The York University Lions track and field team recorded 23 podium finishes at is annual Xmas Open meet at the Toronto Track and Field Centre on Saturday (Nov. 29).
 
In addition to the hardware, two Lions also qualified for the CIS championships and a total of three meet records fell on the day.
 
Throwers Brittany Crew (East York, Ont.) and Eric Brathwaite (Brampton, Ont.), medallists at the national championships last year, have already qualified for the CIS meet this season thanks to their strong performances on Saturday. Crew qualified in the shot put and Brathwaite in the weight throw, and both finished first at the Xmas Open.
 
Crew's distance of 15.16m in the shot put was also a new meet record, and she also won the weight throw with a distance of 15.97m. Brathwaite was also a double gold-medallist, winning the shot put with a throw of 16.46m.
 
Jacinta Cowan (Bala, Ont.) helped the Lions put forth a tremendous showing in the throws events as she finished just behind Crew in both disciplines.
 
Also setting meet records were Holly Pitters (Mississauga, Ont.) and Nicholas Fyffe (Vancouver, B.C.), both in the triple jump. Pitters recorded a personal-best distance of 11.74m to won the women's event, and Fyffe jumped 14.19m to take the gold in the men's event.
 
New Lion Christy Ihunaegbo (East York, Ont.) made a splash in her first meet with the squad by running a 56.69m in the 400m to finish in first place. Two spots behind her was Mikeisha Bobb (London, Ont.) with a time of 1:00.57.
 
On the men's side, Ayo Agusto (Toronto) won an individual gold medal in the 200m with a personal-best time of 22.43 seconds and also claimed a silver in the 400m with a time of 49.97 seconds.
 
The Lions will now break for the month of December and will return to action the first weekend of 2015, with some members of the squad heading to the Guelph Season Opener and the rest travelling downtown to the University of Toronto for the Sharon Anderson Memorial Meet. Their next appearance at the Toronto Track and Field Centre is Saturday, Jan. 31 for the York Open.