StFX track & field team competes at McGill Challenge

MONTREAL -- The York Lions and Guelph Gryphons captured the respective men's and women's titles at the 19th annual McGill Team Challenge track and field meet, held at the Richard Tomlinson Fieldhouse, Jan. 24-25.

Sixteen records fell at the two-day competition, including 10 meet standards and a half-dozen fieldhouse marks. Billed as the largest indoor meet in Canada, the event drew 30 university teams and a record 893 athletes, including eight Olympians.

Guelph led all schools with a combined 20 medals between their men's and women's squads, claiming eight golds, six silvers and  a half-dozen bronze.  They edged out York, which captured 14 total medals, including six golden and three silvers.

Both the StFX X-Women and X-Men teams sent numerous competitors in both running and field events. The X-Women placed 23^rd overall while the X-Men were 17^th.

In the women's sprints, four X-Women competed in the 60m dash, five in the 300m and two in the 600m.

Freshman Abbi Finnan posted the top StFX time in the 60m with an 8.00, placing 21^st overall amongst a field of 71. Eilish MacQuarrie ran an 8.06 in 26^th, Jillian Murphy (8.12) was 29^th and Jillian Nolan (8.67) was 62^nd.

MacQuarrie had a strong showing in the 300m race, coming 10^th overall with a time of 40.45, and placing seventh amongst CIS sprinters.

Bridget Brennan was 44^th in the 300m in a field of 88 with a time of 43.14. Murphy placed 52th with a 43.56 clocking, while Nolan (46.29) and Brittany Wadden (47.53) rounded out the X-Women finishers in 74^th and 78^th places.

Elizabeth MacDonald (1:47.97) and Wadden (1:52.03) were the lone X competitors in the 600m race and placed 43^rd and 47^th, respectively.

MacDonald also ran the 1000m event where her time of 3:13.87 found her in 37th spot. Fourth year X-Woman Liz O'Connell finished 19th overall with a time of 3:02.12.

In the men's sprints, StFX had three competitors in the 60m dash, two in the 300m race and four in the 600m.

Demetrius Ferguson clocked the top time for the X-Men with a 7.18 in 27^th place overall. Matt Murphy's time of 7.34 placed him 39^th, while Adam Mitchell (7.40) was 49^th amidst the field of 91.

Mitchell also ran the 300m where he was 24^th overall, clocking in at 35.94. Murphy placed 59^th with a time of 37.59.

Mackenzie Munroe was the top X-Men in the 600m race, placing 17^th overall and 14^th amongst CIS runners with a time of 1:22.96.

Thomas Faour (1:27.11), Ryan Washburn (1:27.28) and Ben Munroe (1:29.15) were 49^th, 50^th and 55^th, respectively.

Washburn also competed in the 1000m event where he placed 47^th with a time of 2:42.70. Third year X-Man Bryden Tate was 32^nd at 2:36.34. He was also the top StFX finisher in the 1500m race with a 40^th place showing and a time of 4:02.81.

Also running in the 1500m event were Alex Neffer (4:07.38) who came 56^th and Cal DeWolfe (4:13.16) in 65^th.

Liz O'Connell ran the women's 1500m event along with Melissa Hardy, Alexa Zarins and Ginny Anderson. Hardy placed 15^th overall and 13^th amongst CIS runners in the field of 63, crossing the line at 4:44.13. O'Connell was the next X-Woman at 4:46.01 in 19^th overall, while Zarins (5:02.41) and Anderson (5:12.80) were 48^th and 53^rd.

Hardy also had a strong showing in the 3000m race where her time of 10:02.05 saw her place 13^th overall and 8^th amongst CIS competitors.

Zarins was 26^th overall in the 3000m with a time of 10:43.28, while her teammate Anderson was 41^st at 11:30.77.

In the men's 3000m race, Neuffer and Lee Wesselius placed 39^th and 40^th, respectively, with times of 8:54.32 and 8:55.12. DeWolfe was 45^th with an 8:53.29 result.

Switching over to the field events, Lauren Agnew and Mary Catherine Thompson competed for StFX in the high jump. Agnew's jump of 1.50m placed her 19^th overall while Thompson (1.45m) was 24^th.

In the long jump Bridget Brennan came 21^st with a 5.10m showing and Thompson was 35^th at 4.41m.

The men's high jump saw Jake McKenna post a 1.70m jump in 29^th place. He was 30^th in the long jump (5.79m) behind his teammates Ben Munroe (5.93m) and Adam Mitchell (5.85m) who were 28^th and 29^th.

The X-Women had four compete in the shot put with Hailey Polluck producing the top showing in 14^th spot with a throw of 10.38m. Ellen Murphy placed 17^th at 10.13m, while Hannah Pollock (9.70m) was 18^th and Jessica Warrener (8.31m) was 28^th.

Murphy had an 18^th place result in the women's weight throw with a mark of 11.23m. Hannah Polluck was 26^th with a 9.54m throw and Warrener was 29^th at 9.17m.

Three X-Men competed in the shot put and weight throw. Robert Kennedy had a top ten showing in the shot as his throw of 13.72 was good enough to nab eighth spot overall and seventh amongst CIS athletes. StFX teammate Dennis Brianski was right behind him in ninth place with a 13.67m throw. Liam Walsh rounded out the X results in 21^st place with an 11.18m result.

Kennedy was 14^th overall (11^th amongst CIS) in the weight throw with a 12.86m result. Walsh (10.99m) placed 20^th and Brianski (8.43m) was 22^nd as he was only able to register one of three attempts, fouling on the other two.

The X-Men fielded relay teams in the 4x200m and 4x400m. The 4x200m squad consisting of Murphy, Mackenzie Munroe, Faour and Mitchell placed 11^th in a field of 21, registering a time of 1:32.39.

The 4x400m team of Faour, Washburn, Mitchell and Mackenzie Munroe placed eighth overall with a time of 3:26.38. The race featured 14 teams.

With the large Montreal meet in the books, the StFX team will be competing next in Halifax on Saturday, February 8^th. The AUS championship is slated for February 22-23 in Moncton.