News - Archive 2010-2011

 

Athletes of the Week

 

Brandon Potter, Track and Field 03/14/2011 

Potter, a first year nanotechnology engineering student earned Waterloo’s only point at this year’s CIS Track and Field Championship hosted by Sherbrooke University.  Potter earned the eighth position in the triple jump following a jump of 13.52 metres.

 

Naomi Lance, Track and Field 02/28/2011 

Naomi Lance, a first year therapeutic recreation student had a stellar performance at the 2011 OUA Track and Field Championship hosted by York.  Lance set personal bests in every event she competed in.  First was a personal best of 9.45 seconds in the 60 metre hurdles where she finished 10th.  Next, Lance showed her fight with a personal best time of 42.67 seconds in the 300 metre.  Finally, in the 4x400 metre relay race, Lance had the best split time of 61.8 seconds in the opening leg.

 

Nancy Spreitzer, Track and Field 2/22/2011

Spreitzer, a fifth year therapeutic recreation student from Kitchener, Ontario had a tremendous track and field meet at the Hal Brown Memorial in Toronto.  Spreitzer finished second in the triple jump with a leap of 11.28 metres to top her personal best by 46 cm. With that jump, Spreitzer currently ranks 17th in the nation heading into the OUA Championships next weekend.  She looks poised to challenge the varsity record of 11.46 metres set by Heather Moyse in 1996.  With a strong performance at next weekend’s championship, Spretizer could be on her way to the CIS Championships, March 10-12 at Sherbrooke University.

 

Shlomo Dunyo, Track and Field 1/10/2011

Second year track star Shlomo Dunyo had yet another strong weekend for the Warriors track and field team.  Competing at the Sharon Anderson Meet in Toronto, Dunyo finished third in the 60 and 300 metre races.  The arts student ran the 60 metre race in a time of 6.89 seconds surpassing his own Waterloo record of 6.90 that he set back in December.  In the 60 metre finals, Dunyo slipped but still managed a time of 7.00 seconds to finish third overall. In his first ever 300 metre race, Dunyo finished in third with a time of 36.68, well ahead of the OUA standard.

 

Naomi Lance, Track and Field 12/6/2010 

First year track athlete Naomi Lance made a remarkable debut for the Waterloo Warrior track team as she ran in four different events.  Lance finished fourth overall in the 300 metre dash, 0.03 seconds out of third place and 0.11 seconds off the OUA championship standard.  Lance qualified for the semi finals in the 60 metre race, finishing in 12th out of 24 racers with a time of 8.39 seconds.  She also placed 15th overall in the 60 metre hurdles and led the 4x400 team to a second place finish giving them a great start with a time of 65.0 seconds.

 

Schlomo Dunyo, Track and Field 12/6/2010

Second year track star Schlomo Dunyo had an exceptional weekend at the UWO season opening track event.  The arts student finished in first in the 60 metre and 200 metre races as he helped Waterloo earn two of their five gold medals on the day.  In the 60 metre race, Dunyo surpassed the Waterloo record time of 6.97 seconds twice.  He was able to reduce the time to 6.90 seconds.  After running the 60 metre race a total of four times, he captured the 200 metre in a time of 23.15 seconds.

 

 

 

CIS Championships Recap

March 14, 2011

In the conclusion to the 2010-2011 season, a small contingent of sprinters and one triple jumper travelled to Sherbrooke Quebec in order to take part in the three day CIS Championships.

A testament to the sprints program at Waterloo, day one of competition opened with all three of the team’s top sprinters in Luke Govia, Kofi Kwarko-Fosu and Shlomo Dunyo competing in the 60m dash.  

With all three Warriors running in the second of two heats, it was Kwarko-Fosu who won the title of the day’s fastest Warrior, coming in 10th overall and just out of the finals in 6.99 seconds.

 Following closely on his heels, Govia finished 11th in a respectable 7.03 seconds, and Dunyo was 13th in 7.07 seconds. The results were bitter-sweet for all three Warriors. It is an accomplishment in itself to make it into the competition as only the Nations top twelve times or jumps qualify. With that said, none of the sprinters recorded personal bests, and for Dunyo especially, a nagging hamstring injury acquired at the Ontario Championships two weeks prior certainly prohibited him from competing at his best.

Day two of competition saw Govia and Kwarko-Fosu team up with veterans Ben Terejko and Jacob Muirhead in the 4x200 meter.  Coming into the event with the nation’s sixth fastest time, expectations were high for the Warriors to qualify for the six team finals to be held the next day.  

Unfortunately, on the very first hand-off the team ran into some technical difficulties.  A split second before Kwarko-Fosu was to hand off the baton to Luke, the two Warriors clipped one another’s legs and Kofi fell heavily to the track with the baton falling to the side of the track. Although the Warriors picked up the baton and managed to finish in 11th.

