Canada closes championships in style
Posted Monday, 1 August, 2005
By Jim Parker, Star Sports Writer
Windsor Star
jparker@thestar.canwest.com or 255-5777 ext. 413
An 11-medal day left the host team with 18 for the championships, which was second to the United States. It also was Canada's best performance in more than two decades since grabbing 29 medals at the 1984 championships.
"Juniors are the athletes of the future," said Canada's Braden Novakowski, who was second in the men's 1,500 metres. "I think it bodes well for the future of track and field in Canada."
Ottawa's Mike Woods led a one-two finish with Novakowski in the 1,500 metres. Woods, who set a Canadian junior record in the mile during opening ceremony festivities, set a meet record by grabbing second gold medal in 3:45.72. Novakowski was second in 3:48.92.
"This is something so special," Woods said. "I definitely think this is the happiest I've been while running."
Like most of Canada's team, Woods was showered with affection by the Windsor and he was inundated with autograph requests from many in the overflow crowd of 6,700 at the University of Windsor's new stadium.
As he crossed the finish line, Woods blew a kiss to the crowd, which totaled 22,400 over the four days.
"They deserved it," said Woods, who could hear the screams every lap. "They're the ones I wanted to please. It just felt like all of Canada was behind you."
Canada, which had 11 medals at the last championships, was able to match that total on Sunday performance alone.
Right after the win by Woods, Canada came back with two more medals in the men's 3,000-metre steeplechase.
Canadian record holder Alex Genest took silver behind Cuba in 8:47.00 while teammate Chris Winter grabbed the bronze in a time of 8:58.49.
"The crowd was so awesome," Genest said. "There was nothing left in me in the end, but I was really happy to get second."
There were a few surprises for Canada as well.
Race walker Piere-Luc Menard grabbed silver in the 10,000-metre race as he took advantage when a Mexican and Brazilian, who were ahead, were disqualified during the race for their form. Menard finished in 45:09.50.
Corri-Ann Campbell-Fell also took advantage of the field to grab bronze in the women's 400-metre hurdles.
Three racers fell during the racing, including two ranked in the top eight in the world. That opened the door for Campbell-Fell's bronze in 1:00.64.
"I almost feel guilty because (Jamaica's Sherene Pinnock, who fell on the final hurdle and finished fourth) was leading," Campbell-Fell said. "But I just saw her fall and said, 'Oh my God' and ran as fast as I could."
Marie-Eve Boiselle also earned a bronze in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 57.70 metres while Leah Vause matched the medal with a third-place finish in women's pole vault by clearing 3.95 metres.
Canada then finished up in impressive style with three medals in four relays.
Gavin Smellie had a big hand in two of those medals. After Marc Latouche was forced to pull out of the 4x100-metre relay with an injury, Smellie stepped in.
While he struggled with his exchange, it was Smellie who edged the Jamaican by two one-hundreths of a second at the line to give Canada a silver medal along with Adam Newton, Seyi Smith and Justyn Warner, who won silver in the 100 metres Saturday.
An hour later, Smellie teamed with Aaron White, Brian Cummings and Brian Barnett to give Canada its final medal. The foursome finished with a bronze in the 4x400-metre relay in 3:09.50.
The women's 4x400-metre relay team also took bronze led by the powerful anchor leg of Carline Muir, who won silver in the women's 400 metres Saturday. Along with Bailey Lewis, Campbell-Fell and Omoye Ugiabe, the foursome finished in 3:41.29.
Facebook 
Twitter
i