Track and field team breaks records at the U of O tournament
The University of Ottawa’s track team has had a busy few weeks with invitational tournaments in Montreal, New York City, and here in Ottawa.
After a successful weekend at the McGill Team Challenge on Jan. 23, where the Gee-Gees women’s team came in eighth overall while the men’s team finished ninth, the team travelled to New York City to compete in the Armoury Invitational.
In New York, the relay team set a Gee-Gees record as Charlotte Gardner, Charifa Labarang, Deviant Biswal, and Gift Okankwu finished their 4x200m relay in 1:41.81. The team finished eleventh at the Armoury Invitational in New York. High jumper Steve Nkutsi finished second overall in New York, and is currently ranked fourth in the country.
Nelson Cecereu, ranked fourth in Canada for pole-vaulting, finished third at the McGill invitational.
“It’s fun, competing every weekend from January to March,” said Charlotte Gardner, who also partook in the 600-metre race.
At the U of O’s Winter National Invitational, the Gee-Gees took over the whole podium in the women’s 1,500-metre run. Gardner and Okankwu both finished third in the 300-metre and 600-metre dashes, respectively.
“I know there were a decent amount of personal and season’s best performances this weekend,” said Gardner. “We also had quite a few top three finishers in different events.”
The invitational went exceptionally well for Gardner. After coming back this season from a nine-month knee injury, she ran her season best, which also included her second-fastest time in her career at 1:32.19.
“This makes me hopeful about the rest of the season, including (nationals),” she said.
The track and field team will now be travelling to Boston for the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational Feb.13-14.
