Sprinter Sam Effah, from Calgary, celebrates his victory in the men's 100m dash at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Calgary, Alta., Friday, June 24, 2011. The event runs until Saturday and features Canada's Olympic hopefuls.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntoshJeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Sam Effah took to the track for Friday's men's 100-metre final at the Canadian track and field championships with one mission - to win gold in front of all the people who have supported him.
He he did just that, crossing the finish line in first with a time of 10.23 seconds.
"Winning this on my home turf is an awesome thing," said the 22-year-old Calgary native, who defended his Canadian title on the track where he ran his first ever race. "I had my family and friends, everybody around me just supporting me and I'm happy about that."
Justyn Warner of Markham, Ont., who had the best time of 10.22 seconds in Thursday's semifinal heats, was eliminated from the final after a false start.
"It would have been nice to have a full field with Justin out because I know he was gunning for it too," said Effah. "Definitely keep an eye out for him. You can almost feel for (him). If you get disqualified in a final you have to wait another year. You can say that at least it's not an Olympic year."
Jared Connaughton of New Haven, P.E.I., finished second with a time of 10.31, while Toronto's Aaron Brown won bronze at 10.39.
In the women's 100 meters, Toronto's Crystal Emmanuel clocked a time of 11.45 to edge out Toyin Olupona of Orillia, Ont. by four hundredths of a second to win gold.
"I'm very tired because I had to put my all into the race," said Emmanuel, 19, who recently graduated from the junior ranks to compete at the senior nationals.
Heading into the race, Emmanuel didn't know whether she could compete against the likes of Olupona and Kerri-Ann Mitchell of Pickering, Ont., who finished third at 11.51.
"I did and I didn't," Emmanuel said. "I had my doubts. Yesterday my knee was kind of bugging me. Today I just put it behind me and said I'm going to go for it and I did it."
Earlier in the day, Melissa Fraser battled windy conditions to win the women's javelin competition.
Fraser of Hillsburgh, Ont., won gold with a throw of 50.25 metres to edge out second-place finisher Elizabeth Gleadle (50.18 m).
"The wind kept changing," said Fraser of the tough throwing conditions. "It was a head wind, then it was a tail wind, then it was a cross wind. You couldn't win today."
But Fraser did just that and her second of six throws was good enough to beat out Gleadle and defending champion and Canadian record holder Krista Woodward of New Westminster, B.C., who finished in fifth.
"It's always fun to compete against somebody who you have to rise up to try and beat them," Fraser said. "It's a little bit intimidating, but it's a motivating factor when you go into competition."
In men's discus, Brent Roubos of Hawkestone, Ont., finished first with a toss of 53.35 metres slightly ahead of second-place finisher Marc-Antoine Dugas (51.16 m) of Sherbrooke, Que.
In men's pole vault, Toronto's Jason Wurster cleared the bar at 5.25 metres to finish first ahead of Saskatoon's Taylor Petrucha and Ryan Vu of Surrey, B.C., who both jumped 5.15 metres.
Ben Warnock of Windsor, Ont., won the men's long jump competition with a jump of 7.61 metres to edge out second-place finisher Christopher Greenaway (7.52 m) of Brossard, Que.
A pair of Guelph, Ont., natives prevailed in the 3,000-metre steeplechase events. Dana Buchanan took the women's title with a time of 10:26.82, while Alex Genest won the men's race in 8:44.10.
Reid Coolsaet of Hamilton won the men's 5,000 metres in 14:09.83, while Leslie Sexton of Markham, Ont., won the women's 5,000 metres in 16.55.01.
Jillian Drouin of Corunna, Ont., won the women's high jump event by clearing the bar set at 1.84 metres, while Edmonton's Krysha Bayley prevailed in women's long jump with a leap of 6.54 metres.
Julie Labonte of Ste-Justine, Que., won the women's discus final with a toss of 53.31 metres, while Scott Russell of Windsor, Ont., won the men's javelin event with a throw of 77.46.
In the women's 100-metre para-ambulatory race, Jacqueline Rennebohm of Regina, Meghan O'Brien of Kitchener, Ont., Megan Muscat of St. Thomas, Ont., and Cindy Burt of Oshawa, Ont., each won their classification.
In the men's 100-metre para-ambulatory race, Richard Carr of Port Elgin, Ont., Courtney Johnson of Mississauga, Ont., Jonathan Furey of Waterloo, Ont., Michael Johnstone of Stratford, Ont., and Alister McQueen of Calgary prevailed in their classifications. Meanwhile, Shayne Dobson of Campbellton, N.B., won the men's 1,500-metre para-ambulatory race.
In the women's 400-metre para wheelchair event Montreal's Sarah White and Saskatoon's Keira-Lyn Frie finished first in their classifications.
In the men's 400-metre para wheelchair event, Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que., and Colin Mathieson of Sherbrooke, Que., each took their classifications.
Cody Salomons of Strathroy, Ont., prevailed in the men's para high jump event, while Renee Foessel of Mississauga, Ont., won both the women's para javelin and para discus competitions.
The championships, featuring almost 600 athletes, conclude Saturday at the refurbished Foothills Athletic Park adjacent to McMahon Stadium.