York University Lions track & field athlete Daniel Novia won the silver medal in the hammer throw at the prestigious Penn Relays this past weekend in Philadelphia.
Novia, who won the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) gold medal in the weight throw earlier this year, finished second in the college men’s hammer throw championship division with a distance of 63.47 metres, his best mark of the outdoor season to date. The distance was actually the same as the one thrown by first place winner Anastas Popozov, who competes for Manhattan College, but Novia was declared the silver medallist after a count back.
Daniel Novia
Fellow Lions throwers Umar Khan, Eric Brathwaite and Kristin Obrochta also competed at the event.
Khan and Brathwaite both participated in the college men’s shot put event, where they each recorded outdoor personal bests. Khan, who won the silver medal in the shot put at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships in February, finished eighth with a distance of 16.95 metres. Brathwaite, an OUA bronze medallist in the weight throw, was 14th with a distance of 15.17 metres.
Obrochta, who is the CIS and OUA champion in the weight throw this season, finished ninth in the college women’s hammer throw championship division with a distance of 54.58 metres.
York sprinter Dontae Richards-Kwok, a two-time CIS gold medallist this season in the 60m and 300m, was also at the event for the 4 by 100-metre relay.The team was forced to withdraw due to injury.
The Penn Relays, held at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania, is the oldest and largest track & field competition in the United States. The event regularly attracts more than 15,000 participants from high schools, colleges and track clubs. Attendance typically tops 100,000 spectators.