GUELPH, Ont. – They saved their best for the biggest stage in Canadian university sports and each of these two Gryphon athletes were more than deserving of the title 'national champion.'
Jenna Westaway (Women's Track and Field) and
Mark Bujnowski (Men's Track and Field) have earned Gryphon MUSCLE MLK Athlete of the Week honours for the period ending Sunday, March 10, 2019.
Jenna Westaway (Women's Track and Field)
Westaway has made history in her final year of collegiate competition, her first in the red, black, and gold colours of Guelph.
The fifth-year Calgary, AB native had recently established two Canadian records in the 800m and 1000m races so she went into the definitive meet of the university season with lots of positive momentum. Westaway was at her best at the U SPORTS Track and Field Championships in Winnipeg this past weekend, securing three gold medals on the track and a fourth after the Guelph women took the team title. She picked up her first gold of the competition on Friday by running the 1000m event in a U SPORTS-record time of 2:41.36, which appropriately came on International Women's Day. But Westaway was far from done performing at the James Daly Fieldhouse. She ran the anchor leg in the 4x800m race alongside teammates Jenna Smith, Sadie-Jane Hickson, and Olivia Romaniw, to get her second gold of the national meet. And as the Gryphon women were closing in on a second consecutive banner, Westaway capped Day 3 off by winning the 1500m race in a time of 4:18.17. Those three incredible results, combined with the gold for the women's team win, earned Westaway U SPORTS Female Performer of the Meet honours.
"Jenna had a superb end to certainly one of, if not the, best seasons in our team's history," says Gryphon head coach Dave Scott-Thomas. "Our goal was to be playful, learn, and run to win and Jenna nailed it on all counts, running with a variety of race strategies and a total commitment to team. Great example for younger athletes to see such consistency and enthusiasm at such a high level of delivery. The stats tell a portion of the story but the best message given was the clear joy Jenna expressed through the meet, and her conclusive statement "I'm happy."
Mark Bujnowski (Men's Track and Field)
Bujnowski stormed on to the university track and field scene last year as a first-year athlete who delivered immediate results. The reigning U SPORTS Male Rookie of the Year followed up his fantastic freshman campaign with an even better throwing season in 2019.
Bujnowski, a native of Mount Brydges, ON, got the Gryphons off to a great start on Day 2 of the meet with a well-earned silver medal in the weight throw. Though more of a shot-put specialist, Bujnowski has made tremendous strides in his secondary event and he showed his vast improvement by tossing a personal-best distance of 17.97m in the second round. But he had much more in the tank. Bujnowski dug deep and topped his new mark by recording another personal best of 18.09m to finish a mere centimetre ahead of the bronze medalist Andreas Troschke from Lethbridge. The silver medal equaled his result at the OUA Championships two weeks earlier. On Saturday, Bujnowski would achieve another personal best, this time in his favourite event. The No. 1-ranked U SPORTS shot putter in the country lived up to the billing and registered an incredible result of 18.17m, the longest distance Bujnowski had ever achieved, which also tied the facility record at the James Daly Fieldhouse. It was good enough for gold and enabled the second-year star to lock up the impressive OUA/U SPORTS double.
"Coming in number one ranked as a sophomore, and carrying a solid portion of the load of a team goal of a national title might get the best of a number of people; fortunately Mark's broad shoulders were more than up to the task as he nailed both weight throw (still a relatively new event for him) and shot put, the latter with the #4 mark in U Sports history," says Gryphon head coach Dave Scott-Thomas. "Mark's gifts are beyond the purely athletic; his calm presence and good humour were a rallying point for the team deep in the competition."
2018-19 GRYPHON ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
| Period Ending: |
MALE: |
FEMALE: |
| March 11 |
Mark Bujnowski (T&F) |
Jenna Westaway (T&F) |
| March 4 |
Mikkel Aagaard (MHKY) |
Valerie Lamenta (WHKY) |
| Feb. 25 |
Alexander Chaves (WRSTL) |
Shyvonne Roxborough (T&F) |
| Feb. 19 |
Todd Winder (MHKY) |
Burke Bechard (WBB) |
| Feb. 11 |
Sam Kuntz (SWIM) |
Jenna Westaway (T&F) |
| Feb. 4 |
Matthew MacNeill (T&F) |
Natassya Lu (WRSTL) |
| Jan. 28 |
Justin Lemcke (MHKY) |
Karli Shell (WHKY) |
| Jan. 21 |
Jakson Paterson (MVB) |
Modupe Okeowo (WBB) |
| Jan. 14 |
Philip Osei (T&F) |
Emma Nero (T&F) |
| Jan. 7 |
Malcolm Glanville (MBB) |
Sydney Davison (WHKY) |
| Dec. 3 |
Philip Osei (T&F) |
Kaitlin Lowy (WHKY) |
| Nov. 26 |
Evan Cormier (MHKY) |
Veronica Dietrich (SWIM) |
| Nov. 19 |
Banky Alade (MBB) |
Michaela Hellinga (WVB) |
| Nov. 12 |
Connor Black (XC) |
Danielle Jossinet (XC) |
| Nov. 5 |
MacKenzie Kea (MRGBY) |
Emilie Nicholl (WRGBY) |
| Oct. 28 |
Jean-Paul Cimankinda (FB) |
Carly Zanatta (ROWING) |
| Oct. 21 |
Connor Mitchell (BASEBALL) |
Talia Hoffman (WRGBY) |
| Oct. 15 |
Mark Patton (XC) |
Haylie Burton (SWIM) |
| Oct. 7 |
Marcello Wainwright (MRGBY) |
Erin Murray (WLAX) |
| Sept. 30 |
Job Reinhart (FB) |
Katherine MacMillan (FH) |
| Sept. 24 |
Mark Patton (XC) |
Sarah Dunning (GOLF) |
| Sept. 16 |
Josiah Dixon (GOLF) |
Emmanuela Jada (WRGBY) |
| Sept. 9 |
Jace Kotsopoulos (MSCR) |
Libby Brenneman (WSCR) |
| Sept. 3 |
Jace Kotsopoulos (MSCR) |
Victoria Hinchliffe (WSCR) |
| Aug. 26 |
Jalen Noronha (MSCR) |
Jenna Holtz (WSCR) |
* green signifies OUA Athlete of the Week
* red signifies U SPORTS Athlete of the Week
