Successful trip to Edmonton for the Gee-Gees track team
Photo courtesy of Robert Antoniuk
This year’s Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) track and field national championship in Edmonton on March 6–8 was one for the record books and the podium for four of the University of Ottawa’s athletes.
Gee-Gees star Sekou Kaba ran a personal best of 7.79 seconds in the 60-metre hurdles to break the CIS record that had stood strong since 1984. Kaba was clocking 7.89 in the preliminary heats, then conquered the final heat and beat University of Toronto rival Greg MacNeill by four tenths of a second to capture the gold medal.
Charlotte Gardner finished the weekend with a bronze medal in the 600 metres. She had a fast start, but conserved some energy and maintained a position in the middle of the pack for most of the race. Gardner was in the fifth spot before bolting in the final corner to snatch third. All three athletes on the podium finished within three tenths of a second from each other.
Gardner accomplished her personal best as she crossed the finish line at 1:31.40. She also made Gee-Gees history, as she earned a spot in the top five best in her category in the garnet and grey’s record book.
Ranked eighth in pole vault throughout the country, Olivier Gauthier-Kwan came out with a silver medal. Gauthier-Kwan comfortably cleared his first three heights and set a new personal best. In the second round, he jumped 4.85 metres during his first attempt, claimed a spot on the podium, and also established a new personal best.
Mohamed Souleiman claimed a bronze medal in the 1500 metres with an incredible time of 3:50.79. This time was only .49 seconds behind the silver medalist Ross Proudfoot from Guelph.
The Gee-Gees men’s track team finished with 31 points, which placed them in the eighth overall spot. The women’s team finished 19th overall.
