York Lions track and field team member Heather Hamilton set a personal record with her second-place finish in the women’s pole vault at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships in Windsor.
Hamilton had a top vault of 3.95 metres, 0.35 metres behind winner Kelsie Hendry. Hamilton, entering her third year with the Lions, finished fourth this past season at the CIS championships in Montreal.
Right: Heather Hamilton
“I am very excited for Heather,” Lions head coach Colin Inglis said. “She had some strong attempts at 4.05 metres, which indicates she is ready to break the four-metre barrier.”
Two other Lions recorded top-10 finishes at the nationals, held July 4-6. Chris Theriau finished seventh in the men’s 110-metre hurdles in 14.91 seconds after setting a personal best of 14.60 in the preliminaries, while Kristin Obrochta placed eighth in the women’s hammer throw with a throw of 47.27 metres.
Obrochta will attend the Canadian junior track and field championships, July 25-27 in Abbotsford, BC. Fellow York thrower Megan Edney finished 13th in the shot put.
Meanwhile, Lions middle-distance runners Ryan Finn and Stefan Ristic came 16th and 18th in the 800 metre race, with the latter running a personal best time of 1 minute 52.84 seconds.
Graduating Lion Kaitlyn Coopman, this year's winner of York’s Bryce Taylor Award, presented to the female athlete who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, enthusiasm for life and the consideration of others, ran a personal best of 2:12.03 to finish 19th in the women’s 800-metre race.
Left: York Lions hurdler Chris Theriau prepares for his race at the Canadian track and field championships in Windsor.
Finally, reigning CIS gold medal-winning Lion and York male athlete of the year David St. Bernard didn’t record a distance in the triple jump because of fouls, while Adriana Lyons didn’t record a height in the pole vault.
“Overall, it was a great showing for our athletes in Windsor,” Inglis said. “Kaitlin Coopman and Stefan Ristic set personal bests by more than two seconds in their 800-metre races and Kristin Obrochta had an excellent showing in the hammer throw at her first national championship. Chris Theriau also is starting to round into form following a hamstring injury in May and will now look to better his personal best in his next three races.”
Coopman, Ristic, Finn and Theriau were to compete in the Kidd-Crothers Classic yesterday at the University of Toronto Varsity Centre.
Submitted to YFile by Mike Koreen, sport & recreation information officer in York's School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health.