Track teams compete in Halifax

The X-Men and X-Women track and field teams competed at the Step Up Track Meet this past Saturday in Halifax in what would be their final competition prior to the AUS championship, slated for February 25-26 in Moncton.

The X-Men had several sprinters compete in the 60m dash, including Conor Kyte and Robert Bird who both ran a 7.43, good enough for first place in heat three. Jide Ojuawo was third in heat three with a clocking of 7.47. IN heat four of the 60m dash, three X-Men competed including Greg Gilroy who was first at 7.52. Chad Samson (7.54) and Miroslav Novak (7.82) followed in second and fifth spots, respectively. 

In the women’s 60m dash, three X-Women competed. Cassie Dobosh ran an 8.41 in sixth spot in the first heat, while Bridget Brennan won the second heat with a time of 8.39 and Morgan Priske was fifth at 8.93.

StFX’s Susie Lajoie won heat one in the women’s 60m hurdles, unfortunately her time was not available due to a clock malfunction. Lajoie also competed in the long jump and placed fourth overall with a jump of 4.76m. Brennen joined her teammate in the long jump, coming in fifth at 4.74m.

The women’s high jump competition saw one participant from StFX in Rebecca Bell. Her jump of 1.45m was good enough for third spot overall. Miroslav Novak was the lone X-Men competitor in the men’s high jump. He came in first spot with a jump of 1.75m.

Rounding out the StFX results in the field events was X-Man Chad Samson who recorded a 6.08m jump in the men’s long jump competition, placing fourth overall.

Getting back to the running events, Alex Vanderlinden and Stu MacNeil ran in the men’s 600m race and placed first and second, respectively. Vanderlinden’s time was 1:31.05, followed closely by MacNeil at 1:31.43.

Vanderlinden also competed in the 300m race, placing fourth in heat two at 40.50. Conor Kye also ran in the 300m and was second in heat one with a 37.76 showing.

Four X-Women ran in the women’s 600m race with Heidi Stirling claiming top spot with a time of 1:40.18. Her teammates Celeste Black (1:42.35), Eilish MacQuarrie (1:43.56) and Chloe Froelich (1:46.19) followed her in second, third and fourth places.

In the women’s 300m event, Bridget Brennen (43.60) and MacQuarrie (44.59) were second and third in heat one for StFX, while Froelich (46.62) and Cassie Dobosh (46.78) came fourth and fifth in heat two. Celeste Black ran a 45.73 race in the 300m, placing second in heat three.

Looking at the distance races, a number of X-Men and X-Women competed in the 1500m event. Due to a timing malfunction in section one of the women’s 1500m race, times were unavailable for several StFX runners, however, Kelly MacDonald claimed top spot in that section. Liz O’Connell ran to a second place finish, followed by Jessica White in third, Tory Anderson in sixth and Natasha Herron in seventh.

In section two of the women’s 1500m event, Lynette Manual (5:07.88) was first, followed by teammates Sarah Deveau (5:11.06) in second, Alyson Woods (5:16.25) in sixth and Emily Taylor (5:38.21) in seventh.

In section one of the men’s 1500m event, the X-Men had eight competitors, including winner Connor McGuire who raced to a 4:03.16 showing. Bryden Tate was third at 4:05.01, followed by Stephen Deering (4:08.09) in fourth, Gabe Quenneville (4:08.83) in fifth, Riley Johnston (4:11.66) in sixth, Zach MacDonald (4:15.17) in seventh, Ben Gunn-Doerge (4:15.97) in ninth and Ryan Hatchard (4:19.47) in 11th.  

StFX also ran two women’s teams in the 4x800m relay race. StFX Team A came second with a time of 10:09.59, followed by StFX Team B in third at 10:19.10. Two X teams ran in the mixed 4x800m race, placing first and second overall with times of 8:30.60 and 8:37.29.

The meet was held at the Canada Games Centre in Halifax and wraps up regular season competition for the indoor track team. The AUS championship takes place February 25-26th at the Universite de Moncton.