While Canadians associate winter with ice, the slippery surface is not something typically associated with indoor track and field. However, the Carleton University throwers may beg to differ after their slippery experience at the RSEQ Championships in Quebec City last weekend.
Competing on a well-worn portable circle at the PEPS (Pavillon de l’éducation physique et des sports de l’Université Laval), Carleton’s two nationally ranked shot putters had to adjust to their environment when they discovered they could nearly skate across the shot put ring.
Graduate student Brianna Asiamah shifted her entire approach to the event because of the circle’s slippery feeling. Despite Asiamah scaling back her full rotation throw down to a half turn, she still emerged victorious with a winning throw of 12.48 metres on her first attempt. While the distance was nearly a metre off her school record, Asiamah finished more than a metre and a half ahead of her nearest competitor. With her victory, Brianna also secured her third straight ticket at the USports Championship.
In the men’s shot put, second year student Connor Fraser may have benefitted from his years of experience playing competitive hockey as he seemed unfettered by the slippery conditions. Fraser pushed the 16 pound ball out to a distance of 15.05 metres, less than a foot off his school record, to claim the silver medal.
On the track, McGill University sophomore Luca Nicoletti had a very productive first RSEQ Championship after missing last season to an injury. Nicoletti opened the weekend of competition on Friday night by helping the Red Birds to victory in the 4×200 metre relay. He would follow up on day two with an individual medal of his own. The engineering student was clocked in a time of 35.71 seconds as he took home the bronze over 300 metres.
To close out the RSEQ Championships,Audrey Gilmour picked up a bronze medal of her own in the 4×400 metre. Also running for McGill, Gilmour ran the third leg for the Martlets as they finished in 4:00.55, just seven tenths of a second behind Sherbrooke’s silver medal run.
For complete results and photos from the RSEQ Championships, please visit our results page.
For updated Carleton Ravens all-time rankings, please visit https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings/