News - Archive 2000-2001

 

Women 4th @ CIAUs!!!!
Saturday, March 10th, 2001

The Warrior Women posted an incredible 4th place finish at the CIAU Track & Field Championships using only 9 athletes. Many of the opposing squads, most of whom finished well back of the lady Warriors, brought upwards of 20 or in some cases 30 athletes to the championships. With their finish the the small but mighty ladies squad equalled their OUA finish of two weeks ago and continue to build upon a tradition of excellence. The Warriors captured a total of 5 medals over the 2 days of competition including 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.

Bolstered by the qualification of all 6 relay squads to the CIAU championships, one of only 5 schools in Canada to accomplish the feat (and one of 2 schools in the OUA), Waterloo fielded its largest contingent of Track & Field athletes ever at the CIAU championships.

First year pentathlete Kristie Heemskerk got the Warriors started on day one of the competition with a 10th place finish in the 5 discipline event. Kristie hurdled, put, jumped and ran to a total of 3163 points including a 5cm PB in the high jump.

Next up for the Warriors were the 4x200m semi-finals. Coming in to the competition the women's team of Angie Ross, Daniella Carrington, Alison Brazier and Kristie Heemskerk were ranked 5th while the men's team was 7th. After just finishing the 5 event pentathlon, an exhausted Kristie Heemskerk reluctantly relinquished her anchor position to the ever capable Dana Ellis. Dana, UW's Pole Vault guru, did not expect to run put was prepared nonetheless and filled in admirably. Coach McFarlane's insistence on practicing exchanges between all athletes and experimenting with different relay orders was essential in the lady's qualification to the final. The men's team, consisting of Paul Gill, Jason Dockendorff, Neal Roberts, and Adrian Blair, were not quite as fortunate and missed the final but still nearly ran a season's best of 1:30.90 despite the tighter than usual corners of the Sherbrooke facility. The tight corners and crowded track conditions resulted in numerous incidents involving fallen athletes, dropped batons as well as many instances of pushing and shoving.

In the 4x200 final the ladies ran a near flawless race and took advantage of an unfortunate trip by the race leading Saskatchewan Huskies to capture the bronze medal. Kristie Heemskerk, fresh from a good night's rest, came off the final corner in 4th place to find the Saskatchewan runner trying to get to her feet. Kristie's, with her eyes now open wide in astonishment and excitement at the prospects of capturing a medal, managed to find another gear in time to out kick the Saskatchewan athlete and hold of the hard charging team from Sherbrooke by 0.02 seconds.

Daniella Carrington qualified for the 300m final with a solid effort in the preliminary rounds. Daniella would eventully end up 5th in the final running out of the tight corners of lane one.

Deborah Buhlers wasted no time in staking her claim to the Women's 3000m title. From the gun, Debbie blasted away from the start line and the rest of the field and was on CIAU record pace before easing up and cruising to an easy victory.

Meanwhile, on the pole vault run-way, Dana Ellis was rewriting the CIAU record books. After entering the competition after the majority of her competition had fouled out Dana proceeded to quickly surpass the old CIAU record of 3.82m with a vault of 4.00m. With the gold medal secure Dana attempted to improve upon her newly established record with a vault of 4.05m, but was unsuccessful on her first 2 attempts. Dana then asked that the bar be raised to 4.10m for one final attempt at bettering her record, but again fell short.

The 4x800m teams then stepped on to the track and also had impressive runs. While both squads ran slightly slower than the OUA performances that qualified them for the CIAU championships, each athlete put forth a valiant effort and very few mistakes were made throughout.

Allison Salter got the ladies started with an smartly run opening leg, but was unfortunately boxed in on numerous occasions and was hampered slightyl by the crowded conditions on the track, which was shared by 9 other teams. After an unusually rough first exchange Jill Patterson powered her way to a PB and didn't suffer the same to the same extent the effects of the large field as Allison did. Jill then handed off to Kim Neumayer who continued to post reliable relay splits and although she just missed a PB she safely navigated her way around the track and gave All-Canadian Deborah Buhlers an opportunity to chase down the field. Deborah did her best but felt the effects of her 3000m earlier in the evening and managed to secure 5th spot for the Warriors.

Stephen Drew, Pierre Labrecque, Alastair Lawrence and Chris Row were the next Warriors to compete. Running in the 4x800m the gentlemen managed to improve slightly upon their pre-race ranking by finishing 11th overall in a highly competitive field. Drew faced similar problems as Allison did on her opening leg resulting in numerous near collisions and mass confusion at the first exchange as 13 teams attempted exchange batons simultaneously. The extreme competitiveness and enormous size of the field resulted in 26 bodies trying to give and receive batons within a very small temporal and spatial time frame. Amazingly, even with all the pushing and shoving not a single baton was dropped, although a few jerseys were though to have been ripped in the process. Pierre, still stuck in traffic early on ran solidly and kept the Warriors close throughout his leg. Rookie track senstation Alastair Lawrence then took the baton and continued to reel in the field resulting in the fastest leg of the day for the Warriors. Graduating athlete Chris Row took the baton from Lawrence and proceed to open up a considerable distance on the persuing teams.