Back to prove themselves in day three, the Warriors had competitors in two events.  First up, Rookie triple jumper Brandon Potter showed his competitive side, qualifying for the finals in his first appearance at the championships.  Eventually finishing eighth with a jump of 13.52 meters, Potter was very deserving of the team point he earned for his top eight placing. 

Next up on the track, the men’s 4x400 team comprising of Muirhead, Govia, Terejko, and second year athlete Oliver Grant managed to post a respectable time of 3:24.67 to finish 11th in the competition. 

With Shlomo Dunyo, Oliver Grant, Brandon Potter and Jacob Muirhead all back next year, the Warriors will look forward to improving on their results at the CIS Championships next year.  At the same time, with Kwarko-Fosu graduating and Govia out of eligibility, both of these athletes must be commended on their seasons of hard work with the Warriors, their commitment to the team and their impressive performances over the years while wearing the black and yellow.

Next up for the Warriors is a week or two of well deserved break, before club training begins in preparation for a competitive summer season.

 

 

Spreitzer Wins OUA Student-Athlete Community Service Award

March 8, 2011

Nancy Spreitzer (Kitchener, Ont.) a fifth year track and field student-athlete for the Waterloo Warriors was named the recipient of the 2011 OUA Student-Athlete Community Service Award on Tuesday afternoon.  The therapeutic and recreation student has been an active member of the Warrior community since her first year on the track team in 2006.  

Spreitzer is a member of the Interuniversity (IU) Council at the University of Waterloo where she has helped organize several charity events.  She was the lead coordinator on the trick or eat event held annually on Halloween as student-athletes collected non-perishable food items for the Food Bank of Waterloo Region.  

Spreitzer was also an integral part of a food drive her and several members of the IU Council ran at a local Zehrs supermarket.  Additionally Spreitzer is working on an athletic equipment donation project for children who can’t afford sporting equipment in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.   

Spreitzer has also been a Team-Up speaker for Waterloo athletics since 2008.  Team-Up is a community outreach program where student-athletes talk to elementary school kids about the keys to success and the importance of balancing academics and athletics; a topic Nancy knows very well.

On top of Spreitzer’s community involvement, she has excelled academically being named a CIS Academic All-Canadian twice in her career (2007-08, 2009-10) as well as to the Waterloo President’s Athletic Academic Honour Roll (80% + overall average while competing on an interuniversity team).

Athletically, Spreitzer has excelled as one of the top triple jumper’s to have ever worn the black and gold colours.  She was the Waterloo rookie of the year in 2007 and the second best all-time triple jumper with a distance of 11.28 metres which earned her a second place finish at the 2011 Hal Brown last chance meet in Toronto.  Spreitzer finished 12th at the 2011 OUA Championship with a triple jump of 11.05 metres.

 

 

 

OUA Championships

February 28, 2011

This past weekend, the Waterloo Warriors travelled to York University for the 2011 OUA Track and Field Championship. With several Warriors seeded in the top 10 of their events, both spirits and expectations were high leading up to the championship. Just as they have all season, the Warriors did not disappoint.

Waterloo’s sprinters continued their excellent year at OUA’s, with the four Warrior entries in the 60 m, Sholmo Dunyo, Luke Govia, Kofi Kwarko-Fosu and Katrina Vandervoort all progressing to the semifinals. In the preliminaries, sprint star Dunyo ran the second fastest 60 m of his career at 6.86s, and Kwarko-Fosu broke the 7 second barrier for the first time, running 6.97s. It would prove to be a Waterloo dominated men’s 60m final, as all three Warrior men advanced through the semi-finals.

In the final, team captain Govia had the race of his career, running a personal best of 6.93s to place fourth overall. Kwarko-Fosu continued his strong showing with a new personal best of 6.94s to place fifth. Unfortunately, hampered by a nagging hamstring, Dunyo was only able to place seventh. All three Warrior men now stand a good chance of qualifying for the CIS Championship this March.

Rookie sprinter Naomi Lance also had a great weekend, placing 10th overall in the women’s 60m hurdles, and running a new personal best time of 42.67s in the 300m, almost half a second faster than her previous best. In the men’s 300m, Dunyo ran a personal best of 35.37s to place 10th overall.

The middle and long distance Warriors also had a strong showing at OUA’s. Rookie Michelle Cress had an excellent 600m, running an almost 3 second personal best of 1:42.75. Cress’s teammate, Stephanie Hinton, also had a great race, running a 2 second season’s best of 1:44.23. In the men’s 600m Lawrence Xie was the top ranking Warrior with a time of 1:24.19, a one second personal best.

The lone Warrior in the men’s 1000m, Devon Briggs, ran a season’s best time of 2:34.27, while in the men’s 3000m, rookie Michael Stewart ran a new personal best of 8:59.62, shaving 7 seconds off his previous time. The largest Warrior personal best of the weekend belonged to Kristen Marchant, who ran 10:34.39 in the women’s 3000m, an 8 second personal best.

