York University Athletics & Recreation honoured its eight graduating student-athletes from the men's and women's track and field teams prior to the squad's final regular-season home meet at the annual York Open on Saturday afternoon at the Toronto Track and Field Centre.
 
The athletes recognized included throwers Drew Erskine and Jonathan Raspanti, jumpers Placide Ilunga and Stella Isaac, and runners Heniesha Christie, Demari Grant, Anna Prouzou and Nicolette Witherspoon.
 
Erskine has been a weight thrower with the Lions for five seasons and competed at two OUA championships and three U SPORTS championships. He had his best season in 2018, when he won the OUA silver medal and earned conference all-star honours. He is studying kinesiology and health science and has renewed his athletic scholarship in each of his years.
 
Raspanti has spent five seasons with the Lions as a weight thrower. In 2018 he threw a big personal best at the OUA championships to win the bronze medal and qualify for the national meet, where he finished 11^th. He is also a strong kinesiology and health science student, earning academic all-Canadian honours four times. He had a perfect 9.0 GPA in 2018-19, the only male varsity student-athlete to achieve the feat.
 
Ilunga has improved as a jumper in each of his seasons with the Lions and last year won his first OUA medal, a bronze in the triple jump. He went on to earn a point for the team at the national championships with an eighth-place finish. He is studying kinesiology and health science and earned academic all-Canadian honours for the first time. Ilunga is also one of the most recognized student-athletes for his work away from the track, including as a member of the York Sport Council, a staff photographer and a summer camp counsellor.
 
Isaac has been with the Lions for four seasons and represented the Lions twice at the OUA championships and once at the national meet in the long jump. She is an English and professional writing student and has earned the Dean's Award for Research Excellence four times. She has also worked as a staff writer covering other Lions varsity events for two seasons.
 
Christie has been with the Lions for four years as a sprinter and relay specialist. She competed at the OUA championships in 2017, helping the 4x400m relay team finish fifth. She originally started out as a long spring hurdle athlete but found a way to excel in the shorter distances. She will earn her degree in psychology.
 
Grant is a sprinter on the Lions and in his fourth year with the program. He specializes mostly in the 60m and has qualified for the OUA championships twice, with a career-high 10^th-place finish in 2017. He will earn his degree in children's studies.
 
Prouzou has been with the Lions for five years as both a cross country runner and a distance specialist on the track. She has represented the Lions at multiple OUA championships in cross country, and was a big part of the team that finished 10^th this year, their best result since 2010. On the track she has competed in the 1500m and 3000m for the Lions. She is studying kinesiology and health science with a minor in marketing.
Witherspoon has participated in four OUA championships and three U SPORTS championships throughout her five-year career with the Lions, mostly as a relay specialist. She helped the 4x400m relay team win back-to-back OUA bronze medals and a national bronze medal in the same event in 2018. She is studying social work and has earned track and field achievement awards throughout her career.