Daniella Carrington got the Warriors started on day 2 with an impressive 7.75 in the 60m sem-finals. After breezing through the early round and securing a position in the final Daniella found another gear and cranked out a 7.68 performance to win the silver medal.

After warming-up with the 60m, Daniella and the rest of the 4x400m women took to the track. The team of Angie Ross, Daniella, Allison Salter and Kristie Heemskerk ran a season's PB of 4:03.19 with a PB from Allison Salter.

The Men's 4x400m of Adrian Blair, Paul Gill, Neal Roberts, and Pierre Labrecque followed suit and also ran a season's PB of 3:23.97, narrowly missing the school record the foursome established at last year's CIAU championships.

 

 

Women 4th, Men 7th @ OUAs
Saturday, February 24th, 2001

 

The Warrior Track & Field team tuned up for the CIAU Championships, to be contested in Sherbrooke, Quebec in two weeks time, with the OUA Championships at the St. Denis Centre in Windsor.
Highlights of the weekend for the Warriors include: Debbie Buhlers double gold medal performances in the 1500 and 3000 (including a varsity record in the 3000m), Daniella Carrington's silver medal runs in the 60m and 300m, Dana Ellis's OUA Record and gold medal in the Pole Vault. and Pierre Labrecque's bronze medal in the 600m. The Warriors also came home with medals in the Women's 4x800 (gold) and the Women's 4x200m (silver).
36PBs were established by Waterloo athletes over the course of the 2 day competition bringing this year's total to 171. The women's team, led by Daniella and Debbie, managed to finish 4th overall and only 4pts out of 3rd. The lady Warriors also managed to defeat 2 of the 5 schools with indoor track facilities and/or full-time coaching staff. The men 
Of the 30 athletes competing for Waterloo at the OUA championships, approximately 18 will continue on to the CIAU championships.

 

Gill shatters 400m varsity record as Warriors run, vault, put, and leap their way to 36PBs in London & Michigan
Saturday, February 17th, 2001

Paul Gill continued to rewrite the Warrior record book with an exceptional performance in the 400m at the University of Michigan. Gill took full advantage of a the stiff competition and the fast Michigan track to establish a new varisty record of 49.53 and finish 2nd overall. Numerous other Warriors also took advantage of the stiff competion to improve upon their PBs and make final impressions upon the coaching staff before the final OUA team selections are completed this weekend. Among the big PBs this weekend were Kim Neumayer in the 800 & 1500, Alastair Lawrence in the 1500 & 3000 and nearly every sprinter on the UW squad.

Also competing this weekend was the CIAU's #1 Pole Vaulter, Waterloo's own Dana Ellis who was competing at the Hamilton Spectator Games where the competitive field was, as expected, much deeper than the fields assembled in Michigan and at UWO. Dana managed to clear 3.90m before bowing out of the competion to finish 2nd overall to the Canada's indoor pole vault record holder Jackie Honey.

Heemskerk & Brown Establish Pentathlon Records
Saturday, February 3rd, 2001

For the second weekend in a row Warrior Rookie Kristy Heemskerk established a new varsity record. Joining her this week was fellow Warrior Joe Brown who also established a new Warrior record. Both records were set in the Pentathlon with marks of 3326 and 2782 respectively.

York/01Kristy Heemskerk
(60mH=9.10, LJ=5.30, SP=11.76
HJ=1.59,800m=2:46.23)3326Pentathlon2782 Joe Brown
(60mH=9.54, LJ=5.80, SP=8.43
HJ=1.75,1000m=3:03.58)York/01

 

 

 

Kristy Heemskerk 'Put' s Her Name in the Record Book
Saturday, January 27th, 2001

 

Warrior Rookie Kristy Heemskerk broke Sue Cvitkovic's record in the shot put this past weekend at the Nike Open hosted by the University of Toronto. Sue's record of 11.05 stood since 1996 and was bettered by 1/3 of a metre by Kristy. Kristy will attempt to improve upon her new record mark at this weekend's York Invitational.

 

 

 

UW Pole Vaulter Dana Ellis Soars to New Heights

Saturday, January 20th, 2001

 

For the second time this season Dana Ellis established a new varsity record in the Pole Vault. After clearing 3.90m earlier in the season to eclipse her previous record of 3.82m, Dana obliterated the newly established mark with a vault of 4.00m establishing a new personal best and vaulting herself into 1st place overall in the CIAU rankings. Dana's vault also established a meet and fieldhouse record for the Can-Am meet in the St. Denis Centre of the University of Windsor. The mark is also higher than the current CIAU record and easily qualifies Dana for the CIAU championships later this spring in Sherbrookw, QC.

