The York University Lions track and field team put forth a tremendous showing at the annual Can Am Classic meet hosted by the University of Windsor this weekend, combining for 19 podium finishes and nine CIS automatic qualifying standards.
 
Holly Pitters (Mississauga, Ont.) had one of her best ever weekends with the Lions, winning the gold medal in the long jump and the silver in the triple jump with personal-best marks of 5.68 metres and 12.10 metres, respectively. Her distance in the triple jump also qualified her for the CIS championships later this year.
 
Also winning two medals on the weekend was Brittany Crew (East York, Ont.), who continued to dominate the shot put with another first-place showing and a CIS mark of 15.35 metres. She also picked up the bronze medal in the weight throw with a distance of 16.25 metres.
 
Teammate Jacinta Cowan (Bala, Ont.) also hit the CIS standard in the shot put, finishing in fourth place with a distance of 13.61 metres.
 
The final CIS standard on the women's side came from Christy Ihunaegbo (East York, Ont.), who ran the 300m in a time of 39.98 seconds to reach the national championships.
 
The Lions women's team won another three medals on the weekend. Mikeisha Bobb (London, Ont.) finished in third place in the 60m hurdles with a personal-best time of 8.89 seconds, and the Lions also won bronze medals in the 4x200m and 4x400m relays. Danielle Knight (Brampton, Ont.), Sheereen Harris (Toronto), Bobb and Courtney Dwyer (Orleans, Ont.) ran in the 4x200m relay in 1:43.22, while Harris, Ihunaegbo, Knight and Bobb finished the 4x400m event in 4:01.73.
 
The Lions men's team also had two athletes win multiple medals. Bismark Boateng (Toronto) was tremendous on the weekend, winning gold in the 60m in a time of 6.83 seconds and bronze in the 300m with a time of 34.96 seconds. His times qualified him for the CIS championships in both events.
 
Ayo Agusto (Toronto) ran the same time as Boateng in the 300m, finishing just behind him in fourth place, to also qualify for the CIS event. Finishing just behind Boateng in the 60m was Ike Omoruna (Brampton, Ont.), who won the bronze medal in a time of 6.97 seconds.
 
The Lions also had plenty of success in the field events. Eric Brathwaite (Brampton, Ont.) once again swept the throwing events and remains undefeated on the year in both. He hit the CIS standard in the weight throw with a distance of 18.18 metres, and also won the shot put with a throw of 16.31 metres.
 
He was joined on the podium in both events by Lions teammates. Chris Preece (Cookstown, Ont.) won the bronze in the weight throw with a distance of 17.08 metres, and Anojan Sivalingam (Scarborough, Ont.) was third in the shot put with a throw of 14.99 metres.
 
The final CIS automatic qualifier came courtesy of rookie Nicholas Fyffe (Vancouver), who won the gold medal in the triple jump with a distance of 14.73 metres. Teammate Richard Jansen (Bradford, Ont.) also reached the podium in the event with a jump of 14.34 metres.
 
The final individual medal was won by David McKay (Victoria), who won the silver in the pole vault with a height of 4.63 metres, and the Lions also won a pair of bronze medals in the relays. Jalen Pidlubny (Scarborough, Ont.), Agusto, Lucas Watson (Truro, N.S.) and Jameel Brown (Brampton, Ont.) finished third in the 4x200m relay with a time of 1:30.83, and Agusto, Pidlubny, Adrian Lawrence (Scarborough, Ont.) and Brown were third in the 4x400m with a time of 3:27.58.
 
The Lions will be back in action again next weekend when they travel downtown to the University of Toronto for the annual Fred Foot Pentathlon meet. Competition will be on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 16-17).