Tigers successfully defend AUS track & field championship titles

(MONCTON, N.B.)  The Dalhousie Tigers claimed both the men's and women's championship banners at the 2019 Subway AUS Track and Field Championships hosted by the Université de Moncton at the CEPS Louis-J.-Robichaud gym on campus this weekend.

The Tigers' women's team finished with 121 points to claim their 30^th consecutive championship banner. The StFX X-Women team came in second with 109 points. The UNB Reds and the host Moncton Aigles Bleues teams tied for third with 60 points apiece.

The Dalhousie men's squad earned 105 points and their 17^th championship banner in 18 years.

The UNB Reds claimed second place with 93 points and the StFX X-Men finished third with 88 points.

The Saint Mary's Huskies finished fourth with 43 points, while the host Aigles Bleus' men's team finished in fifth place with 33 points. 

Dalhousie's Savanna Jordan and Matthew Coolen were named the Subway AUS Female and Male Athletes of the Meet.

Jordan, a second-year kinesiology student from Calgary, Alta., captured gold in the women's 1000m, 1500m and 3000m runs. She won a fourth gold medal as a member of the Tigers 4x800m women's relay team.

Coolen is a fourth-year engineering student from Halifax, N.S. He captured gold in the men's 60m hurdles with a U SPORTS qualifying time of 8.21—breaking his own AUS record of 8.34. He also topped the podium in the men's 60m sprint with a U SPORTS qualifying time of 6.84.

In addition to being named athlete of the meet, Coolen also captured AUS Track Athlete of the Year honours. He earned a silver medal in this weekend's championship as a member of Dalhousie's 4x200m relay team.

UPEI's Bailey Smith earned AUS Track Athlete of the Year honours on the women's side. A third-year nursing student from Mount Stewart, P.E.I., Bailey set a new AUS record in the women's 60m sprint event Saturday. Her time of 7.58 eclipsed the previous record of 7.59 set by former Dalhousie standout Adrienne Power in 2004.

AUS Field Athlete of the Year awards were won by UNB Reds athlete Lexie Shannon and Moncton Aigles Bleus athlete Jean-Luc Bastarache.

Shannon, a first-year arts student from Fredericton, N.B., captured gold for the Reds in the women's triple jump event with a distance of 11.70m. She narrowly missed the podium in the women's long jump event. She finished fourth with a distance of 5.25m, just behind the distance of 5.29m which captured bronze.

Bastarache, a fifth-year electrical engineering student from Moncton, N.B., was the winner of the men's heptathlon. He also earned a silver medal in the men's pole vault (4.20m), tying the record set by teammate Alain Doucet.

The UNB Reds swept the AUS Rookie of the Year awards, with Erin McCavour earning the honour on the women's side and Eric Hughes winning on the men's side.

McCavour, a science student from Truro, N.S., won gold in the women's long jump with a jump of 5.42m. She also earned a bronze medal in the women's triple jump on Day 1 with a jump of 11.08m.

Hughes, a business student from Pictou, N.S., captured a silver medal in the men's 60m hurdles with a time of 8.69.

Bhreagh Burke and Jonathan Peverill, both from the Saint Mary's Huskies, were named this year's recipients of the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Awards.

Burke, a first-year international development student from Halifax, N.S., finished fifth in the women's 5000m run on Day 1 of the championships. She narrowly missed the podium in the women's 1500m run on Day 2, finishing in fourth with a time of 4:46.51.

Burke was recognized for her volunteer efforts which include working as an ambassador for international students, as well as collecting donations for Feed Nova Scotia. She has also volunteered her time with We Day as well as with the Pathways to Education annual prom dress event.

Peverill, a commerce student from Lower Sackville, N.S., won gold at this year's championship as a member of the 4x800m relay team. Individually, he earned a bronze medal in the men's 1000m run and narrowly missed the podium in the men's 1500m run, placing fourth.

Peverill volunteers his time with an array of initiatives, both on and off the Saint Mary's campus. He is a member of the Varsity Council and the Student-Athlete Mentorship Program. He is a volunteer for the Huskies Super Auction as well as the Saint Mary's University Alumni Golf Tournament.

He has also volunteered with Run Nova Scotia and as a coach for a local junior high school's soccer and hockey teams.

Dalhousie's Rich Lehman was named AUS Coach of the Year on the women's side, while UNB's Chris Belof earned the honour on the men's side.

This marks sixth time Coach Lehman has earned the honour during his seven seasons with the Tigers program.

Coach Belof earns the honour for the first time in just his second year as head coach of the Reds.

StFX's Jodi Langley was named the AUS Volunteer Coach of the Year on the women's side, while Dalhousie's Mike Bawol earned the honour on the men's side for the second consecutive year.

This year's U SPORTS Track and Field Championships are being hosted by the University of Manitoba, March 7-9. 

Tigers Finalists

1. Temi Toba-Oluboka (weight throw)
1. Matthew Coolen (60m)
1. Savanna Jordan (1500m)
2. Hudson Grimshaw-Surette (600m)
2. Maya Reynolds (60m)
2. Josh Lunda (60m)
2. Anthony Cormier (triple jump)
2. Women's 4x200m relay (Maya Reynolds, Taylor Mattinson, Lorena Heubach, Olivia Hill)
2. Men's 4x200m relay (Josh Lunda, Mike van der Poel, Matthew Coolen, Alexander Godfrey)
2. Women's 4x400m relay (Margaret Hosmer, Maya Reynolds, Taylor Mattinson, Savanna Jordan)
2. Men's 4x400m relay (Mike van der Poel, Josh Lunda, Noah James, Hudson Grimshaw-Surette)
3. Lorena Heubach (long jump)
3. Kaelen Schmidt (high jump)
3. Olivia Ross (600m)
3. Mike van der Poel (60m)
4. Brooklyn Rawlyk (600m)
4. Mike Rogers (600m)
5. Sophie Watts (600m)
5. Noah James (600m)
6. Taylor Mattinson (60m)
6. Bryn Smith (1500m)
6. Sophie Watts (1500m)
6. Mike Mitton (heptathlon)
7. Brooklynn Rutherford (weight throw)
7. James Cromack (1500m)
8. Andre Hendricks (weight throw)
8. Mike Rogers (1500m)