Thirty years ago marked the first time the University of Windsor held CIAU Track and Field Championships at the St. Denis Centre. With some of the most impressive performances in CIS history taking place this season the March 12th-14th event should bring just as much entertainment and excitement to the CIS Track and Field Championships as it has the past nine occasions it was held in Windsor.
Over the next ten we will be highlighting some of the greatest moments that have taken place at the St. Denis Centre during the 1985, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010 Track and Field Championships leading up to this year's event.
 
Triples and Records

By Richard Johnston

The Governator was in office, 2 ½ Men first aired, Apple launched ITunes and Will Ferrell was trying to maintain his composure switching roles from Old School to Elf.

After four years in Quebec competing at McGill and Sherbrooke, Windsor was awarded the CIS Championships for another two years. Once again the team titles had shifted hands on multiple occasions. The reign of the Sherbrooke men was ended in 2000 and went back to two Can-West Schools (Alberta in 2001 and Saskatchewan in 2002). The women's title changed hands just as many times, with the Lancers winning in 1999. Saskatchewan added two more banners to their rafters while the University of Western Ontario ended an 18 year drought winning in 2002.

A lot had changed since 1998. The CIAU officially changed its name to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). Windsor had its brand new blue and gold Mondo track laid down in the spring of 2000 and was ready for some National Championship action. Associate Head Coach Brett Lumley had joined the team full time in 1999 and quickly started coaching and developing some of the best multi -event and horizontal jump athletes in the country.

Windsor and Sherbrooke were favored in the men's competition while Saskatchewan would be the odds on favorite in the women's team competition.
I am going to dive right into the Athletes of the Meet. 

On the men's side it would be the double gold medalist from the Long Jump and Triple Jump, Patrick Benim-Mossock from Université du Québec à Montréal. Double gold in the two horizontal jumps was impressive, but setting CIS records in both events makes the achievement even more impressive. Patrick would dominate the Long Jump competition with a distance of 7. 64m, beating out the CIAU/CIS record holder and previous champion Craig Cavanagh (competing for Windsor) and current Lancer Hurdles Coach Kurt Downes who rounded out the medals. On day three, Patrick would jump his way to another CIS record with a distance of 15.80m in the Triple Jump. If you didn't see the speed Patrick had on the jumping runway all you had to do was see him run to a silver medal in the 60m. Finishing in 6.86 behind Ibrahim Meite from Sherbrooke, Patrick took home three medals and the Male Athlete of the Meet honors.
On the women's side it would be future Olympian Jessica Zelinka who earned the Female Athlete of the Meet. In the early years of high school Jessica lived in Ontario and would travel down to watch the CIAU Championships in 1996 and 1997 with her aunt. As a young spectator Jessica loved the atmosphere, the energy, the noise and hysterical support of the teams and spectator's. Saying that it "opened my eyes to a whole new world/culture of track and field that I hadn't been exposed to yet". When Jessica returned as a competitor in 2003 not much had changed, the Lancers were still just as rowdy as she remembered, the energy was "buzzing" and it only elevated the competition. Representing her Dino color's Jessica would enter the CIS Championships as the clear favorite in the women's Pentathlon. Breaking her own CIS record in the Pentathlon with 3931 points on day one then running to gold in the 60m hurdles was all Jessica needed in 2003. Also competing and finishing sixth in the high jump, Jessica was a huge contributor to the Silver medal team performance for the University of Calgary.

In the mid-distance events, Sarah Ali-Khan from McGill would be tackling the mid-distance triple: 600m, 1000m and 1500m. In the 1000m, Sarah would run a blistering 2:46.58 for her first gold medal. Currently sitting fifth, Sarah still remains the only athlete to place a time on the top 10 all-time list for the 1000m in the 21st century. On day three, Sarah took the 600m running 1:29.97. So far she was 2/2; she would have to race tough to complete the epic triple. Running 4:38.81 Sarah would hold off Edyta Sieminska from Saskatchewan to claim her third gold medal of the meet. Unable to win a medal Sarah also competed on the 4x800m (4^th) team and 4x400m (11^th) team making for a very busy weekend with 4900m covered on the blue and gold Mondo. Joining the ranks of Molly Killingbeck and Nicole Masil to win three individual races at a CIAU/CIS Championship in Windsor, Sarah also earned Female Athlete of the Meet alongside Jessica Zelinka.

