Gee-Gees Smith, Dahms, Clark and Hicks have big weekends down at the Louis Riel Dome
Track and field athletes from across Ontario and Quebec touched down at Louis Riel Dome for two days of competition at the University of Ottawa’s national invitational this past weekend.
The Gee-Gees were well represented across events, and several had medal finishes.
Sydney Smith had a strong race, with the U of O runner placing first in the 600-metre run with a time of 1:33:83. teammate Marie-Eve Dahms was right behind her, earning second place with a time of 1:34:14.
“I absolutely love competing because every race offers the opportunity to take all of the hard work we’ve put in during the many months leading up to our season and really putting that to the test,” said Smith.
Smith and Dahms finished second and third in the 800-metre run. The top slot was captured by fellow Gee-Gee Madison Clarke, who ran the race in 2:09:06.
Clarke took home gold in the 1,500-metre race with a time of 4:29:94. Holly Hicks was close behind, taking third place.
In the 3,000-metre run, Rebecca Brennan took third place while the Gee-Gees women took fourth in the 4X200-metre relay.
On the men’s side, Kyle Sprague ran the 300-metre in 35:30 to claim third place while Tyler Dacosta earned third place in the 60-metre hurdles event.
The Gees men’s relay teams found success through a third-place finish in the 4×200-metre race and a first-place finish in the 4×400-metre race.
Away from the track, Caroline Poirier reached a height of 3.30 metres for a first-place finish in the pole vault event.
Gee-Gees Kadiatou Wann, Rinila Haridas, Meghan Dundon, and Emma Dobson-Takoff cleaned up the women’s long jump by claiming the top four spots.
Haridas and Dobson-Takoff also earned top-four finishes in the triple jump.
In the shot put, Brianna Asiamah’s best throw recorded 10.97 metres
Sprague jumped 1.95 metres in the high jump for a second-place finish.
In the long jump, Derek Brougham took second place with a best jump of 6.10 metre.
Many other Gee-Gees competed in the events and will be looking to improve their standing as the season goes on.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to feel the hard work all coming together,” said Smith.
For the Gee-Gees, this marked the second weekend of action in 2020. The team will continue to compete every weekend leading up to the OUA championships at the end of February. Next week, the athletes will be in Montreal for the McGill invitational where they will look to improve their records heading to the peak of their season.
