LONDON, Ont. - The Laurier Golden Hawks track and field team delivered a series of strong performances at the Don Wright Team Challenge, hosted by the Western Mustangs on Saturday at Thompson Arena in London.
The meet marked an important early-season opportunity for Laurier's sprint relay groups to gain additional race experience and refine baton exchanges.
Both the women's and men's 4x400-metre relay teams claimed victories in near season-best times, despite all athletes having already competed in earlier events.
The men's squad of Finn Moore, Nolan Kuhlberg, Chad Thorpe and Nathan Hehn secured the win, while Abby Byers, Ciahan Malone, Anisah Sabree and Alyssa Zinn combined for the women's A-team victory.
In the 4x200-metre relay, Laurier experimented with new lineups. The men's team of Declan DiFrangia, Sise Aroloye, Miles Gulas and Kymani Allen turned in a strong performance, finishing second behind a deep Western squad.
The men's 600 metres produced one of the meet's standout moments for the Golden Hawks, as Kuhlberg won his heat in a school-record time of 1:22.48.
The performance vaulted him to seventh in the current OUA rankings. On the women's side, Nicole Schindler delivered her strongest race of the season, leading for much of her heat and stopping the clock at 3:01.47, placing her inside the OUA's top 12 to date.
Laurier's sprint group also impressed in the 60 metres, placing three athletes in the final. DiFrangia finished second in 7.01 seconds, followed closely by Etua Kaddu in third (7.05), while Allen placed fourth in a personal-best 7.06.
In the 300 metres, Hehn led the way with another sub-36-second performance. Gulas followed in 36.48, while Kaddu clocked 37.13 in his first 300-metre race of the season.
For the women, Byers recorded her fastest result of the year in the event, finishing in 42.85 seconds.
In the distance events, Ian Young showed promise in the men's 3,000 metres, running an evenly paced race before closing strong over the final laps to finish in 8:56.92.
Laurier will look to build on these performances as the indoor season continues at the York Open from January 30-31 at the Toronto Track and Field Centre.