Not to be outdone by their track counterparts, the Warrior jumpers and throwers racked up the points with several top ten finishes. In the men’s long jump, Jeremy Yang placed 10th, and in the men’s high jump, Andrew Good placed 5th, narrowly missing out on his personal best and a 3rd place finish. Warrior rookie Brandon Potter, who is currently ranked eighth in the CIS, finished fifth in the men’s triple jump.

In the women’s shot put, rookie Marian Agyei-Gyamera tied her personal best of 10.91m to place 10th overall, and rookie Sarah Krapez threw a personal best 9.62m. Both Warrior women, who have consistently improved all season, are certainly ones to watch in the future. In the women’s pentathlon, Chantel Pilon had a personal best score of 2433 points.

The Warrior relay teams had a mixed outing at OUA’s. Unfortunately, due to a dropped baton, the men’s 4 by 800m relay was disqualified, and the men’s 4 by 200m relay ran one second slower than their season’s best to place 5th; one tenth of a second away from the bronze medal. The women’s 4 by 400m relay had an excellent performance, dropping almost 7 seconds off their season’s best to come in ninth. The men’s 4 by 400m relay ran their second best time of the season to come in sixth.
In the final team standings, the Warrior men placed eighth, matching their performance from last year, while the Warrior women were unranked. With the CIS Championship upcoming, Warriors Dunyo, Govia, Kwarko-Fosu and Potter, as well as the men’s 4 by 200m and 4 by 400m relay teams are all currently ranked within the top 12 in the country. Hopefully, they will all qualify and bring the Warrior spirit and dedication to Sherbrooke, March 8th to 12th, for the CIS Championship. 

 

 

Hal Brown/McGill Last Chance Meet’s

February 19, 2011 

This weekend, the Waterloo Warriors track and field team competed at three different track meets and at every venue, Waterloo showed they are prepared heading into this coming weekend’s OUA championships.

With the main contingent of Warriors heading to the University of Toronto for the Hal Brown Memorial, the Waterloo jumps group was especially impressive, emerging with a number of outstanding results.  Most impressive in this respect was team captain Nancy Spreitzer in the women’s triple jump. Having topped her personal best numerous times this season, Nancy continued in good form at the Hal Brown Memorial, placing second  in the competition with a leap of 11.28m.  With this jump, which is a whopping 46cms further than Nancy’s previous personal best, she currently ranks just outside the nation’s top 15, in 17th place.  Heading into the Ontario Championships next weekend, Spreitzer looks poised to challenge the varsity record of 11.46m set by Heather Moyse in 1996. If things go well, Spreitzer could also qualify for the CIS national championships being held in Sherbrook in early March.

 In addition to Spreitzer, Brandon Potter, Jeremy Yang and Katrina Vandervoort also posted some very impressive results in the long and triple jump.  Indeed, rookie Brandon Potter has been a valuable asset to the Warriors jump crew all season and his consistency was highlighted in Toronto with his best jump of the season in the men’s triple jump.  Finishing first in a leap of 13.70m, Potter now sits 6th on both the warrior all-time list as well as in the national rankings.  Backing this performance up, Potter also placed third, just behind veteran Jeremy Yang in the men’s long jump with a jump of 6.34m.  For Yang, his second place leap of 6.61m is a significant season’s best, and a confidence boost for this past CIS long jump qualifier. Back to the women’s side, Katrina Vandervoort improved her season’s best in the long jump, passing the 5m mark for the first time this season to place fifth with a jump of 5.04m.  In addition, Vandervoort also attained the OUA standard in the triple jump with her leap of 10.59m to place sixth. 

On the track, veterans Oliver Grant and Brian Ma also posted some impressive results in the men’s sprints.  Grant, on the comeback trail from injury placed sixth in the mens 600m with a personal best time of 1:24.81 seconds.  In addition, Brian Ma recorded seasons bests in both the preliminaries (7.39) and the finals (7.38) of the men’s 60m to place fifth overall.  Turning to the distance events, Charley Allen posted an impressive 4:00.00 minutes to place seventh in a very competitive men’s 1500m, while Kristen Marchant continued to improve, placing third in the women’s 3000m in a time of 10:42.30.

Next up, a small contingent of Waterloo warriors travelled 8 hours by car to the McGill Last Chance meet with the goals of improving on their relay times, and qualifying some individual competitors for the CIS championships occurring later this winter.  From the get go, however, this meet did not pan out as expected, as some significant timing problems led to large delays and a great deal of general confusion among the runners. 

