TRK | Voyageurs Records Fall at McGill

The Laurentian Voyageurs track & field team travelled to Montreal, QC this past weekend to compete at the 29th annual McGill Team Challenge. Competing against fifteen universities from Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes, the Vees placed eighth in the combined team scoring.

Leading the way for the Vees was senior Keon Wallingford (North Bay) who broke a fifty year old school record in the men's 3,000 metre event with a time of 8 minutes 25.05 seconds. Wallingford's time broke the previous record of 8:26.7 set by Vaughn Johnston in 1975. It also ranks him eighteenth in the U Sports national rankings at the time of this release.

 

The men's 3,000 metre record was not the only longstanding school mark to fall on the weekend. The women's 4 X 400 metre relay team of Kristen Mrozewski (Sudbury), Sarah Booth (Peterborough), Maeve Blake (North Bay) and Alissa Diavolitsis (Sudbury) posted a time of 4 minutes, 11.11 seconds, placing fourth in the event and eclipsing the previous record that had stood since 1995.

 

The Vees also placed in the top eight in the remaining five relay events. On the women's side, the 4 X 800 metre team of Mrozewski, Booth, Abby Lanteigne (Sudbury) and Claire Scholl (Newmarket) earned a bronze medal in a time of 9:52.16. The 4 X 200m team of Naomi Palmer (Sudbury), Maeva Sullivan (Sudbury), Erika MacNeill (Sudbury) and Diavolitsis placed seventh in a time of 1:54.96.

 

On the men's side, the 4 X 800m team of Brandon Radey (Sudbury), TJ Green (Manitoulin), Patrick Leroux (Wingham), Travis Annett (Sudbury) placed fifth in a time of 8:25.39. The 4 X 200m team of Skyler Savage-Perreault (Sudbury), Josh Kim (Sudbury), Abdul Abiodun (Sudbury) and Tristan Routhier (Saint Sixte, QC) placed 6th in 1:35.84. Lastly, the men's 4 X 400m team of Radey, Green, Alan Wilkin (Manitoulin) and Annett placed 5th in 3:40.24.

 

Shelley Hladin (Chartierville, QC) recorded two individual top 10 finishes, placing seventh in the women's long jump (5.20 metres) and ninth in triple jump (10.44 metres).

 

"The 3k record has been in my mind for a while now going back to last year," commented Wallingford following his race. "I felt good in my season opener and I knew that I might not get a better opportunity to run it. I executed my race plan well, going out fast in the first kilometre and hanging on for as long as possible. I was able to close my final four hundred metres in 63 seconds and I knew I had the record as I crossed the line."

 

"Keon really deserves this record", noted Vees Head Coach, Darren Jermyn. "He has been the leader of the men's team for five years, has come back from a potential career ending injury, managed the pandemic and is now the fastest Vee to ever run the 3k".

 

The Voyageurs will next compete at the York Open next weekend at York University in Toronto.