By: Dalhousie Sports Information
This week's Flashback Friday features the 2010-2011 men's track and field team.
The Dalhousie men’s track and field team kicked off their season on November 20th in Oromocto, NB. Defending 2009-10 CIS high jump champion Simon Watts debuted with a 2.00m jump while competing in running shoes and Mike Bawol ran an impressive early season 7.13 in the 60m. 2010 was capped off with meets in Halifax and Moncton and saw Seth London break a Nova Scotia senior record in the weight throw recording a distance of 15.48m. He broke it again with his next throw, reaching a distance of 15.60m. Louis Demello placed second in the same event with a throw of 14.65m, which placed him fifth on the Dalhousie all-time list.
A new year and new records.
2011 was rung in with meets at Dalhousie and UdeM. In Moncton, Watts jumped an incredible early season 2.10 in the high jump, while rookie James Gillis jumped 2.00m, which would see him qualify for the CIS championships in his first year of competition. Back home, Tiger rookies Justin Blades and Poohiel-Kahmall McCabe placed first and second in their Dalhousie debuts and Bruce Russell won the 1500m in 4:10.7. The following weekend, team captain Mike Bawol ran the 60m in 7.03 seconds, a blistering time that would stand as his fastest of the season.
Next the Tigers journeyed to Montréal for the McGill team challenge. Watts continued his undefeated regular season run in the high jump by clearing 2.08m with teammate Gillis picking up the silver medal. London was also in the medals winning a bronze in the men’s weight throw. Blades placed fourth in the 600m with a very fast time of 1:20.15 and ran a solid opening leg in the men’s 4x800m relay team that placed third with Falkenham, McCabe and Gorman. Daniel Yetman added a fourth place finish in the triple jump and Bawol tied his season’s best time of 7.03 in the 60m.
Gorman traveled to Boston February 14th to run the 1000m. Dan secured his spot on the start line of the CIS championship with a personal best time of 2:26.37.
The Tigers final regular season meet was the Tiger Track Classic. Blades won the 600m in a time of 1:19.83 which qualified him for the CIS championships. McCabe also ran a personal best of 1:21.03 in the same event. Blades and McCabe were joined by Falkenham and Gorman to run 3:21.2 in the 4x400m relay, securing the Tigers another entry in the CIS championships.
Bringing home the AUS title.
The team put on a clinic at the AUS championships winning the conference title. On the track, Bawol and Nabil Moussa were first and fourth in the 60m with Sean Higgins and Nathan Comeau placing 10th and 14th respectively. Falkenham won gold in the 300m and placed fifth in the 600m, an event that saw fellow runners Blades and McCabe win gold and silver medals in an exciting, tactical race. Will Sanderson was sixth giving the Tigers four of the top six spots in that race. Gorman ran away with the 1000m event with McCabe and Sanderson placing third and fourth in the same event. He was also victorious in the 1500m as was the 4x800m relay team. The 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams claimed silver in both events and Russell and Adam McGregor were second and fourth in the 3000m.
In the field, Watts, Rob McCulloch, and Gillis swept the podium in the long jump and then repeated the feat (with McCulloch and Gillis trading placements) in the high jump. McCulloch and Watts were also first and second respectively in the pentathlon. McCulloch scored 3555 points beating his own AUS record on his way to being named the AUS championships MVP. Yetman and Higgins were first and second in the triple jump, as were London and Demello in the weight throw. London and Chris Sharpe won silver and bronze in the shot put. For the second year in a row, Watts was named the AUS male track and field athlete of the year and newcomer Justin Blades was named the AUS rookie of the year.
Incredible performances at the CIS championship.
The CIS championships were extremely successful for the young Tigers. The weekend was kicked off by a heroic performance by McCulloch in the pentathlon. Despite an injury nearly scratching him from the event, McCulloch managed to claim fourth in the pentathlon without full use of his knee. Watts once again cleared 2.10m in the high jump to claim the silver medal and added an incredible Dalhousie record of 7.13m in the long jump for fourth place. London threw over a meter farther than his previous best in the weight throw to claim the bronze medal with a distance of 16.64m setting a new Dalhousie record. Blades narrowly missed making the final in the 600m and veteran Dan Gorman placed sixth in the 1000m. Yetman added an eleventh place finish in the triple jump. The men’s 4x800m relay team of McCabe, Falkenham, Gorman, and Blades came up huge with a fourth place finish and the 4x400m relay team of Blades, McCabe, Sanderson, and Falkenham were ninth.