 

 

 

Ellis & Gill Named Athletes of the Week for Establishing New Varisty Records
Monday, January 15th, 2001

 

The University of Waterloo's Athletic Department named Paul Gill and Dana Ellis as athletes of the week for their efforts in establishing new UW varsity records in the 60m and Pole Vault respectively. Paul, erased Gerald Kirk's name from the record books with a blistering run of 6.99s for the 60m distance while Dana continued to re-write her own records by leaping 3.90m. Both are now ranked nationally (Dana 1st overall) and will attempt to refine their records at this weekend's Can-Am invitational Track & Field meet at the University of Windsor.

 

 

 

Western Season's Opener
Friday, January 5th, 2001

The Warrior track and field squad competed in their first meet of the year at Western on December 5. A lot of snow conspired to keep some other schools from attending, so it ended up being a dual meet between the Mustangs and our Warriors. 

The highlight of the meet for UW was Dana Ellis in the pole vault — she won the event and cleared 3.82m, tying the CIAU record. This is two centimetres better than the vault that won her silver at last year’s CIAU championships. 

Other performances of note included last year’s OUA champion, Daniella Carrington, winning the 60m, and cross-country/track and field team members Stephen Drew and Alastair Lawrence finishing two-three in the 3000m. 

Rookie Becky Murrant turned heads with a third place finish in the 300m, and fellow newcomer Suneil Kaul was the Warriors’s longest jumper on the day, with a leap measured out at over six metres. 

The team heads back to London this weekend for the Western Invitational. 

 

 

 

Don Wright Challenge
Friday, January 12th, 2001

The track and field team opened the new year with a couple new marks in the UW record books. Competing at Western’s Don Wright Invitational, pole vaulter Dana Ellis soared to new heights, clearing 3.90m, a good eight centimetres above the current CIAU record. However, the CIAU record is held as the best performance recorded at the CIAU championships, not in any sanctioned CIAU competition, and so her new varisty record stands as an unofficial OUA and CIAU record.

Sprinter Paul Gill was the other athlete to re-write UW’s record, becoming the first Warrior to ever break seven seconds in the 60m (6.99). This gave him a third-place finish in the event to go along with a second in the 300m, another event in which he holds the school record.

In the women’s 60m, Daniella Carrington took top spot, and came close in the 300m, also finishing second. High jumper Joe Brown also claimed the prize of ‘first loser’ with a jump of 1.85m, and Pierre Labrecque took silver with a run of 1:24.50 over 600m.

Chris Row set a personal best in the same race, running 1:28.60. In the women’s 600m, Christy Shantz ran a personal best time of 1:50 flat to finish eighth.

Off the track and onto the runway — in long jump, Alessia Celli set a personal mark with a leap of 4.95m, placing fourth. Suneil Kaul took third in triple jump, hitting 12.39m, and fourth in LJ, out at 6.18m. Only five centimetres separated him from teammate Neal Roberts (6.13m), who had to settle for sixth.

Leanne Stanley was 10 cm off of 10 m in the shot put and finished seventh.

In relays, both men’s and women’s teams placed second in the 4x400m

 

 

 

Sharon Anderson Memorial Track Meet
Friday, January 19th, 2001
Warrior athletes continue to do their best California or bust . . . UW track hits U of T
by Allison Salter

Ah, so that's where the name comes from. 

Fresh off a two week training camp in San Diego California, the UW Track and Field team showed off their tans while putting in some impressive performances. 

Cross Country captain and running machine, Stephen Drew, showed that he is doing it all right. Finishing fourth in the 1500m with a lifetime personal best of 4:05s, Drew continued to build his remarkable running career at UW. 

Captain, Alison Brazier, may have missed her mark in the long jump but still came up with a third place finish. Perhaps that was her way of letting the competition know that once it all comes together, there will only be room for her on top of the podium. 

Although she didn’t make it to California, Daniella Carrington wowed the crowd, finishing first in the 300m with a lifetime personal best of 41.07s. To add to that, a fourth place finish in the 60m showed the speed and power Daniella can produce. As it is still early in the season, we can expect bigger and better things from Daniella as she pushes towards the CIAU Championships. 

Rookie Joe Brown continued to make himself known on the university track circuit with a leap of 1.95m in high jump to tie his lifetime personal best. 

Veteran Paul Gill improved again with a season’s best time of 35.13s in the 300m to finish second. Coupled with a sixth-place finish in the 60m, Paul is looking to tear up the track this season. 

Gill was joined in the 60m final by veterans Adrian Buchanan, Neal Roberts, Adrian Blair and rookie Alla Darwish. 

With all of that gold and black, it looks as though Waterloo has a powerhouse sprint squad. If all goes as planned, with this group, some UW Track records will fall this season. 

Second year sensation Angie Ross also demonstrated her talent and hard work with a solid fifth place 300m run and great speed in the 60m. Ross turned it on at the end of the day to run the fastest leg in the 4 x 400m relay proving she has the guts to pour it out when it’s needed. 