Largely unaffected by these timing delays, Shlomo Dunyo, Luke Govia and Kofi Kwarko-Fosu ran to finish in times of 6.98, 6.99 and 7.07 seconds respectively in the men’s 60m finals. For Govia, this time, which currently places him 15th in the country, was a significant seasonal best from his previous fastest of 7.05 seconds. It also brings him ever closer to an individual birth in the CIS 60m where he would compete alongside Dunyo, whose qualifying mark of 6.85 seconds, run earlier this season, still places him 5th in the country.

Next up for the Warriors was the men’s 4x200m relay.  With a team that comprised of Dunyo, Govia, Kwarko-Fosu and Ben Terejko, the warriors led a number of top 10 teams up until the 4th leg of this event when tragedy struck.  A hand-off miss between Terejko and Kwarko-Fosu marked the end of what was almost certainly a first place finish and season’s best.  Despite this setback, the Warriors must come away confident in their abilities, as up until the fourth leg, they were firmly in the lead against some very tough competitors including Queens and Ottawa, who are ranked eighth and ninth in the country in this event respectively. 

With all other events completed, the men’s 4x400m relay took to the track as the last scheduled event of the meet. Due to timing delays and technical difficulties, however, the Warriors found themselves running alone, as the race did not get underway until 7:30pm. Despite this lack of competition, the relay, comprised of Jacob Muirhead, alongside Govia, Terejko and Dunyo, still came away with a time of 3:24.00h, their second fastest of the season. Especially impressive in this relay was Dunyo, who, all alone, clocked an impressive 49.8 second split, one of the fastest by a Warrior in quite some time.

This weekend marks the end of the regular season for the Warriors. They next compete at the OUA Championships which takes place at York University, February 25-26.

 

 

York Classic 

February 4, 2011

In a return to last year’s OUA championship site, the Warriors travelled to the Toronto Track and Field Centre at York University this weekend and came away with some strong performances.

Opening the competition, the  60m saw some excitement, yet unfortunately, it was not the kind the Warriors were used to.  A threat for the win in every 60m race he has competed in this season, Shlomo Dunyo did not get the chance to challenge for the win at York, as he was disqualified for a false start.  In his absence, Luke Govia and Kofi Kwarko-Fosu stepped up to finish seventh and eighth respectively, each timed at 7.06 seconds. For Kwarko-Fosu, this was a significant season’s best and a return to form from last year, which saw him place 11th in the province in a time of 7.01 seconds. 

In the 60m hurdles, rookie Naomi Lance and veteran Eric Noland were also impressive.  Already owner of the Warriors ninth fastest ever 60m hurdle time, Lance improved her personal best to finish eighth in the women’s race in a time of 9.48 seconds. Lance now sits eighth on the Warrior all-time list.  Noland fared well in the men’s 60m hurdles as well to finish ninth in 9.09 seconds. On co-op for this semester, Eric seems poised to return to sub 9 second territory shortly.

Also in the sprints, having missed his opportunity in the 60m, Dunyo led the Warriors in the 300m, lowering his personal best set at McGill last week in the process, stopping the clock in 35.46 seconds for a 7th place finish. With this time, Shlomo moves up one position on the warrior all time list and now sits sixth overall. In addition, this time currently ranks Dunyo 16th in the country and .2 seconds off a top 10 ranking and another individual birth to the CIS championships to go alongside his likely qualifying time (6.85 seconds) in the 60m.  Following Dunyo home in the 300m, Govia finished in a season’s best 36.37 seconds to place 14th out of 49 competitors in this extremely competitive 300m.

The Warriors came away with numerous top 10 placings in the distance events as well with veteran Devon Briggs’ fourth place finish leading the way.  Showing consistent improvement all season, Briggs took another .5 seconds from his 1000m personal best, finishing in 2:34.94 seconds. In addition to his fourth place finish in the race, this time also puts Devon 10th on the Warrior all time list. Also in the distance events, veteran Patrick MacKinnon and rookie Michael Stewart finished closely to place seventh and ninth in the men’s 3000m with times of 9:05.22 and 9:08.89 seconds respectively. In the women’s 3000m Kristen Marchant lowered her personal best significantly to place fifth in 10:54.28.

In field events, captain Nancy Spreitzer came away with a sixth place finish and personal best of 10.82 meters in the women’s triple jump. In the long jump, veteran Jeremy Yang placed fourth with a legal leap of 6.23m, yet a fouled second round jump looked closer to the 7m mark. On the women’s side Katrina Vandervoort placed 10th in a season’s best 4.84 meters. In the men’s high jump, Andrew Good showed his consistency once again, placing sixth with a clearance of 1.85 meters.

Closing out the competition for the warriors, the men’s 4 x 200m consisting of Luke Govia (22.5) Ben Terejko (22.4) Kofi Kwarko Fosu (23.0) and Eric Noland (23.1) came away with a second place finish in 1:31.47.  Similarly, the men’s 4 x 400m relay consisting of Shlomo Dunyo (52.6) Luke Govia (50.6) Jacob Muirhead (50.9) and Ben Terejko (51.5) also placed 2nd behind a talented York team.

