bronze medal in the shot put and Pablo Tseng (Vancouver, B.C.) also placed fifth in the long jump.
On the track, Andre James (Brampton, Ont.) was fifth in the 60m hurdles, while James, Dave Brumwell (Stoufville, Ont.), Dane Satchell (Toronto) and Felipe Rodriguez (Ottawa, Ont.) finished fourth in the men’s 4x200m relay.
At the University of Washinton Indoor Invitational, first-year standout Tamara Jewett (Toronto) placed 11th in the 3000m run with an impressive time of 9:24.98. Sarah Boyle (Scarborough, Ont.) finished second in the women’s high jump (1.73m) and Mike Del Monte (Guelph, Ont.) ran the men’s mile in 4:12.
Tory Merrill (Orangeville, Ont.) and Desmond Miller (Toronto) both had impressive results in Findlay, Ohio this weekend. Merrill picked up a third-place finish in the women’s pentathlon with a final score of 3434, while Miller placed fifth in the men's pentathlon with 3045 points.
The Varsity Blues return to action next Saturday, February 7th as they travel across town for the York University Classic.
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