The York Lions track & field team continued their road to the U SPORTS championships with some great performances this weekend at three meets across Canada and the USA. The squad achieved a total of 11 podium finishes, coming home with three gold, five silver and three bronze medals.
 
At the Robert J. Cane Invitational at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Emmanuel Nketiah earned the gold in the long jump with a huge personal best of 7.10m and followed that up with another personal best in the triple jump 14.24m where he finished fifth. These performances moved him to number three and number four respectively in the U SPORT rankings. Pierce Lepage opened up his season with a third-place finish with a bronze in the high jump with a mark of 2.04m that places him fourth in the U SPORT rankings. Teammate Jackson West also came in fourth-place in the high jump with a new season's best jump of 1.95m. Leading the women's jumpers was Leah Jones, who won the long jump with a new personal best of 5.70m. This performance puts her 7th in the U SPORT rankings.
 
The throwers also got on the podium with Kaitlin Brooks achieving a new season's best of 13.52m in the shot put and Drew Erskine coming in third in the weight throw with a heave of 15.24m.
 
At the Can-Am Invitational at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI, Christy Ihunaegbo won the 300m (40.14s), claimed the bronze in the 400m (56.18s) and assisted the 4x200m relay team of Mikeisha Bobb, Simone Da Silva and Diana Boa to claim the bronze medal (1:45.12). Xavier Jehovah led the men's sprinters with a silver in the 300m (35.36s) and assisted the 4x200 team of Zeon Bass, Tohma Van Bergen and Quinn Charles to claim the bronze medal (1:32.38). Xavier Joseph also won the bronze medal in the 60m in a time of 6.95 seconds.
 
Rounding out the competition for the Lions this weekend was hurdler Kayden Johnson, who competed in his home province of Saskatchewan at the Knights of Columbus Games race in Saskatoon and finished in the fifth-place in a time of 8.45 seconds.  
 
Overall the Lions had a total of 11 personal best, 16 seasons' best and 40 OUA qualifying performances this weekend. The Lions will be on their home track next weekend when they welcome athletes from across the OUA to the Toronto Track & Field Centre for the annual York Open. The meet begins on Friday, Feb. 1 and concludes on Saturday, Feb. 2.