Next up for the Warriors is the University of Toronto’s Hal Brown Memorial in two weeks time. In addition, a select group of warriors will travel to the McGill last chance meet that same weekend in an attempt to lower their times heading into the Championship season.

 

 

Track team claims 3 medals at McGill Team Challenge

January 31, 2011

This past weekend the Warriors travelled to Montreal for the annual McGill Team Challenge, one of the largest indoor track and field meets in Canada. The Warriors competed well in the large event bringing home three medals, two silvers and a bronze, and a number of personal and seasonal bests.

Claiming the Warrior medals were several members of the sprints team. First, Warrior sprinter Shlomo Dunyo continued his great season claiming silver in the 60m dash with a clocking of 6.90 seconds. As well, Shlomo ran a new personal best in the 300m in 35.60 seconds which now ranks him in the top 15 in the CIS. Shlomo also led the 4 by 200m team to a bronze medal with a clocking of 1:29.56 in a personal best split of 21.9s, along with teammates Jacob Muirhead, Luke Govia and Ben Terejenko. Shlomo’s times now rank him as the second fastest Warrior ever in the 4 by 200m, and the seventh fastest in the 300m. 

The four continued with a great performance of 3:22.77 in the 4 by 400m earning them a silver medal. Among the sprinters, Ben Terejenko had an outstanding meet coming home with three personal bests in the two relays as well as the 300m. Ben improved his best 400m split by over a second from 51.1 to 49.9 ranking him fifth all-time for the Warriors in the event. On the female side, rookie sprinter Naomi Lance competed in the 60mH, 4 by 400m, and the 300m. She was the top Warrior athlete in all three events, and ran a new personal best time of 43.13 seconds in the 300m.

In the distance events, Charley Allen led the way for the Warriors. In each of his three outings this year, Charley has stepped on the track as a medal threat, and although he fell short of the podium in McGill, Charley still managed to slide into fifth place on the Warrior all time list, finishing in a time of 3:57.61. With nearly all of the top university contenders toeing the line, Charley held his own moving up consistently in his heat to eventually place 7th overall. His effort currently places him 12th in Canada to go alongside his 14th place national ranking in the 1000m and his 17th place ranking in the men’s 3000m. 

Following on Charley’s heels, veterans Devon Briggs (4:06.45PB) and Justin Spalvieri (4:08.81PB) placed 28th and 32nd respectively to qualify them for the OUA championships later this winter.

Turning from distance to the jumps and field events, Team captain Nancy Sprietzer showed her consistency, coming up only 9 cm short of her personal best set two weeks ago to crack the top ten in the women’s triple jump. Not to be outdone, freshman Marian Agyei-Gyamera tip-toed past the elusive 10 meter barrier, putting a personal best 10.00 meters to place eighth in the women’s shot put.

On the men’s side, veteran’s Andrew Good and Jeremy Yang cracked the top ten, with Good finishing tied for third in the men’s high jump (1.85m) and Yang ninth in the men’s long jump (6.24m). Although neither jumper came away with a seasonal best, Good had two very close looks at what would have been a PB equaling a season’s best 1.90m. Additionally, Yang, a CIS qualifier in the past, has only recently returned from injury, and managed to register just one out of his three jumps, with his other two leaps ending in fouls.

Last but certainly not least, the pentathletes had their first multi-event competition of the year and did not disappoint.  Either breaking or tying his pentathlon PB in every event he participated in, Justin Conlon broke the 3000 point barrier in style, registering 3040 points to place fourth in this grueling event. Currently, this performance places Justin tenth in the country. Similarly, in her first pentathlon ever, Chantel Pilon crushed her long jump personal best en route to a 10th place finish. 

Next up on the agenda, the Warriors will head closer to home, taking part in the York Classic on February 5th.

 

 

Don Wright Team Challenge 

January 24, 2011

The Warriors travelled to London this weekend to take on competitors from Western, Windsor, McMaster and York in the Don Wright Team Challenge. Both the men’s and women’s teams came away with respectable fourth place overall finishes that were highlighted by impressive individual performances. 

The day started off with a medal as Shlomo Dunyo (Hamilton, Ont.) sprinted to a second place finish in a very competitive 60m race. He was joined in the final by Kofi Kwarko-Fosu (Toronto, Ont.) who finished eighth.. Kofi then teamed up with Ben Terejko (Brantford, Ont.) and captains Luke Govia (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad) and Jacob Muirhead (Elmira, Ont.) to finish second in the 4x200m relay. 

The sand pits saw the return of veteran long jumpers Jeremy Yang (Waterloo, Ont.) and Katrina Vandervoort (Ottawa, Ont.) from injury. Kat achieved travel standard with a leap of 4.75m. Not to be outdone, Jeremy won the competition with a jump of 6.25m, well beyond the OUA standard. 

