Impressive indoor results from across the country
Two Canadian U23 records went down over the weekend
The regular season has officially wrapped up and it’s time to see who the favourites are heading into the U Sports championship season. Unless runners had to race again to secure their place on a championship start line, most people took the weekend off. The one exception to this rule was the Valentine Invitational in Boston, which drew thousands of American athletes and saw a few Canadians set new personal bests. With the OUA, RSEQ, AUS and Can West conference championships just days away, here’s a look at the week that was.
RELATED: Impressive indoor results from across the country
East
Jean-Simon Desgagnés enregistre un chrono de 7:53.21 (PB) sur 3000m à Boston ce qui représente un nouveau record du Québec (@Athl_FQA), du @RSEQ1 et du @rougeetor. Thomas Fafard complète l’épreuve en 7:56.99 (PB) et occupe maintenant le 4e rang au classement all-time du Québec. pic.twitter.com/56zJsQR1gD
— Felix A Lapointe (@CoachLapointe) February 16, 2020
Laval and Sherbrooke both made the trip south to Boston to and came home with impressive results. Jean-Simon Desgagnés of Laval showed he’s ready to run fast, clocking a 7:53.21 3,000m. Jessy Lacourse of Laval also ran an impressive 3,000m finishing in 9:17.07.
Both the men’s and women’s 3,000m races could be some of the fastest in U Sports history, with the top two seeds in both the men’s and women’s category running extremely fast this season.
Full results from Boston can be found here.
Central
Jenna Smith and Madison Clarke both ran strong 600m races in Ottawa on the big 400m track. Smith of Guelph finish in 1:30.14 and Clarke of Ottawa was just behind her in 1:31.04.
In Boston, three Ontario women ran killer races across three different events. Kate Current of Western ran a league-leading 3,000m in 9:13.91, making her the favourite to win the championship. Lucia Stafford of Toronto ran her second U23 record in two weeks, finishing third in the 1,000m in 2:39.28 (breaking her older sister’s mark).
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8mTVzqHZiB/
In the women’s 800m, Sadie Jane Hickson of Guelph finished in a new indoor personal best of 2:06.86.
In men’s results from Ottawa, Jack Berkshire of Toronto ran a 1:19.66 600m to place second. In the men’s 300m, Guelph’s Josh Hamilton ran a strong race, finishing in 34.16.
Full results from Boston and Ottawa can be found here.
RELATED: Lucia Stafford breaks Gabriela DeBues-Stafford’s U23 national record
West
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8dB0iBnzAU/
Boston is on the east coast, but it was a big draw for athletes from the west. This western Canada standout in Boston was 2019 U Sports Cross-Country champion Kieran Lumb of UBC, who was the fourth-place finisher in the men’s 3,000m but the first Canadian. Lumb ran a very impressive time of 7:45.50 (the fourth-fastest indoor mark in Canadian history). Lumb’s time was also a Canadian U23 record. While UBC competed in U Sports for cross-country, they remain an NAIA school during the track season.
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