BURNABY, B.C. – With multiple event victories by
Sean McKenzie (Nanaimo, BC),
Luc Bruchet (Surrey, BC) and
Joy Spear Chief-Morris (Lethbridge, AB), the UBC Thunderbirds track and field team won the 2013 Achilles Cup over the Simon Fraser Clan on Sunday at Terry Fox Field in Burnaby.
UBC won the 11th dual meet between the Lower Mainland schools by a score of 119-111. The Thunderbirds claimed the men's competition 63-52 while the Clan took the women's title by a 59-56 margin. This is the fourth Achilles Cup win for UBC with previous triumphs coming in 2004, '08 and '09; there was also a tie in the event's first year (2003).
FULL RESULTS
“I'm extremely happy because the meet is always so competitive and so close,” said UBC head coach
Marek Jedrzejek. “You can win by a few points or lose by a few points. The same thing happened this year, where in some events, we predicted we'd do much better and that didn't occur. But in some events where we didn't think we'd do that well, things worked out pretty well and that's how we won. We fought right to the end.”
McKenzie captured the 100-, 200-, and 400-metre runs for UBC and then led the Thunderbirds to victory in the 4x100m relay. The first-year runner out of Nanaimo's Dover Bay Secondary finished the 100m event in 11.45 seconds. Teammate
Stephen Abosi was second (11.67) to give UBC a one-two finish.
In the 200m, McKenzie crossed the finish line in 22.70 seconds, ahead of SFU's Stuart Ellenwood. The 400m race produced the same result, with McKenzie (50.33) beating Ellenwood (50.56).
“
Sean McKenzie made a huge impact, winning three events,” said Jedrzejek. “Bruchet's two wins made a huge difference as well.”
Bruchet led the way for UBC in the middle distance (800m and 1500m) events. Trailing for most of the 800m run, the senior powered past SFU's Travis Vugteveen down the final stretch to win in 1:54.95. Bruchet recorded a time of 4:01.75 in the 1500m.
Other men's winners for UBC on Sunday included
Filip Backiel (Surrey, BC) in the high jump (1.85m) and
Andy White (North Vancouver, BC) in the javelin throw (62.97m).
On the women's side, Spear Chief-Morris had a spectacular meet, finishing first in the 100m and 200m races. She took the 100m dash in a meet-record time of 12.28 seconds, .01 better than the previous mark set by SFU's Ruky Abdulai in 2007. Teammate
Sarah Hughes (Calgary, AB) was second in a time of 12.73. Spear Chief-Morris posted a time of 25.56 in the 200m.
Spear Chief-Morris also anchored the women's 4x100m relay team to victory in a time of 48.37 seconds.
Christine Ausman (Ottawa, ON) easily won the women's javelin throw with a best attempt of 42.13m, nearly seven metres better than her closest competitor.
Manisha Kandola (New Westminster, BC) and
Julia Hawkins (Vancouver, BC) got UBC winner's points in the high jump and triple jump events, respectively. Kandola had a best jump of 1.55m while Hawkins' best attempt reached 10.79m.
Some UBC athletes will return to SFU next weekend for the Emilie Mondor Invitational on Saturday, April 13, while others will compete at Western Washington's Ralph Vernacchia Invitational, starting on Friday, April 12.
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