By: Wilson Wong - Manager, Communications and Sports Information (wilson_wong_5@sfu.ca)
BURNABY, B.C. –
Marie-Éloïse Leclair of the Simon Fraser Red Leafs indoor track and field team is the new No. 1-ranked 200-meter runner in NCAA Division II after her performance this past weekend at Boston University's John Thomas Terrier Classic.
On Saturday, the junior sprinter from Montreal crossed the finish line in 23.87 seconds to place fourth overall out of 158 competitors. Leclair's run also put her into second spot in the current overall Canadian rankings of 200-m runners.
On Monday, the
Great Northwest Athletic Conference recognized Leclair with its Women's Track Athlete of the Week award for the second time this season, and the eighth time in her career.
Leclair's results helped propel the Red Leafs up to 13th in the
USTFCCCA NCAA Div. II Indoor Women's Indoor Track and Field National Ratings Index.
She also ran the second leg for SFU in the women's distance medley relay, teaming up with junior
Grace Chalk (Langley, B.C.), junior
Kate Cameron (Nanaimo, B.C.) and sophomore
Rachael Watkins (West Vancouver, B.C.) for a sixth-place finish in an NCAA championship provisional qualification time of 11 minutes 51.23 seconds. The DMR team is currently ranked seventh in NCAA Div. II.
The Red Leafs are ranked third in NCAA Div. II in the men's DMR after their showing in Boston. The team of junior
Jose Castro (Brampton, Ont.), freshman
Colton Plummer (Surrey, B.C.), junior
Andrew Thomson (Abbotsford, B.C.), and junior
Aiden Good (Carstairs, Alta.) finished eighth at the Terrier Classic after running a time of 9:50.45.
Jose Castro. Photo by Gordon Kalisch / Fast Track Sports Photography
Surrey, B.C.'s
Kerlinda Chatwin continued her impressive first season of university competition as the rookie leaped 11.66 meters to place fifth in the triple jump and earn an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
Senior
Ephrem Mekonnen of Burnaby, B.C., also earned an NCAA provisional standard after recording a time of 8:16.78 in the men's 3,000 meters (52nd place).
SFU also had a small contingent compete at the University of Washington Invitational / Mile City Meet in Seattle.
The Red Leafs will be headed back to Boston and Seattle as they will compete in the Boston Univ. David Hemery Valentine Invitational and the Univ. of Washington Husky Classic Feb. 9-10.
For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit
athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics.
#RepTheLeaf