The high jump competition was a battle between teammates Justin Conlon (Ayr, Ont.) and Andrew Good (Whitby, Ont.) who finished first and second respectively, each with a height of 1.88m. 

On the track, Charles Allan (Kingston, Ont.) ran a gutsy 1km to secure a third place finish in a quick time of 2:30 second. Justin Spalvieri (Alliston, Ont.) was hot on his heels in seventh. The pair combined with Oliver Grant (Kitchener, Ont.) and Lawrence Xie (Guelph, Ont.) to place third in the 4x400m relay. In the 3000m Patrick MacKinnon (Mount Hope, Ont.) and Michael Stewart ran well to finish well under the travel standard in 9:03s and 9:06s. 

Naomi Lance (Kitchener, Ont.) brought in big points for the women’s team, performing well in the 60m hurdles, 300m, and contributing to the second place 4x200 and third place 4x400 relays. Other medalists were Stephanie Hinton (Brantford, Ont.) in the 600m, Kelly-Lynne Spettigue (Richmond Hill, Ont.) in the 1500m. 

Look for the Warriors next weekend as they head to McGill to compete in one of the biggest meets in the country.

 

 

Warriors continue to impress, Dunyo breaks his own varsity record…Again!

January 15, 2011

In their second meet back from the Christmas holidays, the Warriors travelled south to compete at the University of Windsor’s Can-Am Track Classic held at the St. Denis Athletic Center. With the majority of OUA track and field powerhouses in attendance, including Windsor, Guelph, York, Toronto and Western, the Can-Am Track Classic is traditionally one of the most competitive meets on the Warrior schedule.

This year was no exception and the warriors rose to the occasion, coming away from the meet with a number of seasonal bests, personal bests and for Shlomo Dunyo, another varsity record.

The star of the meet for the warriors was, once again, 2nd year veteran Shlomo Dunyo. After easily qualifying first overall from the preliminaries and semi-finals, the Waterloo team was anticipating something special from Dunyo in the finals. It very quickly became apparent that Dunyo would not disappoint as he stormed home to victory against a star studded field which included a number of national championship qualifiers from last year’s CIS championships. With the victory secure, the only question remaining was whether or not Shlomo had broken his week old varsity record of 6.89 seconds.  With a time of 6.85 seconds, Shlomo’s race was truly special. He managed to shave off another .04 seconds from his personal best and varsity record and is currently ranked 2nd in the country.  Dunyo’s teammate Luke Govia was agonizingly close to the final, yet had to settle for 9th place in this extremely deep field in a time of 7.08 seconds. Govia also placed 7th in the 300m dash in a season’s best 36.49 seconds.

In the womens 60m hurdles, Waterloo rookie Naomi Lance was also impressive. Qualifying for the finals in 12th position in a personal best time of 9.68 seconds, Lance was able to return a few hours later with her best run of the year.  Improving to finish 8th overall, Naomi was able to shave a bit more time off of her PB in the women’s 60m hurdle finals, finishing in 9.54 seconds. This time places Naomi 9th on the Warrior all-time list.

Turning from sprints to distance, distance captain Kelly-Lynne Spettigue came within .25 seconds of her personal best in the women’s 3000m to finish 11th in a time of 10:36.41 seconds. On the men’s side, veteran’s Justin Spalvieri and Devon Briggs both ran well enough to grab OUA standard in the 1500m and 1000m respectively.  Starting out conservatively, Spalvieri eventually passed most of his heat to cross the line in a personal best of 4:08.94 seconds. With a blazing last lap, there looks to be much more room for improvement.  Injured or on co-op for much of the past year, Devon Briggs appears to be rounding into shape nicely. Briggs finished 13th in a very deep 1000m field in a time of 2:35.24 seconds.

In field events, the Warriors had a number of top ten finishes. On the women’s side, team captain Nancy Spreitzer came away with an OUA qualifying and personal best leap of 10.79m in the finals to finish 7th overall. This jump also places Nancy 2nd on the Warrior all time list for this event! On the men’s side, rookie Brandon Potter just missed the final in the long jump, placing 9th with a jump of 6.12 meters. In the men’s high jump, Justin Conlon and Andrew Good continued their friendly rivalry, ending the competition tied for 4th place at 1.80m.

Closing out the competition in fashion, team members Jacob Muirhead, Luke Govia, Oliver Grant and Ben Terejko came away with a 1st place showing in the men’s 4 by 400m.  With seasonal best times from each of the relay’s individual runners, the warriors stopped the clock in 3:25.28 seconds.

