Stafford, Mitton, Land, Ingvaldson win MVP awards

WINDSOR, ONT. — Toronto’s Lucia Stafford, Windsor’s Sarah Mitton, Guelph’s Thomas Land and Lethbridge’s Benjamin Ingvaldson were named the most outstanding athletes in U Sports track and field on Thursday.

Stafford was named the outstanding performer in track events following a dominant performance at the Ontario conference championships two weeks ago.

The Toronto native took home the 1,000metre title and 1,500-metre titles and anchored her team to a 4x800 gold medal.

“Lucia is one of the most selfless young women I have had the privilege of coaching in our program,” said Toronto head coach Carl Georgevski. “She is bright, talented and she is the ultimate teammate.”

Mitton, a thrower from Brooklyn, N.S., won the women’s shot put event at the OUA finals by almost three metres with a throw of 16.82 metres, setting a new Lancers record in the process. She followed that up with a gold in the weight throw at 16.47 metres.

Montreal’s Audrey Jackson earned rookie of the year honours and St. Francis Xavier’s Beth Lawrence took home the student-athlete community service award.

In men’s competition, Land was named track MVP. The Turkey Point, Ont., native won the men’s 600- and 1000-metre events at the OUA finals.

Mark Bujnowski of Guelph was named rookie of the year, and Victoria’s Tyler Smith won the student-athlete community service award.

The U Sports track and field finals run Thursday through Saturday at the University of Windsor.