1. Windsor
The Lancer’s got this thing locked up tighter than a clam with lockjaw. Bowman is crushing in the 60m. Reid, Dills, MacLoed have all fallen back in rankings in the 300, but Reid still may have a shot at hardware. Eldridge, who dove at the line at CIS champs last year to edge out for 3rd hasn’t been in top form this year, but was given the nod by Fairall to compete at OUAs. Can he throw down in the “B” heat and get to CIS to defend a medal? If he can he’s got a shot, the 600 is as unpredictable as cow pie bingo. Can you believe that Berkis is still without a CIS individual medal? We can’t, and he’ll be in it tough to pull one off this year as the Laval trio, Lecours, and Brown are close bets for medals in both the 1k and 15, not to mention Guelph’s Rob Jackson in the 1000m, Berkis’ teammate Matt Walters in the 1500m and 3000m, and the entire Guelph team in the 1500 and 3000m. Wowee the middle distance is intense this year. It looks like Berkis will running the 1000m, 1500m, and 3000m at OUAs and CI’s and taking a pass on the 4x800. Too bad because his anchor leg win in the 4x800 at CI’s last year was the most exciting moment in CI’s track and field I’ve seen. Matt Walters has had a really solid year, and has the ability throw down at championship races. He’s the likely winner of the 1500m, and if the Guelph boys don’t take out the 3k hard, he’s our pick for the gold there too with teammates Janikowski and Berkis close behind. The relay sweep that Windsor missed so closely last year is anything but likely this year. The 4x2 and 4x4 look like Ottawa’s to lose with plenty of other teams in the mix, and with the majority of Windsor’s middle distance guys focusing on individual events or not having stellar seasons, the 4x8 title will likely be passed along this year. Wilhelm is the class of the nation in the high jump, which sounds pretty good considering he’s a freshman. So far this season he has 3-times jumped higher than anyone else, and with a PB of 2.22, he’s an easy pick. Besides, he’s won Ofsaa twice, and we all know Ofsaa is way more important than CI’s. He’s also a medal contender in the Long Jump and leading the rankings in the pentathlon. He’s going to pick up an easy 25 points at CI’s, and maybe more with a strong long jump. He's our vote for CIS ROY, MVP, not to mention APS (After-party stud). Dandie’s High Jump looks a little shaky, but his Long Jump is solid and might be able to hold off his rookie teammate for a medal. Pfaff looks good in the Pole Vault, and Ysebaert has hit standard 5-times in the shot put, showing consistency. Damn Windsor, you sexy.
List of CIS medal hopeful Lancers
60m - Aaron Bowman
300m - Chris Reid
1000m - Anthony Berkis
1500m - Matt Walters, Anthony Berkis,
3000m - Anthony Berkis, Matt Walters, Paul Janikowski
Relays - 4x2, 4x4, 4x8
High Jump - Branden Wilhelm
Pole Vault - Jake Pfaff
Long Jump - Andrew Dandie, Branden Wilhelm
Shot Put - Andrew Ysebaert
Pentathlon - Branden Wilhelm
2. Guelph
Guelph has got a good team this year, but is no match for Windsor. They’ll be second best this year, but could close the gap on Windsor depending on how the distance crew peaks. Lecours is up for medals in his three events, and Genest and Proudfoot absolutely threw down at SPIRE with sub-8 minute 3ks. They may be able to take down the 1979 7:54 record set on a track made of “tree bark lashed together with the dried gut of a thousand Sabre-toothed Tiger”, and timed by “the pulse rate of a ground squirrel”. MacDonald has found his form in the 600, and Jackson has finally come aournd in the 1000m. Brett will be chasing his teammates in the 15 and 3k, and Nixon, the reigning CIS XC champ, will be looking to get after his teammates, but is in it tough in the “B” heat of the 15. We’re not sure who will toe the line in the 4x8 for the Gryphs, but all our investigative reports indicate they will be fast. Dufresne looks good in the triple, and Hendry looks real good in the throws.
List of CIS medal hopeful Gryphs
600m - Matt MacDonald, Tommy Lecours
1000m - Tommy Lecours, Rob Jackson
1500m - Tommy Lecours, Ross Proudfoot, Alex Genest, Andrew Nixon, Allan Brett
3000m - Alex Genest, Ross Proudfoot
Relays - 4x8
Triple Jump - Pat Dufresne
Shot Put - Tim Hendry
Weight Throw - Tim Hendry
3. York
York is in a tight battle with Ottawa for the bronze, but we think because they are less dependant on multiple performances from athletes, they can nab third. York may lose out in total points in the sprints to Ottawa, but Richards-Kwok may be able to steal top points in the 60 and 300 and really distance the Lions from the Gee Gees. Halstead will need a big day to steal points for the Lions, as will the rest of the 4x2 team. McKay and DiBacco are vaulting well, and are going to be battling each other and Windsor’s Pfaff for bronze. Le also has a good shot at bronze in the triple jump. Khan has been throwing the shot well, and Brathwaite the weight, but the real story is Novia and his stellar weight throws. He’s probably got some more in his shot as well.
List of CIS medal hopeful Lions
60m - Dontae Richards-Kwok, Tyrone Halstead
300m - Dontae Richards-Kwok
Relays - 4x2
Pole Vault - David McKay, Vince DiBacco
Triple Jump - Vinh Le
Shot Put - Umar Khan
Weight Throw - Daniel Novia, Eric Brathwaite
4. Ottawa
Chenery has put his name out their as a serious contender in the pent, but the sprints are still the Gee Gees strength, with Sissoko, Makinde, Kaba and Robertson tearing up every race they enter. We’ve been digging Robertson this year. We’ve been throwing the terms “man-candy” and “potential-husband” around alot in the P&P offices. All these individual sprinters means that their 4x2 and 4x4 relays are outstanding on paper. The only question is what kind of stamina these boys have. Can they handle multiple heats and finals and still pull off strong relays? The answer to that question is also the answer to whether they can best York for team bronze.