 

 

A bright start to a new year, 7 medals and another Waterloo record

January 10, 2011 

The new year started quickly for the Waterloo Warriors as they travelled to the University of Toronto to compete in the 2011 Sharon Anderson track meet this past weekend. With the winter holidays behind them, some might have expected a slow start for the Warriors. However, this was not the case as the Warriors’ hard work and training over the break paid off.

This was especially true of men’s 60 m varsity record holder Shlomo Dunyo, who broke his own varsity record with a time of 6.89 seconds in the preliminaries. Unfortunately, due to a poor start, Dunyo was unable to capture gold in the event, but was still able to recover and place third. The 60 m final was dominated by the Warriors, with Dunyo’s teammates Luke Govia and Kofi Kwarko-Fosu placing 4th and 6th respectively.

In the men’s 300 m, Govia and Dunyo continued to impress for the Warriors, placing 2nd and 3rd respectively with strong opening times of 36.56 and 36.68 seconds. Teammate Oliver Grant narrowly missed the podium, placing 5th overall with at time of 36.93 seconds. Grant matched his performance in the 300 m with a 5th place performance in the men’s 600 m making him the highest placing Warrior in the event. 
Not to be outdone, the women Waterloo sprinters also had a strong performance. Rookies Naomi Lance and Anna Antczak placed 4th and 6th respectively in the 60 m hurdles, with times of 9.82 and 9.89 seconds.

Moving from sprints to long distance, the Warriors continued their strong showing. Team captain Kelly-Lynne Spettigue ran an impressive 10:41.52 seconds in the women’s 3000 m to make OUA standard. Charly Allan captured bronze in the men’s 3000 m with a time of 8:38.01 seconds, beating the OUA standard by 22 seconds and nearing the CIS standard of 8:20.47 seconds. This performance places him 6th overall in Warrior history,  the spot previously held by distance coach Stephen Drew. Allan’s teammate Teammate Justin Spalvieri also ran well in the 3000 m, placing 7th.

Proving that they can not only run, but also soar, the Waterloo jumpers landed two podium finishes. Brandon Potter placed third in the men’s triple jump with a jump of 12.72 m, and captain Nancy Spreitzer placed third in the women’s triple jump with a jump of 10.58 m, missing OUA standard by only 0.03 m. Anna Antczak added to her already strong performance at this meet by placing 4th in the women’s triple jump with a jump of 10.32 m. Rounding out the Warriors’ podium finishers was rookie Marian Agyei-Gyamera who captured bronze in the women’s shot put with a throw of 9.91 m. This was a personal best for Agyei-Gyamera by the significant distance of 0.46 m.

With the first meet of the new year completed the Warriors will look to continue their impressive performances at the high profile Cam Am Track Classic held at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario on January 14th and 15th.
 

 

 

Dunyo grabs Waterloo record, Warriors win 5 gold medals in track season opener

December 4, 2010 

This weekend the Waterloo Warriors travelled to London, Ontario in what proved to be one of their best season openers in recent memory.  With 60m and 200m champion Shlomo Dunyo leading the way, the team came away with a number of podium finishes including 5 gold medals. 

The 60m final was nearly an all Waterloo affair, with Shlomo Dunyo (6.95 seconds) Luke Govia (7.05 seconds) and Kofi Kwarko-Fosu (7.34 seconds) taking 1st, 2nd and 4th place respectively. The event was extremely exciting, as, after beginning conservatively in the preliminaries, Dunyo stormed away from his competitors to break Ian Forde’s nine year old varisty record time of 6.97 seconds in the semi finals, stopping the clock at 6.90 seconds. 

Although expectations were high after Dunyo’s record in the semi’s, a timing malfunction prevented Dunyo from re-breaking it in the finals. Indeed, the entire final of the 60m had to be re-run after the timing equipment failed to record the times for the final. This race was almost certainly faster than the second final, as all of the competitors were asked to re run the event shortly after the first final with very little warning.

Similar to the 60m, Shlomo showed his range in the sprints, taking the 200m gold in addition to his 60m crown in a time of 23.15 seconds. This time places Shlomo 8th on the all time list for this event. Govia again followed Dunyo closely to the finish line, taking the bronze in 23.46 seconds. 

Other medalists in the sprints included returning veteran’s Ben Terejko, Oliver Grant and Eric Noland.  Getting out extremely quickly, Terejko finished 3rd in the 300m with a time of 37.10 seconds. This is just 0.2 seconds off of his 300m PB.  Grant took home the bronze medal in the 600m race as well, running a tactically sound 600m to finish in a PB of 1:25.04. In the 60m hurdles, Noland claimed the silver medal running to a time of 9.00 seconds. Special mention has to go to rookie Naomi Lance who, in her first race as a Warrior placed a very respectable 4th in the 300m with a time of 43.66 seconds. Making the result even more impressive, Lance was only .03 seconds out of 3rd place and .11 seconds from the OUA championship standard in the event.

