Keon Wallingford may have raced his final race as a member of the Laurentian Voyageurs Cross-Country / Indoor Track team - but the glut of the athletes who made up the L.U. relay teams this year are only just beginning to cut their teeth in university sports.
It was a combination of both who would account for the four top-ten finishes for the Voyageurs as the team competed at the OUA Championships last weekend at York University.
After claiming gold in the mile while competing at the Hal Brown Memorial Meet in Toronto and silver at the 1000m distance at York a week or so earlier, Wallingford topped all L.U. individual performances at provincials, placing 7th in his signature event (3000m) in a time of 8:32.51.
On the relay side, Wallingford joined with teammates Brandon Radey, Shiloh Sauve and Adam Urso in the 4 X 800m relay, their time of 8:10.64 good for ninth place in the province.
A graduate of Lasalle Secondary School and fourth year member of the team, Brandon Radey noted in the weeks leading up to the championships that there is a different vibe to running the relays.
"It's less that it's all about you and more that you have a team that is depending on you," said the 21 year-old Nursing major. "You want to do well for your team. These are the guys you're training with and you want to run strong, to put them in a good position with the baton."
Radey has all but committed to returning for another year of studies and fifth year of eligibility, noting that the direction of the program is most certainly a positive one.
"It's coll to see that we have a good group of rookies coming in," he said. "And really cool to be a bit older, helping them out and stuff - and just to see how fast they are. It makes me excited for this year and also next year, especially in the relays."
There was a similar theme on the women's side as Milena Kulik, Finlay Cuza, Alissa Diavolitsis and Lucia Salmaso ran to a school record of 4:08.09 in the 4 X 400m relay, good for tenth place.
That performance came less than a month after the quartet earned bronze at the 54th Annual York Open, their time of 4:12.08 then the third fastest on record at Laurentian.
Three quarters of the team - Kulik, Cuza and Diavolitsis - then welcomed Shelley Hladin to the mix for the 4 X 200m relay as the foursome also cracked the top ten, just barely, crossing the line in a clocking of 1:47.19.
"Nine of our seventeen athletes that competed this weekend are rookies, so we are excited to watch this team develop over the next few years," stated Laurentian head coach Darren Jermyn.
Among that group that first distinguished themselves by even reaching an OUA standard in their freshman season is hockey star turned track prospect Christian Hodgins, who placed 27th in the 300m race with a time of 37.64 seconds.
Having never run indoors during his time at Lasalle, the 20 year-old Sports Administration student is still adjusting to the technical transition.
"It's a lot harder (than running outdoors) I find," said Hodgins. "The bank is very tight and once you go down, you have to kind of stand straight upright. I don't have the best form, so it's harder for me."
While he also dabbles in the sprints - Hodgins covered the 60m dash in a time of 7.28 seconds (30th place) - he explained that for as much as the more elongated 300m (indoors) and 400m (outdoors) are a testament to human willpower, they are easily the better fit for him as an athlete.
"It's just such a mental game," he said. "The last 100 metres is some of the worst pain I could feel; the lactic acid is awful. It's hard - but once you're done, you're glad you did it."
Others who represented the Voyageurs at the OUA Championships included Abdul Abiodun, Josh Kim, Gabe Gauvreau and Corey Lacroix.
