Macrozonaris beaten at McGill Open track meet

By Earl Zukerman

MONTREAL – Sprinter Bianco Richard beat out Canadian national team member Nicolas Macrozonaris and McGill’s Zaria Stoffman captured a pair of events to highlight the Montreal Open track and field indoor meet hosted by McGill University at Tomlinson Fieldhouse, Saturday.

Richard, a 20-year-old with Perf-max Racing, was clocked at 34.80 seconds in the men’s 300 metres, to finish ahead of teammate Macrozonaris (35.33).

Richard also finished second in the high-profile 60m sprint, a race won by Canadian Olympian Hank Palmer of Pierrefonds, Que., in 6.81 seconds. Palmer edged out Richard (6.89) and Pierre-Hans Horacius (6.93).

Genevieve Thibault took the women’s 60m in 7.54, finishing ahead of Kimberly Hyacinthe (7.57) and Clemence Paiement (7.71).

The only Tomlinson fieldhouse record to fall was in the women’s shot put, when 18-year-old Julie Labonté of the Club d'athletisme Fleur-de-Lys, threw for a distance of 14.98m, destroying the previous mark of 14.74 by Calgary’s Jessica Zelinka in 2007.

Stoffman, a 5-foot-10 philosophy junior from Vancouver, B.C., captured a pair of events, finishing first in the women’s 60m hurdles (9.16 seconds) and winning the high jump with a height of 1.60m.

Aly McPhee, a 21-year-old McGill junior from Halifax and a daughter of former Montreal Canadiens forward Mike McPhee, finished second in the long jump (5.17), which was won by Tamara Cap (5.28) of the Saint-Laurent Selects.

The Martlets won the women’s 4x200 relay in 1:46.66. Names of the quartet were not immediately available.

McGill freshman Lucas Lafourcade took the men’s 60m hurdles in 9.26 seconds. He also finished third in the shot put, with a toss of 9.67m.

In the men’s 4x200m relay, a unique McGill foursome featuring football defensive back Anthony Lukca of St. Laurent, Que., rugby flanker Cayse Ruiter of Ottawa, hockey defenceman Ken Morin of St. Prosper, Que., and volleyball middle blocker Thomas Fabian of Toronto, finished third in 1:44.82.

Six Quebec provincial records fell in age-related categories, highlighted by the performance of Annie Leblanc, a 16-year-old out of the Lanaudiere-Olympique track club. She won the women’s 600m in 1:32.70, which established both junior and juvenile records.

In the men’s 600m, Eracles Glaude, a 15-year-old from the West Island Track Club, finished second in 1:24.36 to establish a new provincial midget standard.

In the long jump, 13-year-old Andréanne Laporte set girls’ Pee Wee record with leap of 4.63m, while 11-year-old Alexandre Turcotte established boys’ Pee Wee mark with his jump of 4.61m.

In the 60m hurdles, Larissa Roberge, 13, was clocked at 9.64 to register a girls’ bantam record.