Despite running 5 individual races, Govia also led the Warriors into the relay events, starring in the 4 by 200m and 4 by 400m. Govia clocked the fastest 200m split and second fastest 400m split leading his teams to a 2nd  place finish in the 4  by 200m (1:34.17) and a first place finish in the 4 by 400m.

In the distance events, Kelly-Lynne Spettigue and Justin Spalvieri both finished 1st in the 1500m and 3000m races respectively.  In what is a very strong debut, Spettigue ran by herself throughout the 1500m to finish in a time of 5:01.99.  Spalvieri completed his 3000m race to finish in a quick 9:12.77 seconds.

There were some strong results and personal bests in the throws and jumps as well.  In the shot put, rookies Marian Agyei-Gyamera and Sarah Krapoez threw Personal Bests of 9.46m and 9.38m to place 9th and 10th in a deep field.  In Addition, rookie Brandon Potter qualified for the OUA championships in his first meet in the long jump (6.35m) and triple jump (13.01m) placing 4th and 5th respectively.

With a strong showing at the UWO season opener, the team will head into the holiday season hungry and excited for their next competition at the Sharon Anderson Memorial, held at the University of Toronto January 8th, 2010.

 

 

Warriors Continue to Shine Throughout the Summer

August 1, 2010 

The 2010 Outdoor Track & Field Season has been busy for many current Warriors as well as alumni competing at numerous twilight and National qualifier meets. Although there are a dozen athletes who have been setting personal bests throughout the summer a handful met qualifying standards to the Canadian Jr Championships/World Jr Trials and Canadian Sr Championships. Among these athletes are four UW Track Field alumni, Julia Malleck, Jason Goetz, Jaime Hauseman and Kate
Bickle.

Julia Malleck, competing for the Ottawa Lions, had a very busy and
successful week.   On Wednesday Julia ran in the women's 800m prelims
winning her heat & automatically qualifying for the semi finals the
next day where she ran a new personal best by a second and a half in a
time of 2:10.80 placing her 14th overall.  Next up was the women's
1500m Friday afternoon where Julia again ran a seasons best and life
time personal best shedding 4 1/2 seconds in a time of 4:26.48 which
also qualified her for the final on Saturday.  Lining up next to
Canada's top female 1500m runners Julia managed to run her second best
time ever placing her 10th overall.

Jaime Hauseman ran alongside former teammate Julia in the women's 800m
prelims Wednesday night running a solid 3 second personal best in a
time of 2:15.19 which at the time did not qualify her for the semi
finals but due to scratches she was able to run again in the semi
finals finishing 20th overall.

Jason Goetz qualified for Nationals from his phenomenal performances
last year.  Jason took a long lay off after winning the CIS
Championships indoors and was still mid way through his training.
Nationals was only his second meet of the year, but he still jumped a
respectable 14.15m placing 11th overall.

Kate qualified for the Sr Nationals events that took place July 28-31
at the University of Toronto in the women's 400m and 400m Hurdles but
due to injury was unable to participate.

Also competing at the Sr. Championships was 3rd year Matt Melnik who
qualified for the mens 3000m Steeplechase that took place Friday
evening.  Matt ran against a very talented group of men and placed
16th with a time of 10:39.64.

Rookie Oliver Grant has had a ground breaking season so far
specializing in the 400m Hurdles.  Grant qualified for the Canadian
Jr/World Jr Trial Championships in his first hurdle race of the season
and later qualified for the Canadian Sr Championships with a time of
55.99.  At the Jr. Championships in Moncton, NB Oliver ran over a
second personal best in the qualifying round earning him a spot in the
finals where he later ran a second and a half personal best of 54.60
to finish 4th in Canada.  Four weeks later Oliver ran in the Sr.
Championships, quite an accomplishment for a Jr. athlete, and ran
among Canada's record holder in the event.  Nursing a slight injury
Oliver was unable to meet his goals but nonetheless finished 11th
overall.

Justin Conlon, UW's rookie multi-eventer, also competed at the Jr
Nationals at York University.  Conlon new to the Decathlon, an event
consisting of 10 events over 2 days, showed a lot of promise for his
years to come.  With over half of the events being new to Justin, he
managed to finish in the top 10 placing 9th in Canada with 5019
points.

 

 

Terry Goodenough Passing

It is with great sadness that I bring you the devastating news that Terry Goodenough passed away Monday evening. Terry was a great supporter of the University of Waterloo XC and TF programs being the head coach of the XC team and long distance coach for the TF team since 1999. He was also very dedicated to coaching at the club level. 

He has made a significant impact on the sport both as a coach and athlete, and was a great friend and mentor to countless athletes and colleagues. He has a long list of accomplishments, a small sample can be seen at his UW bio.

The family requests your consideration for a contribution to a memorial scholarship fund to be set up in Terry's name (TBA).