To quote Beyonce, “Who run the world? Girls!” In the case of this past weekend, it was Farah Jacques, Madison Clarke and Caroline Poirier who all ran and jumped their way to gold medals at this past weekend’s McGill Team Challenge – historically the largest indoor meet in Canada.
Jacques started the weekend with a significant victory in the 60 metre final Friday night. The 2016 Olympic finalist posted her fastest time over the distance since January of the same year, winning in a time of 7.55 seconds. Jacques, who transferred over to the hurdle events last season carried that speed into Saturday’s 60 metre hurdle final where she posted a personal best of 8.37 seconds – nearly a half second clear of second place.
Moving up in distance, Madison Clarke was the class of both the 1000 and 1500 metre fields. The sixth year University of Ottawa psychology student laid down the second best time of her life, 2:51.64, to take gold in Friday night’s 1000 metre event. The result was good enough to propel Clarke to fourth in the USports rankings. Saturday’s performance over 1500 metres was even more impressive with Clarke clipping nearly a second off her previous best to stop the clock at 4:29.19 and move her to fifth in the USports rankings.
Completing the quintet of gold was University of Ottawa sophomore Caroline Poirier. The former gymnast flew through the air and over a bar suspended 3.72 metres in the air on Saturday to take the win over former Gee Gee teammate and current Laval University student, Claudine Nafaa. Saturday’s clearance was also a new lifetime best for the Ecole Secondaire Louis-Riel graduate, besting her 3.71 metre effort from 2018 when she won silver at the Canadian U20 Championships. Poirier, who just missed out on last year’s USports Championships appears well positioned to make a run for Edmonton as she currently sits sixth in the rankings.
South of the border, Stephen Evans was third at the Terrier Classic 800 metres in Boston after crossing the line in a time of 1:50.20. In New York City, Harvard sophomore Sharelle Samuel posted a seasonal best 55.89 to finish ninth in the Dr. Sanders Invitational at the Armory.
The Lions crew returns to action this weekend as they head to Boston University for their Scarlet and White Invite.