Not to be outdone, rookie Kristy Heemskerk showed that she had the skills it takes to be a successful pentathlete when her lifetime personal best throw in the shotput landed her in sixth spot. 

Right behind her, rookie Leanne Stanley also had a season’s best performance in the shot. 

Distance runner Debbie Buhlers won the 3000m easily, lapping several of her competitors. 

Veteran Shauna Ellis finished third in the 1000m run followed closely by rookie Kim Neumayer. 

Jill Patterson showed she had some more gas in the tank with a fantastic sub five minute 1500m run. 

Recently engaged Pierre Labrecque (congratulations from the team) showed what a little bit of love can do by running the 1000m, 300m and a leg of the 4 x 800m relay in very respectable times. 

Other notable performances include a gutsy 400 m performance by Christy Shantz, a 7th place finish in the 3000 m by Dwight Tomalty, fourth place for rookie pole vaulter Erin Kurczak, 8th for Will Gibbons in the 1000 m and a lightening fast 400m leg by captain Jason Dockendorff. 

Plagued by injuries and fatigue, the Warriors have taken the week to prepare for this weekends meet in Windsor. The plan is to put in some good relay times to qualify for the National Championships in Sherbrooke this March. The Lancers had better be on their guard: the Warriors are coming to play. 
 

 

Only the beginning for UW track
Friday, January 26th, 2001

by Alison Brazier

 

The Track and Field team headed to the St. Denis Centre in Windsor this past weekend for the Can Am Classic.

Who better to start the first night of competition on the right foot than “tough as nails” pole vaulter Dana Ellis? With a camera crew following her every move Dana clearly did not disappoint her fans. She vaulted four metres (good enough to further secure her first place ranking in Canada), set a new varsity record and a new Windsor field house record.

With Dana’s results in mind, the Warriors took to the track for the running of the 1,000m. Kim Neumayer ran a Lifetime Personal Best (LTPB) of 3:03.28 in the 1,000m to place second and Shauna Ellis placed a close fifth. Training partner Will Gibbons placed ninth in the 1,000m with a LTPB of 2:38.76.

The women’s 4 x 200m A and B teams placed third and ninth respectively. The 4 x 800m women’s relay improved upon their last performance with a time of 9:39.18, with Jill Patterson and Neumayer both running LTPBs and Shauna Ellis and Captain Allison Salter both running Season Personal Bests (SPB).

The first night of competition at St. Denis Centre proved to be successful for the men as well. The men’s 4 x 200m A and B teams placed third and eighth respectively, with Paul Monte and Captain Jason Dockendorff both running LTPBs. The 4 x 800m men’s team consisting of Will Gibbons, Pierre Labreque (who ran a SPB of 159.2), Stephen Drew and Rob Bruce placed fifth.

Daniella Carrington proved that she came to run. She went through the heats and semi-finals, improving with each race. As she went into the 60m final with the fastest qualifying time, she ran a LTPB of 7.62 s to win the final and gain CIAU standard. This time ranks Daniella third in Canada, only .12s from the top ranking. Alison Brazier also made the final placing seventh in a LTPB time of 8.00 s. The men’s 60m final took to the track next, where Nvinderpal (Paul) Gill placed fifth against a field of nationally ranked competitors.

Meanwhile, in the field events, Leanne Stanley and Angela Player finished 12th and 16th in the shot put. Alison Brazier placed first in the long jump, with Dana Ellis finishing sixth with a SPB and Alessica Celli placing 12th. Joe Brown placed a solid eighth in the high jump.

Back to the track, as Pierre Labreque placed first in the 600m with a SPB of 123.48. This ranks Peirre 11th in Canada, but his time is only three seconds away from the top rankings.

Warrior Jill Patterson stepped to the line in the 1,500m with previous CIAU competitors, but this did not faze her. With numerous Warrior team members cheering her on as she passed athletes on every lap, she came blazing into the final lap in third place. With 150m to go, Jill picked up the pace and passed one more competitor to take second with a huge 12 second LTPB time of 4:48.27. This time places Jill fourth in Canada in the 1500m. In the 300m, rookies Kristy Heemskerk and Stephanie Freeman placed seventh and 10th with SPBs.

Just when you thought that was it, the grand finale of track, the 4 x 400m relays, took centre stage. The women’s 4 x 400m A and B teams placed fourth and fifth respectively. We took our positions on the track, ready to cheer on our boys. They were looking to do some serious damage and they did not let us down. Adrian Blair’s start fired out of the blocks and he handed off to Gill who ran past Western and Windsor in less than three strides. He passed off to Neal Roberts who held our lead. It was all up to Labreque to bring it home and he came across the line in 3:24.93. Not too bad, I suppose. That time not only won the race, but gave them the Can Am Meet record, the second fastest 4 x 400m time in Warrior history, and ranks them nationally.