List of CIS medal hopeful Gee Gees
60m - Moussa Sissoko, Oluwasegun Makinde
300m - Michael Robertson, Oluwasegun Makinde
600m - Michael Robertson
60mH - Sekou Kaba
Relays - 4x200m, 4x400m
Pentathlon - Mark Chenery
5. Western
Western is way ahead of those lower in the list, but not likely to be challenging for 3rd/4th. Wason finally debuted in his main event, the 300m with a CIS standard, but is not on the start list for OUAs. Time for prognostications. We think he’ll skip OUAs for major surgery of some kind, then show up in a full body cast and still medal in the 300. Or something more likely. Leitch may be hurting a bit in the standings at the moment, but Western has only let him run the 600 once this year. More importantly, it looks like he’s healthy. Remember last year when he had to miss OUAs due to a stress fracture, and still won CI’s handily with a sub 1:19. Yah we remember. It would be big performances like Leitch is capable of that would bring Western into the race for 3rd along with Ottawa and York. Brisson is a safe pick in the 60mH. He’s been at or under 8.12 five times this season.. That’s the kind of consistency the Stangs love in their lowsticks. Western’s 4x800 was one of the biggest shocks this season. 7:45 last season, 8:01 two years ago, 7:53 three years ago, and an outstanding 7:37.56 this season! Western also has the benefit of having all of their 4x8 boys fresh for the 4x8, other than Leitch who will have done 600m prelims. Shen and Bednarik have been steadily improving the Triple and Long Jump respectively, should be interesting if they can repeat their big performances on the big stage. And a sad note for Jeff Archer, who can break the school record yet has no shot at a medal in the weight throw. It’s been that kind of year in the weight throw.
List of CIS medal hopeful Mustangs
300m - Miguel Wason
600m - Scott Leitch
60mH - Matt Brisson
Relays - 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m
Long Jump - Thomas Bednarik
Triple Jump - Carl Shen
6. Sherbrooke
Sorry for not mentioning you guys in the last issue. Our bad, we weren’t expecting the big relay runs in late January early February. Sherbrooke is the top non-OUA team in the standings presently, and will be a strong battle with soon to be QSSF champs Laval at CI’s. Their sprinters may dominate at QSSF, but Vulgaire, and Léveillé will are the only ones with potential come CI’s. The sprint relays look poised for medals, but they need to prove themselves racing the tight corners against equally talented teams. Gagné has been the picture of perfect in-season improving an average 0.5m every meet this season in the weight throw. At this rate he could not only be rivalling Hendry, but challenging Novia for the title. If only everything was as simple as math.
List of CIS medal hopeful Vert et Or
60m - Harold Vulgaire
60mH - Simon Léveillé
Relays - 4x2, 4x4
Weight Throw - Alexandre Gagné
7. Laval
We’re calling the Rouge et Or to come up short against provincial rival Vert et Or (I miss the days when teams were named of badass things instead of colours). They are led by their middle distance squad which will score a ridiculous amount of points at QSSF, but at CI’s they will be a big fish in a big pond. Laporte, Lapointe, Philibert−Thiboutot, and Raymond have been rolling all season long, with one of many highlights being JS’s provincial record in the 1000m. Must be the beets. The actual points they muster at CI’s, like the McMaster Women, is heavily dependant on how they race their MD studs. Do JS and Philibert−Thiboutot quadrouple in the 4x8, 1k, 15, and 3k, or do we see the much more likely scenerio of JS doing the 1k, 4x8 and 15, while Charles does the 15, 3k and maybe 4x8. Should be interesting. It’s impressive that a team, outside of Guelph and Windsor, can build themselves around the middle-distance and appear to competitive in the top-8.
List of CIS medal hopeful Rouge et Or
600m - Charles−Olivier Laporte
1000m - Jean−Samuel Lapointe, Charles Philibert−Thiboutot, Mathieu Raymond
1500m - Charles Philibert−Thiboutot, Jean−Samuel Lapointe
3000m - Charles Philibert−Thiboutot, Jean−Samuel Lapointe
Relays - 4x800
8. Toronto
UofT closes out the top-8 with 6 OUA teams, and no CanWest and no AUS teams. Saskatchewan and Dal will be chasing Toronto but will come up short. Toronto and Laval made late pushes to get inside the top-8, ahead of the early bloomers in Canwest, Regina and Alberta. (I thought the western provinces were hours behind us?) Anyway, Mike "Can I Buy A Vowel?" Trnkus should be able to squeak into CI’s in the 600m, but last year’s silver medalist will need to be in top form to get back on the podium. In the same boat, can Davenport kick himself into CI’s? Last year it seemed that no one could make Witmer look small in the High Jump, but Windsor’s Wilhelm has done it thus far. OUAs will be a battle royal with these guys, and the Dal boys jumping in at CI’s. Bernard is in a tight battle for CI’s gold, and over much needed points against Saskatchewan’s Britnell. Toronto is dependant on points based on who they actually are able to send to CI’s, which means they are going to have to run some serious SBs this weekend to move up in the rankings.
List of CIS medal hopeful Varsity Blues
Relays - 4x4, 4x8
High Jump - Alex Witmer
Pole Vault - Townsend Benard
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