Looking at the rest of the competition:
In the men's Pentathlon it was another Calgary athlete who would claim gold. Trevor Philips would also break his own CIS record from 2000 scoring 3834 points. Trevor also competed in the 60m Hurdles (10^th) and Long Jump (11^th).

In the field events, rookie Jim Stacey competed for Lethbridge University. The future Olympian would make his first mark in the CIS competing in the Weight Throw. Jim would earn the gold medal setting a CIS record of 20.45m leading the way for a Lethbridge podium sweep. Teammates Chris Meisner (18.41m) and Adam Smith (18.12m) would claim the silver and bronze medals. Mike Melaney (15.90m) from Queens would finish second in the Shot Put in between Jonathan Doucette (gold, 16.07m) and Chris Meisner (bronze, 15.78m).

On the track it was Sherbrooke's Ibriham Meite dominating the sprints with two gold medals in the 60m and 300m, but the home crowd was interested in their star. Windsor's Ryan McKenzie would have a go at the rarely attempted individual triple. With the top seed time in the 600m, 1000m and 1500m, Ryan would also be racing the 4x800m hoping to provide the Lancers with a slew of points and four gold medals. Starting out well McKenzie would qualify for the 600m final running 1:20.18. On day two he would take the 1000m in 2:26.32. On day three McKenzie would clock 1:18.50 to win the 600m. Looking to complete the triple, McKenzie would be up against CIS Cross Country Champion Jamie Epp from Saskatchewan and the gold medalist from the 3000m the night before Reid Coolsaet from Guelph. A great race, but it was clear McKenzie was running on tired legs. Epp and Coolsaet would take off in the latter part of the race and battle out the gold medal lfinishing in 3:51.10(Epp) and 3:51.12(Coolsaet). McKenzie would cruise in with his teammate Brandon Young for the bronze medal. With a bronze medal in the 4x800 from the night before, Ryan McKenzie would come away with two gold and two bronze medals
A solid all-around performance by the Lancer men saw them earn ten medals to win their first title since 1993.

Male Final Team Standings

Windsor – 61
Sherbrooke – 43
Guelph - 35

Women's Pole Vault had come a long way since it was first contested as an exhibition event in 1996. Saskatchewan's Kelsie Hendry would raise the bar, winning the competition with a vault of 4.15m. She set a CIS record that still sits fourth on the all-time list.

In the women's track events future Olympian and future CIS record holder Adrienne Power was competing for Dalhousie and took the 60m and 300m. Adrienne's 300m time sits tied for eighth on the all-time list.

The Saskatchewan women would add another banner to their rafters after the 2003 Championships. Like the Windsor men, the Saskatchewan women had a very well rounded team, scoring in the sprints, distance, jumps and throwing events. Almost sweeping the relays, the Huskies took gold in the 4x800m and 4x400m. They would finish second to Calgary (1:40.35) with a time of 1:40.52. Megan Reid would win both the Shot Put (13.29m) and Weight Throw (17.18m)

Dominating the team competition Saskatchewan would win with 71 points.

Female Final Team Standings
Saskatchewan – 71
Calgary – 48
Toronto - 35

The Lancer men were back on top and the Saskatchewan women were becoming a CIS powerhouse. Returning to Windsor again in 2004 would result in another very exciting Championship. Unlike Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, I won't drag the conclusion of this article out any longer.
Thanks to Dennis Fairall, Jessica Zelinka and Craig Cavanagh for providing the results and memories of the event.