SASKATOON – In their first full team competition of the season, the University of Calgary Dinos track & field team had strong performances across the board this past weekend at the annual Sanderson Classic hosted by the University of Saskatchewan inside the Saskatoon Field House.
Dawn Richardson Wilson,
Devon Zuchotzki,
Noel Vanderzee,
Alexis Johnson and the women's 4x400m relay all turned in wins to headline a great two days of action by the Scarlet & Gold.
Richardson Wilson kicked off the weekend with a win in the 60m. The reigning Canada West champion in the event, Richardson Wilson topped the preliminary field of 39 with a time of 7.68 before lowering that mark to 7.56 seconds in finals – already the fourth-fastest in the country – for the win.
Alexis Johnson topped the weight throw field in her first time competing in the event on the year. The fifth year breezed to a win with a toss of 16.06m – nearly a full metre farther than the next closest finisher. That mark already ranks her tops in the conference and third in U SPORTS. Rookie
Dayley Reimer also was strong in her first big meet, taking fifth at 12.37m.
Devon Zuchotzki had a strong start to his second season. The local product sprinted to a win in the 300m with a winning time of 34.81 – already tops in Canada West and fourth nationally. Zuchotzki later finished fifth out of 45 runners in the 600m with a time of 1:22.18.
The highly anticipated Dinos debut of
Noel Vanderzee was worth the wait. The high jumper who is ranked in the top-100 in the world rankings breezed to a win in his first meet in a Dinos uniform, clearing the bar at 2.11m. That mark is already equal to Calgary's program record, is well beyond the U SPORTS standard and ranks him second in U SPORTS after just one meet.
Tatum Wade continued to quickly make a name for herself. The former basketball standout once again was dominant on the track, finishing runner-up in the women's 600m out of 32 runners with a time of 1:32.93, ranking her second in CW and third in U SPORTS. Wade also had a strong showing in the 1000m, crossing the line sixth in 2:58.80.
Natasha Gatzke continued the Dinos dominance with silver medals in two events on the weekend. The third-year nursing student had a huge personal-best showing in long jump, leaping 5.79m for runner-up on the day. Gatzke also came in second by a mere one-hundredth of a second in the 60m hurdles in 8.63 seconds. Those two marks rank the Calgary native third and sixth, respectively, in the early national rankings.
Calgary showed off its depth in pole vault.
James Aquino placed fourth overall after clearing the bar at 4.04m, while
Dylan Chung and
Jaxon Turner both finished with a height of 3.89m for fifth and sixth in a strong early showing.
In other action,
Junior Imoukhuede blazed the track in the 60m, claiming bronze with a time of 6.89 seconds in his collegiate debut.
Curtis Lauzier moved from seventh in prelims to fourth in finals in the 60m hurdles with a solid early time of 8.81 seconds.
Tristan Friesen finished fifth in men's shot put (14.11m) and eighth in weight throw (11.59m) out of the deep field, while Calgary had a pair of top finishers in the women's 300m as
Georgia Oland (40.15) and
Emma Parnetta (41.61) both started the season strong.
The Dinos were also dominant in relay action. The women's 4x400m claimed the win in a tight race, crossing the line in 4:00.32 – less than a second ahead of the Huskies' top squad on their home track. The women's 4x100m also did well, taking second in 1:42.22.
On the men's side, the 4x400m squad finished second overall at 3:25.96, while the 4x100m team came in fifth in 1:33.21.
The Dinos are right back in action this weekend, heading to Edmonton for the annual Golden Bear Open. The action gets underway Friday afternoon from inside the Butterdome.
-UC-
