The Warriors entered the OUA Championships with several medal hopefuls and several in contention. With many Team Canada athletes competing, the Warriors were in tough competition, but were up to the challenge.
The Championships kicked off with the Women's Pentathlon. Second-year athlete,
Hannah Blair (Waterloo/), was ranked second coming into the event, with her eyes on a podium spot. As she completed event after event, Blair put on a spectacle for the Warrior faithful. Through the first four events, Blair had personal bests in all of them, leaving her in first heading into the final, and one of her strongest events, the 800m. Blair won the 800m in 2:22.65 to capture OUA Gold in the Women's Pentathlon. Her other events were 60mH (9.20s), HJ (1.59m), SP (11.89m), LJ (5.43m) which helped her claim 3715 points, USports auto qualifying mark and the Warrior Varsity Record! Blair will be eager to compete at U SPORTS where she is headed into ranked 6th.
Later in the day,
Emma Nero (St. Catharines/) and rookie
Janelle Clarke (Brampton/), qualified for the 60mH finals. In one of the most competitive hurdle finals in recent years, the two posted their best races of the season; Nero just missing the podium in a school record time of 8.45s and Clarke finishing sixth with a personal best of 8.88s. Shortly after, Clarke had another personal best in the 60m at 7.79s to qualify her for the semis on day 2. We saw Clarke once more in her OUA debut on day 1 in the Long Jump competition. Clarke managed to launch herself into first with a 24cm personal best of 5.79m which places her second all-time in Warriors history! No competitors could outdo Clarke's phenomenal leap which earned her a Gold medal in the event! This performance also punched Clarke a ticket to U SPORTS and ranks her eighth in Canada.
For the men,
Immanuel Onyemah (Mississauga/) qualified out of day 1 prelims to move to 60m semis and
Joshua Lorentz (Douro-Dummer/) was able to maintain his position going into OUA 300m placing 4th. Lorentz is ranked 6th in the country and will have another shot to compete at U SPORTS.
With the women coming off a very strong day 1 of OUA's the men's team was able to keep the momentum going. Starting off day 2, Lorentz was able to claim the bronze in the 600m with a varsity record time of 1:20.03! He is ranked seventh heading into U SPORTS where he will be looking for a podium finish!
Immanuel Onyemah (Mississauga/) challenged for a medal in the 60m but ultimately finished fifth with 6.91s. He will be determined at U SPORTS where he is ranked eighth heading into the Championships.
An hour later, the two men started the 4x200m for the men. Onyemah got out to a great start, positioning the Warriors in third. The handoff to Lorentz was shaky, but the pair managed to piece it together before Lorentz took off to put the men in the second position. From there, they never looked back as
Nathan Hehn (Waterloo/) and
Owen Babcock (Kitchener/) held the team in their position earning them a silver! Hehn, Babcock, and Lorentz along with
Liam Clark (Frederictron/) then had 4x400m shortly after. In a fast heat with the top three teams in U SPORTS, the men were positioned well to medal. Hehn had the men in fifth. Babcock moved them to fourth, and Clark gave it to Lorentz in third. From there, Lorentz was able to take 2nd as the men claimed silver! The men split 50.46, 49.98, 50.58, and 47.69 respectively, with Lorentz split time being the fastest of the entire meet. The Warrior men's relays heads to U SPORTS ranked seventh in the 4x200m and third for 4x400m.
Finally,
Solomon Davidson (Ottawa/), who is ranked second in U SPORTS, took silver in High Jump with a 2.01m leap. He will be looking to compete again in Edmonton and claim another spot on the podium!
Other notable finishes over the two days for the Warriors include
Jocelyn Ertl's (Thunder Bay/) eighth place in Pentathlon, Men's 4x800m with seventh, Women's 4x200m in sixth, Women's 4x400m in seventh, and
Dilveer Virk (Brampton/) tied for seventh in High Jump.
Overall, the men finished sixth with 42.5 points whereas the women were seventh with 34 points. The Warriors have under two weeks until the U SPORTS Championships where they hope to showcase Waterloo's talent! The U SPORTS team will consist of Onyemah in the 60m, Lorentz in the 300 and 600m, Davis in the high jump, Clarke in the long jump, Blair in the pentathlon and Nero in the 60mh and the men's and women's 4x200m and 4x400m relays.
Women's Team Standings
1. Guelph – 209
2. Western – 119
3. Toronto – 95.5
4. York – 53
5. Windsor – 51
6. Ottawa – 49
7. Waterloo – 35
8. Laurier – 21
9. Queen's – 13
10. Lakehead – 10
11. McMaster – 3
12. Brock – 3
Men's Team Standings
1. Guelph – 210
2. Western – 87.5
3. York – 79
4. Toronto – 74
5. Windsor – 68
6. Waterloo – 42.5
7. McMaster – 36
8. Queen's – 25
9. Ottawa – 12
10. Brock – 10
11. Laurentian – 6
11. Lakehead – 6
12. Laurier – 2
OUA All-Stars
Hannah Blair (Waterloo/) - First-Team
Janelle Clarke (Brampton/) - First-Team
Solomon Davidson (Ottawa/) - Second-Team
Immanuel Onyemah (Mississauga/) - Second-Team
Josh Lorentz (Peterborough) - Second-Team
Nathan Hehn (Waterloo/) - Second-Team
Owen Babcock (Kitchener/) - Second-Team
Liam Clark (Frederictron/) - Second-Team
