Opening the 2024 calendar year with a bang were a pair of Carleton Raven throwers who demonstrated their potential as formidable contenders in this year’s USports competition. At the Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or competition, which saw a total of 28 new lifetime bests, shot putters Connor Fraser and Brianna Asiamah set new school records.
Fraser, a second-year criminology student at Carleton, has maintained his momentum since securing a Canadian U20 title in the summer. Breaking the school record in his season opener before Christmas, he extended it further on Saturday, crossing the 15-meter barrier with a winning throw of 15.20 meters. This accomplishment places the 19-year-old seventh in the national university rankings.
Asiamah, a graduate student transfer, has made a significant impact on Carleton athletics in her brief four months on campus. Like Fraser, Asiamah has twice broken the Carleton women’s shot put record in the early season, reaching 13.31 meters in her Saturday victory. The Master’s in Social Work student currently holds the third position in the early season USports rankings, just two centimeters shy of the auto-qualifying standard for her third consecutive trip to the national championships.
Aria MacDonald, a fellow Raven and a third-year architecture student, also left her mark in Sherbrooke. Finishing the 1000-meter event in 3 minutes and 7.16 seconds, she claimed fifth place overall, surpassing the previous Carleton record of 3:11.90 set in 2017 by Zeena Rashid.
For the Gee-Gees, the second and third best female triple jumpers in school history took the top two spots in Sherbrooke. Heather Grandy secured the gold with a jump of 11.55 meters, while Sarah Ouangre achieved the second-best jump of her career at 11.20 meters.
Also standing atop the medal podium on Saturday were Alexandra Telford and Maria Okwechime. Telford, making her debut at 600 meters, led the 22-woman field with a time of 1 minute and 36.35 seconds. Okwechime, last year’s Canadian Championships winner, opened her season with a leap of 5.70 meters.
At the Can Am Classic in Windsor, David Adeleye claimed victory in the 60-meter hurdles. The fourth-year student at the University of Toronto covered the five barriers in 8.10 seconds, currently ranking him second in USports.
Full results from Sherbooke are available on our website.
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