Susan Sobey, Staff Contributor
Editor’s Note: Susan Sobey ran for the Dal track team for five years.
The Dalhousie track and field teams travelled to the Université de Moncton for the AUS championships on Feb. 26 and 27, with both teams bringing home AUS banners.
The women’s team claimed their 22nd consecutive AUS title with 166 points, well ahead of second place St. FX’s 94, while the men’s point total of 169 more than doubled the closest competition, Moncton, to earn their 10th consecutive title.
Four AUS championship records were also set over the weekend. Rob McCulloch broke his own pentathalon record set at last year’s championships with a total score of 3555 and was named AUS meet MVP. Elizabeth MacDonald had a huge throw in the weight throw to improve her own championship and Dalhousie records to 15.61 metres. Rookies Jordan Leonard and Rebecca Haworth set new records in the pole vault and high jump with leaps of 3.01 and 1.71 metres, respectively.
“Setting the record was definitely a goal for the year,” said Haworth. “It was one of the few AUS championships records that wasn’t held by Dal, so it was really nice to get one more.”
The performance gives Haworth confidence heading into the CIS nationals, where she will be looking to be a medal contender. For her efforts and her fifth-place CIS rank, Haworth was named AUS female rookie of the year, while also picking up the AUS student-athlete community service award.
There were a number other Dalhousie athletes who brought home the gold, with the women victorious in 12 of a possible 17 events, and the men winning 11 of 16 events.
The men swept the podium in both the high jump and long jump events, with Simon Watts earning his third AUS high jump title in as many years with a jump of 2.00 metres, and his first long jump gold with a 6.33 metre effort. For his performances and third-place CIS rank in the high jump, Watts’ was named AUS male athlete of the year.
Michael Bawol claimed his third consecutive 60-metre title with a time of 7.09 seconds, while Dan Gorman won both the 1000 and 1500 metre races with times of 2:30.48 and 4:01.31, respectively. Seth London won his first weight throw title with a toss of 15.68 metres.
In a very exciting men`s 600-metre, rookies Justin Blades and Kahmall McCabe edged out defending champion Jean-Marc Doiron from UdeM in the last 30 metres to place first and second, respectively, with very close times of 1:23.18 and 1:23.20. Blades was named AUS male rookie of the year.
Other rookies winning their first AUS titles were Andrew Falkenham in the 300-metre with a time of 38.29 seconds and Daniel Yetman in the triple jump with a 13.42 metre effort.
The men’s 4×800-metre team of Blades, McCabe, Falkenham and Will Sanderson easily won the event with a time of 8:26.69.
On the women’s side, Dalhousie’s rookies dominated in the field, while the veterans took control of the track events. Joining Haworth and Leonard at the top of the podium were fellow rookies Juliana Blois and Chantelle Robbertse. Blois found success in the long and triple jumps with leaps of a 5.32 and 10.91 metres respectively, while Robbertse was victorious in the pentathalon with 3008 points.
Dalhousie swept the podium in the women’s 1000-metre, 1500-metre, and long jump. Ashley Ryer led the charge by defending her 1500-metre title with a time of 4:39.12 before also winning the 1000-metre in 2:56.07. Fourth-year veteran Amanda McNeil earned her first individual AUS title with a time of 43.29 seconds in the 300-metre. Caroline Schlosser was named AUS female athlete of the year due to her high CIS rankings in both the 1000-metre and 1500-metre events.
The Dalhousie women were victorious in all three relay events. The team of Blois, McNeil, Dere Ikomi, and Kailey Hilchie won the 4×200-metre in a time of 1:49.60. In the 4×400-metre race, McNeil, Ikomi, and Hilchie teamed up again, along with Britany MacArthur, to win the event in 4:20.95. The 4×800-metre team of MacArthur, Ryer, Schlosser, and Gina Stewart destroyed the field with their 10:09.87 effort.
Head coach Peter Lord is very pleased with his team’s performances and credits the commitment of both his athletes and coaching staff.
“I thought the team showed a lot of spirit and determination to retain the titles.” Lord said. “Many athletes came up big and exceeded expectations. The result is a credit to the hard work the athletes have put in and the dedication of the coaching staff.” Lord was named AUS coach of the year.
Next up for the Tigers will be the CIS xhampionships at the University of Sherbrooke March 10-12.
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