Matt Hulse’s gold medal in the men’s 1,500-metre highlighted a five-medal team performance by Gaels runners at the OUA Track and Field Championships in Toronto last weekend.
Hulse also won a silver medal in the 1,000-metre event—a race in which Michael Del Monte of the University of Toronto narrowly edged him out.
Hulse found the podium a third time in the 4×800-metre relay along with teammates Joshua Potvin, Michael Nishiyama and Clay Patterson. The relay team finished in a time of 7:42.79, only 0.19 seconds behind the winning Winsdor Lancers team. In the team competition, the men’s results left them seventh place overall, while the women’s team combined for a slightly better sixth-place finish. The team of Veronica Catry, Paulina Beretta, Jan Stirling and Marissa Walter won a bronze medal in the women’s 4×200-metre relay.
Catry, Beretta and Stirling—along with teammate Jennifer Barrow—also won bronze in the 4×400-metre event. With their time they earned the right to compete at the CIS championships which take place at the University of Windsor March 12-14.
On the men’s side, Queen’s best medal hopes at the CIS Championships come from Hulse in the 1,500 and 1,000-metre distances. Hulse will also likely anchor the men’s 4×800-metre relay team, which will renew its rivalry with Windsor at the CIS meet.
Although Hulse won the 1,500-metre event in a time of 3:52.23, he said it wasn’t an especially fast race.
“It was a very tactical race, not the fastest race I’ve been in,” he said. “The leader took off near the end and I followed him and accelerated past him down the home stretch.” Hulse also said he doesn’t decide on a race strategy before his events begin—his tactics come from reacting to what other runners do throughout the race.
“It’s difficult to plan something before the race,” he said. “I made sure I was in contention the whole race [and]… made my move when the time came.” Potvin, who ran the second leg for the Gaels in the 4×800-metre relay, said he was happy with the team’s race.
“We came in ranked fourth and finished second, so it was a very good race for us.” Hulse was on exchange in Australia last year and therefore hasn’t competed at the CIS Championships since 2008, when he placed second in the 1,500-metre.
With two years of CIS eligibility remaining, Hulse said although he plans on graduating this spring, a return to university level competition next season isn’t out of the question for him. For the time being, his sights are set on medaling in all three of his events at the CIS Championships.
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