Laurentian Athletics Roundup: Ford, Routhier set OUA qualifying marks at season opener
Strong start to indoor track season
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Laurentian University’s Tre Ford and Tristan Routhier got off to a strong start at their season-opening meet in London, Ont., this past weekend as both qualified for OUA indoor track championships in Windsor in February.
Ford, a Voyageurs newcomer and MBA student from Niagara Falls, placed fourth in the men’s 60-metre sprint at the Bob Vigars Classic, hosted by Western University, crossing the line in 7.07 seconds. Routhier, a second-year architecture student from Saint-Sixte, Que., placed eighth in the same race with a new personal-best time of 7.18.
Routhier also placed seventh in the men’s 200-metre event with a time of 23.78.
On the women’s side, three Voyageurs competed in the 60 metres, with second-year kinesiology student Naomi Palmer, from Sudbury, placing 17th with a time of 8.51. Rookie and social work student Jessy Trottier, of Hanmer, placed 23rd in 8.89 and fifth-year education student Shanica Thomas, from Ottawa, placed 25th in 8.97.
“The sprint squad had a solid start to the season,” Alexandre Noel de Tilly, LU’s assistant coach, said in a press release. “We hope to add a few more OUA qualifiers over the next few months from this group. We have developed general sprint fitness and strength over the fall and will now focus on specific race elements as we head into the winter.”
Laurentian’s indoor track and field team will return to action at the University of Toronto Open on Jan. 7.
Basketball men end skid, women drop two
Cedric Mbiaba scored 21 points and hauled down 14 rebounds as Laurentian opened its final weekend on the pre-Christmas side of the OUA men’s basketball schedule with its first win on home court, 61-58 over Waterloo this past Friday.
Caillou Lacroix had 19 points and Gaetan Chamand eight, with the latter logging 30 minutes of game time in his return from an ankle injury as the Voyageurs ended a six-game skid.
LU opened a double-digit lead heading into the fourth quarter, then made some key defensive stops as Waterloo’s comeback bid fell short.
The Voyageurs settled for a weekend split to end 2022, falling 78-69 to Laurier on Saturday and sliding to 2-8 on the season. Despite a strong start that saw the locals out-point the visiting side 25-13 in the opening quarter, the Golden Hawks gradually took over and outscored Laurentian 25-9 in the final frame to secure a victory.
Mbiaba had 14 points, Lacroix 14, Chamand 11 and Abdulmajid Hassan and Coban Scott 10 each for the Vees.
Justin Malnerich and Ben Stevens led Laurier with point totals of 24 and 20, respectively.
On the women’s side, Bailey Tabin posted a double-double with team highs of 13 points and 10 rebounds this past Friday, but Laurentian fell 67-55 to Waterloo.
Arielle Douillette scored 12 points and Princess Bernardino 11 for LU, while Vanessa Hughes paced the Waterloo attack with 19.
The Voyageurs came much closer to tasting victory on Saturday, with Helena Lamoureux netting 12 and Arielle Douillette and Amber May 11 each in a loss to Laurier, 66-63,
Cassidy Hirtle scored a team-high 13 for the Golden Hawks.
Now owners of a 3-7 record, the Laurentian women will return to action with a visit to Algoma University on Jan. 8 at 2 p.m., before the men hit the court at 4 p.m.
Twitter: @ben_leeson
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