The York University Lions track & field team had a huge medal haul over the weekend, racking up 21 medals including ten gold medals, eight silver medals, and three bronze medals at three separate meets.
 
The biggest contingent for the Lions competed at the Ottawa Winter National Invitational meet, where the team brought home 14 of their 21 medals. The men's team led the way with nine medals, with gold medals going to Kayden Johnson in the 60m hurdles (8.47s), Xavier Jehovah in the 300m (34.55s), the 4x200m relay team of Demari Grant, Xavier Joseph, Tohma Van Bergen and Quinn Charles (1:30.36) and the 4x400m relay team of Jehovah, Mark Hutchinson, Daniele Orsini and Joshua Ching (3:21.82). Jehovah's time in the 300m was a new personal best and finds him now ranked in the top-eight in U SPORTS while Johnson's time in the 60m hurdles ranks him sixth in the nation.
 
Silver medals went to Grant in the 60m (6.98s), Drew Erskine in the weight throw (15.45m) and the Lions B team of Grant, Brandon Shokour, Majeed Zabonsre and Kingboy Douglas Jr. in the 4x200m relay (1:32.87). The Lions achieving bronze medals were Van Bergen in the 300m (35.51s) and Charles in the 60m (7.06)  
 
On the women's side in Ottawa, sprinter Mikeisha Bobb won gold in the 60m hurdles in a time of 8.88 seconds. The Lions women's relay teams also had a great weekend picking up two medals in the 4x200m relay and one in the 4x400m relay. The Lions A team of Diana Boa, Courtney Dwyer, Alanah Broomfield and Simone Da Silva won gold in the 4x200m (1:45.12) while the B Team of Heneisha Christie, Jade Brown, Zakiya Tavernier and Asia Hogan-Rochester claimed bronze. Christy Ihunaegbo, Adjaratu Traore, Nicolette Witherspoon and Marvelous Agbonwaneten led the Lions to gold in the 4x400m in a time of 3:55.26. Ihunaegbo achieved a season's best performance in the 300m to pick up the silver medal in a time of 38.41 seconds. Her time ranks number one among U SPORTS competitors on the season.
 
At the Athletics Ontario Indoor Championship Series Meet, which was held on the Lions home turf at the Toronto Track & Field Centre, the squad was led by Thrower Brittany Crew and jumpers Bailey Francis and Placide Ilunga who all reached the top step of the podium. Crew won gold with 17.21m heave in the shot put, while Francis leapt 11.17m in the triple jump for the gold medal and also picked up a silver medal in the women's weight throw with a 10.89m toss. Ilunga also won gold in the triple jump with a jump of 13.86m.
 
Rounding out the Lions podium finishers were a trio of silver medalists, indlucing Leah Jones in the women's long jump (5.57m), Akshanaa Sivanathan in the women's triple jump (10.74m) and Emmanuel Nketiah in the men's long jump (6.67m).
 
The Lions pole vaulters also competed at the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada, with Caroline Ritchie leading the women's team with a 3.40m vault and Jason Clare leading the men's team with a vault of 4.25m.
 
Overall the Lions had a total of 21 personal best performances, 23 seasons' best performances, 40 OUA qualifiers, and two U SPORTS qualifiers over the weekend.
 
The next meet on the Lions schedule is the Robert Kane Invitational in Ithaca, N.Y., next weekend, and the annual York Open is just two weeks away as the Lions will host their OUA rivals on Feb. 1-2 at the Toronto Track & Field Centre.