After all of this excitement, a U of T competitor came up to me and said, “Can you guys get any better?” I answered, “This is only the beginning!”

To check out how our teams rank in Canada, see the national site at http//www.sportingcanada.com/index-tf.cfm.

 

 

 

UW invited to run with Nike
Friday, February 2nd, 2001
by Alison Salter

The UW Track and Field team had a successful weekend at the Nike Invitational Track meet at the University of Toronto. The Warriors finished the day with 17 season personal bests (SPB), 10 lifetime personal bests (LTPB) and one varsity record.

The varsity record fell in the women’s shot put competition as rookie powerhouse Kristy Heemskerk heaved a throw of 11.35m. Look out for Kristy as she attempts the pentathalon. She can do it all. A SPB in the 60m hurdles proves just that.

In men’s track, the 60m team of Neal Roberts, Adrian Blair and Adrian Buchanan all finished with SPB performances.

Veteran Paul Gill and Daniella Carrington continued to show their domination of the sprint events. Gill impressed the competition in the 300m racing against two of the fastest runners in the country, Alexandre Marchand of Sherbrooke and the Luis Vega Penso of York.

Coming off the second turn, Gill gave Marchand a run for his money. Although Gill ended up finishing third in the competition, he showed these runners that he is not to be brushed aside. Gill is currently fourth in the CIAU rankings.

Carrington also wowed the crowd with a LTPB performance in the 300m. Carrington’s time of 40.42s now ranks her third in the country.

The 300m proved to be a good race for both the men and the women as Nicola White, Allessia Celli, Christy Shantz, Angie Ross, Pierre Labreque, and Adrian Blair all had SPBs. LTPBs were attained by rookies Paul Monte, Joe Brown and Kristy Heemskerk.

The women’s 600m saw SPBs by Nicola White, Jill Patterson, Allison Salter and a LTPB by Christy Shantz.

On the men’s side, veteran Pierre Labreque finished second demonstrating that he is ready to challenge for an OUAA medal this season.

George Shamoun showed his determination running a great race in his first 600m.

In the 1000m race Stephen Drew finished third overall with a LTPB. Alastair Lawrence followed in fourth with a SPB and Will Gibbons finished fifth with a LTPB in distance running.

Rookies Kim Neumayer and Kevin Smith both had a great day in the 1500m, finishing with LTPB’s.

Debbie Buhlers dominated in the 3000m event, lapping her competitors and attaining a SPB. Debbie currently holds the number one ranking in CIAU.

Pentathlete Ange Player finished fourth in the hurdles and earned a season’s best performance in the high jump.

Rookie pole vaulter Erin Kurzak finished 5th and showed some of her speed on the runway.

 

 

 

They keep going and going UW track women ranked third nationally . . . watch out Western
Allison Salter

This past weekend, one of the strongest UW Track & Field teams in recent years traveled to the York Invitational. Head Coach Brent McFarlane was thrilled with the team’s success. 

A total of 35PBs (personal bests) were achieved to bring the season team total to date to 105 PBs. The Warriors won six gold , three silver and seven bronze medals. Coach McFarlane “was very proud to see the team’s strength of character come through repeatedly.” 

Captain and team cheerleader, Alison Brazier, demonstrated her strength of character and dedication to achieving success. Brazier ran a LTPB of 7.94 seconds in the 60m. Brazier followed this spectacular performance by leading the women’s 4x200m relay to a third place national ranking. Not quite finished for the day, Brazier then went back to the long jump competition to leap 5.59m, a LTPB and third place national ranking. 

Debbie Buhlers showed off some new muscles and established a meet record in the 1500m. This performance catapults Deb to a first place national ranking in the 1500m, six seconds ahead of her nearest competitor. Daniella Carrington sped through the 60m to claim the gold medal. Dana Ellis also established a meet record in the women’s pole vault. Dana continues to hold her first place ranking at the national level. 

Long distance specialist, Stephan Drew, broke the nine-minute barrier in the 3000m to finish third while rookie Kevin Smith impressed his teammates with a LTPB in the same race to finish fifth. The men’s 1000m was all Waterloo with second through fourth place finishes going to Alastair Lawrence, Will Gibbons and Rob Bruce. Chris Row, coming off an injury, ran by himself to a season PB in the 1500m. 

The Warrior relay teams showed the competition just what fast means. The men’s 4x200m relay team of Adrian Blair, Paul Gill, Neal Roberts and Adrian Buchan recorded a SPB to move them into a sixth place national ranking. Not to be outdone, the women’s 4x200m relay blazed to a first place finish and third place national ranking. Brazier, Carrington, Angie Ross and Kristy Heemskerk passed the baton around the oval perfectly with Ross and Heemskerk running a SPB and LTPB respectably. Brazier, Carrington and Ross have all tasted success at the CIAU championships and will be pushing rookie Heemskerk all the way to the CIAU finals. 

