Lance rewrites track and field record books

This past weekend, Head Coach Shane Ferth took the Warriors' top male and female athletes, Mohamed Yassin (Waterloo) and Naomi Lance (Kitchener) to Geneva, Ohio for the 2016 SPIRE Team Challenge. The spectacular facility with its lightning-fast track drew the Warriors' top talent as the pair were searching for fantastic times. The track proved to be magic for the Warriors as the pair came away with a plethora of great performances, records, and CIS top-10 marks.

Lance continued her fantastic season with two absolutely electric races. She started her day with the 400m, aiming to break the school's 42-year old record set in 1974 by Joan (Eddy) Wenzel of 55.9h (56.14 ET). Lance went out extremely hard, quickly making up the stagger on her competitors and was easily first to the cut in mark. She continued the race, pacing herself flawlessly and demonstrating she was in a class of her own on the track. She crossed the tape (easily first overall) in 55.54 and earned her first school record of the day. Despite her fatigue from her outstanding 400m, Lance grinded her way to another victory and another school record in the 200m. She executed her first bend with precision, and expertly fought off mounting fatigue on the final straight in order to cross the line in 24.88. The time beat the previous record of the well-decorated Heather Moyse (two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-women bobsleigh, 2010, 2014) of 24.97 from 1998.

Yassin also had an excellent day, starting off with the 60m race qualifying for the final in 8th position. Bettering his time and race execution Yassin crossed the line in a new personal best time of 6.96s for second place in the final. His time now ranks him 10th within the Top 12 qualifying placings for the CIS Championships and 5th in UW History but will need to improve to secure his position. Knowing he is still getting into race shape this is an achievable mark for the 4th year veteran. Yassin followed his 60m performance with a solid 200m. Despite a minor error in the first phase of his race which cost him his goal of setting the varsity record (22.24, Paul Gill 2000) Yassin managed a 22.31 for a new personal indoor best and 2nd best time in UW History.

Next weekend Lance will travel back to SPIRE in hopes to capture her 6th varsity record, this time in the 300m. Lance's performance this weekend in the 400m shows she's up to the challenge of breaking the 36 year old record held by UW Hall of Famer Faye Blackwood who also represented Canada in the 1986 Commonwealth Games and has a plethora of achievements in the sport. Lance will then join her teammates at the Windsor Team Challenge on Saturday in hopes to secure the relays team's position for the CIS Championships in March.

Joerg Ahne (Merseburg) will also be attempting the varsity record in the long jump that was set back in 1972 by Dennis McCann. With a personal best of 7.54m this should come easily but McCann has been the only athlete to break the 7 meter barrier for UW with a jump of 7.16m. Joerg will also team up with Mo Yassin and their fellow relay members to better their times and rankings in the 4x200m and 4x400m.

Sian Smart (Kingston) is hoping to continue her climb in the rankings in the 60m and long jump. She's currently ranked 8th in the CIS and 4th in the OUA in the 60m with a time of 7.69. Mo Yassin will also look to set another personal best in the 60m which ranks him 11th in the CIS and 5th in the OUA. He's also hoping to put himself in the rankings for the 300m where he'll need to run a time of 35.32 or better to be in the CIS Top 12. Yassin's outdoor best is 35.29.

One other Warrior to watch for is rookie Adam Richardson (Ottawa) who is currently on COOP in Ottawa and will be traveling with the Ottawa crew to Boston University to compete in a very deep field of talented athletes at the BU Valentine Invitational. Earlier this season Richardson turned heads with his gold medal race in Ottawa and a huge personal best in the 3000m with a time of 8:24.69 which at the time ranked him 8th in the CIS but now sits 24th (11th in OUA). Looking to improve on his time and earn a spot back in the top 12 he's looking to run under 8:21.90. Taking the last two weekends off Richardson is hungry for his spot at CIS Track & Field Championships.

Complete Results from the 2016 SPIRE Team Challenge

You can watch the Windsor Team Challenge live
Live Results available as well

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