@ McGill Open in Montreal, Qué., February 18

On February 18, the Gee-Gees track and field team travelled to Montreal to compete at the McGill Open, which served as Ottawa’s last competition before the OUA championships. Despite having a smaller than usual lineup, the Gee-Gees fared quite well and had several top-three finishes. Ottawa is now ready to compete at the OUA championships, which will be held at York University, Feb. 24 to 25.

The Gee-Gees will finalize their lineup for the OUA championships sometime in the upcoming week.

Fifth-year pole vaulter Melinda Rock (Baie-Comeau, Qué.) got the Gee-Gees off to a fantastic start at the McGill Open, which began at 11 a.m. with the pole vault event. Rock finished in third place with a school record-breaking successful attempt at 3.45m. Second-year Cheryl Coulas (Ottawa, Ont.) tied for first place in the women’s high jump event with a record of 1.55m, which is good enough to qualify her into the OUA championships. Third-year sprinter Sarah De Carufel (Boisbriand, Qué) also had a nice outing at McGill University, as she finished fourth in the 60m sprint with a time of 7.85 seconds.

On the men’s side third-year Mark Farnsworth (Brockville, Ont.) had the top finish of the day as he placed second in the men’s pole vault, with a record of 4.15m. Second-year Devin Biocchi (Ottawa,

Ont.) continued his stellar finish to the season, placing third in the 300m sprint with a time of 35.05 seconds. Other top-three performances included the 4x200m relay team’s bronze medal finish, and a third place showing by second-year Gabriel Tesfaye (London, Ont.) in the 60m hurdles.

Full results from the McGill Open are available here:

http://www.mcgilltrack.com/meetResults/2012McGillOpen2-18February/index.htm

Approximately 58 uOttawa athletes will compete at the OUA championships next weekend.