The women’s 4x800m team put out a spectacular performance. Veteran Jill Patterson showed determination when she took the Western lead runner in the final metres of the first leg to hand off to Kim Neumayer and that was the story for the rest of the race. The Warriors proceeded to lap the competition with an “all guts” run by Shauna Ellis and newcomer Buhlers. This SPB ranks the women in third place. 

York was the first meet for our dedicated pentathletes. Rookies Kristy Heemskerk, Joe Brown and veteran Angela Player ran, jumped and threw through five events. Heemskerk threw another varsity record in the shot put on her way to establishing the first varsity pentathalon record finishing in second place while Player followed in third place. Brown showed that you don’t need experience in the hurdles or the long jump to play with the big boys. This rookie sensation set the varsity record with a second place finish in his first ever pentathlon. 

In other events, veteran Alessia Celli long jumped to a LTPB to join the 5m club while Patterson, Neumayer and Gina Jackson continued to excel with a PB in the 1000m. Buchanan, Roberts, Blair and Alla Darwish all had PBs in the 60m run while Roberts also had a PB in the men’s long jump. Leanne Stanley continued to improve her throwing with a LTPB in the women’s shot put. 

None of this could be accomplished without the great student therapists, Mike and Sarah who have kept the team together both in the preventative and therapy mode of injury care. Special thanks goes to all of the Warrior coaches who have dedicated their time to success this year. Knowing our team’s strength of character, McFarlane assures one team with one goal will compete at the OUAs and CIAUs. Our largest team yet (potentially 20 athletes) may qualify for CIAUs this season. The Warriors will travel to Western and Michigan after a weekend off. 

 

 

 

All's Fair in Track and War
Alison Brazier and Allison Salter

The UW Track and Field team had a trial run for the upcoming OUA Championships this weekend with back-to-back meets at Western and the University of Michigan. The meets closely resemble the set up that the team will face this weekend at the OUA Championships in Windsor. If the 31 personal bests (PBs) and a varsity record have any indication of the weekend to come, the Warriors are ready for war.

Friday night, the Warriors ran, jumped and threw 12 PBs. Rookie pole vaulter, Erin Kurzak, started the night by breaking the 3m barrier. 1500m runners Stephen Drew, Alastair Lawrence, Rob Bruce and Kevin Smith all had Lifetime Personal Bests (LTPBs) with Drew and Lawrence qualifying for the fast heat at the OUA Championships this weekend.

Captain Jason Dockendorff had a three-peat Season Personal Best (SPB) in the men’s 60m while rookie Alla Darwish also had a season’s best. On the women’s side, rookie Becki Murrant was all smiles with her SPB in the 60m. Alison Brazier and Angie Ross also had great runs in the 60m.

The women’s 1,500m was led from start to finish by veteran Jill Patterson. Patterson has broken loose this year and is poised to do some serious damage this coming weekend. Kim Neumayer and Shauna Ellis ran LTPB and SPB respectively in the same race and will be a force in Windsor.

The women’s 4x200m relay of Brazier, Carrington, Ross and Heemskerk took top spot even with a sloppy exchange. The men’s 4x200m team won the second gold of the night.

But the weekend did not end there. Saturday saw the Warriors competing against some of the fastest runners from the US at the University of Michigan.

The team was pumped as veteran Paul Gill settled into his blocks for the start of the 400m. The men blew around the first lap and cut in on the second lap, with Paul and three other runners battling it out for the lead along the last curve. He came through the line in a very close second. Paul did not disappoint as he established a new varsity record with a time of 49.53 seconds, shattering the old mark.

Rookie Joe Brown and Neal Roberts also ran impressive PBs in the 200m. With the times these boys are posting, Western won’t know what hit them.

Alastair Lawrence had double track duties in Michigan. He not only videotaped various team members as they jumped, hurdled, ran, sprinted and putted there way to PBs, but he also ran with some of the fastest men in the Big Ten, to claim a 12th place national ranking in the 3000m.

Teammate Kevin Smith ran a LTPB in the 3000m, as Lawrence and Stephan Drew improved their 3000m times to again qualify for the fast heats at the OUA Championships.

Daniella Carrington dominated the 60m winning Friday night and repeating the performance on Saturday night. Going into the OUA Championships, Carrington holds the number one ranking in the 60m and number two ranking in the 300m in Ontario. As an integral member of the 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams, Carrington stands to pick up some serious hardware this weekend.

The battle was on in the 800m as both the men and women fought for spots on the 4x800m relay teams. No debating the fact that this is one of the strongest depth of 800m men and women that the Warriors have seen. Kim Neumayer, Allison Salter, Shauna Ellis, Rob Bruce and Paul Monte recorded PBs. Waterloo looks to win both the men and women’s 4x800m this coming weekend, however, with the depth of runners in the relay pools, the coaches have some choices to make.

With the men and the women’s long jump happening at the same time, coach Crystal Shadd had her hands full with some very determined jumpers.

On the women’s side, Alison Brazier finished second while Alessia Celli improved her LTPB with a leap of 5.13m. Teammates Neal Roberts and Suneil Kaul both had LTPB jumps, placing second and third respectively.

And last but not least, the men and women’s 4x400m team, ended two days of hard competition by racing strong times in Michigan. The women’s team of Heemskerk, Carrington, Ross and Salter ran a solid time to earn them a spot in the fast heat at OUAs. Carrington, Ross and Salter ran SPBs.

Coach Brent McFarlane commented on the team’s success this weekend by saying, “I have never seen such a high calibre team in my coaching career here at the University of Waterloo. The key to success at the OUA championships will be rest for this week.”

As always, the team would like to thank their dedicated trainers, Sara and Mike. These two crazy kids have their hands full keeping everyone in working order, and they do a darn good job of it! Special thanks to the coaches who know how to get the most out of us athletes . . . whether we like it or not.

The OUA Championships take place at the University of Windsor this coming Friday and Saturday. With the first two events being the 4x800m and 4x200m relays. Success in these relays will set the tone for the remainder of the weekend. We are hearing rumors that teams are looking to try to dethrone the Waterloo relay teams this weekend. We have a message for you: “All is fair in track and war!”

 

 

OUA record, varsity record and track MVP

Allison Salter
special to Imprint 

The Warriors tore around the track, flew over the pits and threw for the stars this past weekend at the OUA Championships in Windsor. The team of 15 women and 18 men recorded 18 Life Time Personal Bests (LTPB) and 18 Season Personal Bests (SPB) on the way to breaking one Varsity Record and one OUA Record.

The weekend started off on a gold medal note with the women’s 4x800m relay team who dominated the competition. The team of Allison Salter, Kim Neumayer, Debbie Buhlers and Jill Patterson had a 15 second PB which moves them into second place in the CIAU rankings, 0.24 seconds behind first place Saskatchewan.

The women’s race was followed by an inspirational men’s race where captain Stephen Drew, rookie Alastair Lawrence and veterans Pierre Labreque and Chris Row all ran LTPBs. As the sixth man, Row demonstrated the Warriors’ depth of talent, running the race of his life. Sitting in 12th place, the team sits on the edge of a CIAU berth.

The sprinters followed the lead of the distance squad with a silver medal in the women’s 4x200m relay. Alison Brazier, Daniella Carrington, Angie Ross and Kristy Heemskerk ran a tough race with Heemskerk securing the silver medal at the finish line.

Ross and Heemskerk all ran SPBs, while Carrington ran a LTPB of 24.7 seconds.

The women’s 1500m was all Waterloo with Buhlers and Patterson finishing first and fourth respectively.

Buhlers will enter CIAU competition with a first place ranking, while Patterson falls short of a berth by one placing. Buhlers came within less than two seconds of breaking former Olympian Paula Schnurr’s 1988 record finishing in a time of 4:24.38.

Buhlers recorded another LTPB in the women’s 3000m, lapping the competition to record a varsity record. Again, Buhlers goes to Nationals with a number one ranking, 30 seconds ahead of her closest challenger. At the completion of the meet, Buhlers was selected as OUA Track MVP, a title that befits her speed on the track.

On the men’s side, running in his last 3000m race in the Warrior uniform, Drew ran tough to finish eighth. In the same race, training partner Lawrence fought for points with a fourth place finish. Lawrence hangs on the edge of the CIAU rankings with a 12th place finish and looks to do some damage in Sherbrooke next weekend.

Veteran Dana Ellis, vaulted to a gold medal, established a new OUA record and Windsor Field House record with a jump of 3.9m. Ellis also enters CIAU competition with the number one ranking and looks to better her LTPB jump of 4.00m as she aims towards making Olympic Standard.

Battling back from two years of injury and disappointment at the OUA championships, veteran 600m runner, Labreque did what he came out to do, running the race of his life to capture the bronze medal. Labreque sits at 13th spot in the CIAU rankings, only 0.02 seconds out of a berth at the national championships.

At the same distance, Paul Monte also ran a LTPB while women’s captain Salter and veteran Gina Jackson ran SPBs.

In the pentathlon, Heemskerk and Angie Player finished third and seventh respectively with Player throwing a LTPB in the shot put. Rookie Joe Brown finished seventh in a strong field of pentathletes.

In the 60m dash, the women’s race was all Waterloo with sprinters Carrington, Ross and Brazier making the final.

Carrington cruised to a first place finish in a time of 7.65 and heads into Nationals with a third place ranking. Ross finished sixth while Brazier followed in seventh.

The story of the meet was in the men’s and women’s 300m. Running out of the Friday night section, captain Jason Dockendorff put it all on the line for his teammates by run-ning a LTPB of 1.5 seconds. In the same race, up and coming rookie Paul Monte also ran to a LTPB.

The following day, veteran Paul Gill ran to a seventh place finish. Gill goes to Sherbrooke with a 12th place ranking.

