Track athletes compete in Montreal

Montreal, QC – The X-Women and X-Men track & field teams travelled to Quebec for the 20^th annual McGill Team Challenge held January 23^rd and 24^th at the Richard H. Tomlinson Fieldhouse at the McGill Sports Centre.

The meet is one of the largest in Canada and this year featured 18 men's and women's teams. Although there were no individual podium finishes for any StFX athletes, over half delivered personal best times/jumps and increased their rankings at the AUS and CIS level.

The X-Women placed 12^th overall as a team with 18 points, while the X-Men came 13^th with 8 points. Toronto (103.5), Guelph (81) and Dalhousie (80) were the top three placing female teams, while York (104), Guelph (102) and Laval (95) claimed top spots on the men's side.

In the women's 60m dash, eight X-Women competed amongst a field of 70 sprinters and nine heats. Hayley Wilson posted the top time for StFX at 7.96 seconds in 17^th place overall, just out of qualifying for the final. Eilish MacQuarrie was 24^th at 8.04.

Also finishing for X were Jillian Murphy (34^th, 8.16s), Candace Cruickshank (36^th, 8.22s), Abbi Finnan (40^th, 8.24s), Beth Lawrence (46^th, 8.35s), Nadine Otten (50^th, 8.44s) and Allie Flower (52^nd, 8.49s).

In the 60m hurdles, Otten placed 12^th in the heats with a 9.66s showing, while Finnan was 18^th at 10.03. Otten raced to 12^th place in the finals, improving her time to 9.61.

In the 300m sprint, MacQuarrie placed sixth overall and fourth amongst CIS runners with a clocking of 40.62. Bridget Brennan came 25^th for the X-Women at 42.05 and Allie Flower (42.60) was 30^th. Also racing for X were Murphy (32^nd, 42.66), Cruickshank (33^rd, 42.76) and Kevyn Timmons (46^th, 45.06) in the field of 64.

Lawrence (1:40.14) and Timmons (1:46.66) raced the 600m event, placing 28^th and 47^th.

Liz MacDonald was the lone X-Women competitor in the 1000m race and she came 29^th amongst a file of 55 with a time of 3:07.31.

She also ran in the 1500m and was 36^th at 4:54.24. Joining MacDonald in the 1500m were Leah Gouthro (56^th, 5:04.61), Ginny Anderson (61^st, 5:14.50) and Kendra MacNeil (63^rd, 5:17.38).

Gouthro (10:39.94), MacNeil (11:15.69) and Anderson (11:16.65) also competed in the 3000m race, placing 27^th, 33^rd and 34^th, respectively.

The 4x400m relay team of Brennan, Flower, Lawrence and MacQuarrie clocked a 4:00.26, breaking the StFX record time for this event. They placed 6^th overall in a field of 11 teams.

In the jumping events, Brennan came 7^th overall and 4^th amidst CIS competitors in the long jump, with a personal best jump of 5.41m. Wilson was 19^th at 4.79m and M.C. Thompson was 22^nd at 4.65m.

Thompson placed 16^th in the high jump with a 1.45m showing, while Wilson was 6^th in the triple jump at 11.11m.

The X-Women and X-Men did not have any throwers competing at the McGill Team Challenge.

In men's action, the X-Men had four sprinters compete in both the 60m dash and the 300m. Matt Murphy placed 22^nd overall amidst the field of 60 in the 60m with a time of 7.23 seconds, while Mackenzie Munroe (7.41) was 34^th. Timothy Brennan (7.78) was 50^th and Miguel Hosking (7.78) was 51^st.

Munroe would have registered a personal best in the 300m but was disqualified due to stepping on his lane line. Murphy (36.76) came 39^th, followed by Brennan (38.18) in 53^rd and Hosking (38.85) in 60^th.

In the 600m race Munroe had a strong showing coming 7^th overall amongst 56 competitors with a time of 1:21.79. Andrew Bain placed 18^th with a 1:23.51 and Thomas Faour (1:28.45) was 47^th.

Bryden Tate was the lone X-Men competitor in the 1000m race and he came 19^th in the field of 50 with a time of 2:33.27. He was also 19^th in the 1500m race with a 4:00.76 showing. Scott Donald came 16^th overall in the 1500m at 3:58.53.

Calvin DeWolfe (26^th, 4:02.21), Alex Cyr (38^th, 4:06.78) and Nick Favero (52^nd, 4:14.64) also ran in the 1500m for StFX.

Donald had a strong showing in the 3000m event with a 7^th place result and time of 8:32.77. His teammates Cyr (8:38.29), DeWolfe (8:40.45) and Favero (9:00.78) were 12^th, 15^th and 35^th.

Jake McKenna placed 18^th overall in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.34. Brennan was 19^th at 9.57.

McKenna also competed in the high jump and long jump. He was 23^rd in the high jump with a 1.78m result and 17^th in the long jump at 5.75m. Cameron Glover also cometed for X in both jumping events, placing 26^th in the high jump (1.65m) and 23^rd in the long jump (5.49m).

Rounding out the StFX X-Men results was the 4x400m relay team of Faour, Brennan, Bain and Munroe who came 7^th amongst 14 teams, clocking in at 3:27.98.

The StFX track & field squad will next be in competition on Saturday, February 7^th when they travel to Halifax for the Saint Mary's Open at the Canada Games Centre.