Track athletes compete at McGill Team Challenge

Montreal, QC – StFX X-Men and X-Women track & field athletes competed at the McGill Team Challenge on Friday and Saturday in one of the largest indoor meets in the country.

The X-Men were highlighted by a strong performance from Angus Rawling who placed second overall amidst a field of 55 runners in the 3000m event with a time of 8:15.09. Rawling also had a strong race in the 1500m, coming 8^th with a 3:55.05 finish, out of 81 racers.

Veteran jumper/sprinter Hayley Wilson had a strong weekend for the X-Women as she set a new PB with an 11.48m result in the triple jump, good enough for third place out of 13 jumpers. She also qualified for the final in the 60m dash where she came seventh. She clocked 7.87 in the final and 7.81 in the prelims. Wilson rounded out the weekend with a 13^th place in the long jump with a 4.79m jump.

Maddy Nastasiuk was the top X-Women finisher in the long jump in seventh place with a 5.12m result. Lani Deakin (4.67m) was 19^th for the X-Women and Baillie Marcott (4.50m) was 23^rd in the field of 31. Deakin also competed in the high jump, placing ninth overall with a 1.45m result.

The X-Women did not have any throwers competing on the weekend, but on the men's side Bradley Wood placed sixth in the hammer throw (14.55m) and ninth in the shot out (12.88m).

In the jumping events Kirishnia Cooper jumped to a fifth place finish in the triple jump (13.04m) and was seventh in the long jump (6.05m). Cameron Glover was 11^th in the high jump with a 1.75m result.

Accompanying Rawling in the distance events was Jonah Shankel who came 50^th in the 3000m at 9:33.93 and 71^st in the 1500m at 4:28.23. Quinton Alexander was the lone X competitor in both the 1000m and 600m events. He placed 26^th overall in the 1000m with a time of 2:39.09 and was 17^th in the 600m at 1:23.99.

In the men's sprints, four X-Men competed in the 300m dash with Tim Brennan finishing with a 36.88 time in 22^nd place, Eric Sutton (37.20) in 36^th and Bradley Barclay (37.86) in 51^st. Justin Major was unfortunately disqualified in his heat. The same four represented StFX in the 4x400m relay and placed 8^th amongst 16 teams, clocking in at 3:28.39.

Brennan qualified for the 60m hurdles final. He raced a 9.07 in the final in seventh place after a 9.04 prelim time. His X-Men teammate Jonathan West qualified for the 60m dash final amidst a large field of 79 racers. He clocked a 7.15 time in the prelims but DQed in the final race.

In the women's sprints, joining Wilson in the 60m dash was Samantha Taylor (19^th, 8.10), Marcott (28^th, 8.22), Megan Graham (29^th, 8.30), Emma Boudreau (39^th, 8.53) and Nastasiuk (45^th, 8.62).

Allie Flower joined Boudreau, Graham and Wilson to represent the X-Women in the 4x200m relay. They finished with a time of 1:44.85, good enough for sixth place amongst 14 teams.

Flower also sprinted in the 300m dash where she was the top X finisher in 15^th place with a 40.83 result. Graham (42.95) came 32rd, followed by Boudreau (44.99) in 49^th and Catherine Kennedy (45.61) in 58^th. Kennedy had a strong showing in the 60m hurdles as her 9.78 prelim time qualified her for the final race in the field of 22. She came eighth overall with a 9.83 clocking in the final. Graham came 11^th overall in the hurdles with a 9.97 time.

In the women's 600m event, the X-Women were represented by Jane Hergett (1:39.78) who came 14^th and Beth Lawrence (1:41.41) in 23^rd. Hergett was the top X-Women in the 1000m race in 26^th with a 3:04.12 result. Hana Marmura (3:05.77) and Paige Chisholm (3:06.22) placed 30^th and 33^rd, respectively, in the 1000m.

Marmura came 38^th in the 1500m race with a time of 4:54.89. Zoe Johnston (4:59.03) was 45^th and Chisholm (5:01.22) was 47^th. Johnston was the lone X competitor in the 3000m where she came 18^th overall at 10:36.60.

In the combined team standings, StFX finished with 63 points in seventh place amongst 16 teams at the meet. The X-Men (37 points) were seventh on the men's side of 15 teams, while the X-Women (26 points) were eighth out of 15 women's teams.

The StFX squad has one more meet to prepare prior to the AUS Championship. The AUS Relay Challenge will be held Friday, Feb. 9^th at the Canada Games Center in Halifax, followed by the SMU Open on Saturday, Feb. 10^th, also at the Canada Games Centre. The AUS Championship is slated for Feb. 23-24 in Moncton.

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Courtesy StFX Sports Information