On the women’s side, lightening fast Carrington secured the silver medal with a LTPB run of 39.81 seconds, to move her into the bronze medal position at the CIAU championships. The 1000m race saw veteran Shauna Ellis run to a SPB and Neumayer crank out a fifth place finish.

Both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams ran to fourth place finishes in a group of high calibre runners.

The women’s team of Carrington, Ross, Salter and Heemskerk all had SPBs and are ranked in 12th spot in the CIAU. The men’s team of Adrian Blair, Gill, Neal Roberts and Labreque were in tight with the lead pack until confusion at the exchange.

These men have some unfinished business to attend to at the upcoming nationals where they are ranked in 10th spot.

In the overall team competition, the Warriors finished fourth in the women’s competition with 97 points, one point behind U of T, while the men finished seventh.

Head Coach, Brent McFarlane spoke of an “outstanding team effort to pull off a performance like this against schools who have much more track and field resources than UW. The leadership of key team players, captains Allison Salter, Alison Brazier, Jason Dockendorff and Stephen Drew helped to achieve successful results. With 36 PBs at the OUAs, our season total now stands at 177 . With 20 athletes heading to the CIs, our largest team yet, I expect this number to change.”

Waterloo stands to take its largest team ever to the National Championships which take place March 9 and 10 at the Université de Sherbrooke. Currently ranked third, the UW women’s team hopes to have their best ever showing at the CIAU championships.

 

 

Athletes of the Week

Week of: March 12, 2001 

Female:  Dana Ellis, Warrior Track & Field

A third year student in Kinesiology, originally from Kitchener, ON, Dana soared to new heights this past weekend at the CIAU Championships held at Sherbrooke University. Dana set a new CIAU Pole Vault record with a 4.00m vault. She impressively broke the previous record of 3.82m set by Rebecca Chambers from University of Toronto. Dana is the only athlete the CIAU this year to jump 4.0m.

Week of: March 12, 2001 

Female:  Deborah Buhlers, Warrior Track & Field

A masters student in biology, originally from Kelowna, BC, Deborah had an impressive weekend at the CIAU Championships held at Sherbrooke University this past weekend. Deborah ranked #1 in the CIAU in the 1500m and 3000m, met all of her expectations walking away with two gold medals, running 4:32.47. in the 1500m and 9:30.00 in the 3000m events.

Week of: March 12, 2001 

Male:  Paul Gill, Warrior Track & Field

A third year science student from Brampton, ON, Paul had a great weekend at the CIAU Championships at Sherbrooke University. He competed in the 300m finishing in 9th place with a time of 35.19secs in an impressive field of athletes from across Canada. Paul was one of nine male athletes Waterloo sent to the nationals.

Week of: February 19, 2001 

Female:  Daniella Carrington, Warrior Track & Field

A second year Actuarial Science student from Kitchener, Ontario, Daniella showed her speed, coming in 1st place at 2 meets this past weekend. The Track and Field team first took on the Western Mustangs, where Daniella came in 1st in the 60m with a time of 7.81. The Warriors then took on 5 schools at a Michigan meet where Daniella improved her 60m time to 7.69, again finishing in 1st place. The Track and Field teams next meet will be the OUA Championships this weekend at Windsor.

Week of: February 5, 2001 

Female:  Kristy Heemskerk, Warrior Track & Field

A first year Honours Arts student , Kristi set a new varsity record in the women’s pentathlon and shot put events this past weekend at the York Open. Kristi’s point total of 3,326 placed her second overall in the pentathlon while setting a Waterloo record. Kristi also broke the varsity record in the Shot Put with a throw of 11.76m. To top it all off, Kristi was the anchor leg in both the 4x200m and 4x400m relays placing first and second respectively. Next action for Kristi and the Warriors is February 16 at the Western Open. 

Week of: January 8, 2001 

Male:  Paul Gill, Warrior Track & Field

A third-year Science student from Brampton, Ontario, Paul finished in 3rd place in the 60m with a Life Time Personal Best and a new UW varsity record of 6.99 seconds at Western's Invitational this past weekend. Competing against teams from Western, Guelph, McMaster, York, and an All Star team, Paul showed incredible skill, also receiving a 2nd place finish in the 300m with a time of 35.59 seconds. You can see Paul at the next Track & Field meet on Saturday, January 13 at the Toronto Open.

Female:  Dana Ellis, Warrior Track & Field

A third-year Kinesiology student from Kitchener, Ontario, Dana competed against teams from Western, Guelph, McMaster, York, and an All Star team this past weekend at Western's Invitational. She stole the show, surpassing previous OUA and CIAU records, finishing 1st in the Pole Vault with a Season Personal Best and a new UW varsity record of 3.90m. Her 3.9m finish was also the Don Wright Invitational Meet Record. You can see Dana at the next Track & Field meet on Saturday, January 13 at the Toronto Open.