MacDonald and MacLeod win track gold for X-Women

The X-Women track & field team competed this past weekend at the AUS championship at the Universite de Moncton and as a team placed second overall. The X-Women accumulated 86 points, finishing second to Dalhousie’s 120 points. Moncton finished third (35), followed by Saint Mary’s (16) and Acadia (15).

X-Women athletes competed in numerous running, jumping and throwing events over the course of the two-day championship. Eugenia Renderos and Katherine Scanell both ran in the 60 m and 300m sprint events. Renderos finished 3rd overall in the both events, with a time of 8.06 in the 60m dash and 42.89 in the 300m. Scanell was 6th overall in the 60 m at 8.24 and 4th behind her teammate Renderos in the 300m at 44.00. Rookie Celeste Black also competed in the 300m event and was 5th overall, running in at 43.85.

In the women’s 600m event, four X-Women competed including Celeste Black who was 2nd overall with a time of 1:38.83. Paula MacDonald was 3rd (1:42.92) while Trina Kennedy (1:48.62) and Katie Barnstead (1:48.65) finished 8th and 9th, respectively.

Paula MacDonald earned another 3rd place finish in the 1000m race, crossing the line at 3:07.54 behind two Dalhousie runners. Teammate Bre Langley was 5th at 3:15.68.

In the 1500m distance race, X-Woman Kelly MacDonald took home gold as she beat out top Dalhousie runner Caroline Schlosser, finishing at 10:33.80. Helena Fiore was 4th for StFX (10:54.91), followed by Erin MacNeil in 6th place (11:07.87) and Flynn Regan in 7th (11:10.07).

Janet MacLeod earned the X-Women’s second gold medal of the championship with a first place showing in the women’s 60m hurdles. She finished the race with a time of 10.43. Trina Kennedy also competed for X but was disqualified.

The X-Women runners competed in all three team relay events and earned second place finishes across the board. The foursome of Celeste Black, Janet MacLeod, Eugenia Renderos and Katherine Scanell placed second in the 4x200m relay with a time of 1:47.33. Dalhousie won the event and Moncton placed third.

In the 4x400m relay race, Black, Paula MacDonald, Renderos and MacLeod earned another second place finish at 4:09.81, again behind the Dalhousie Tigers. Saint Mary’s was third followed by Acadia in fourth.

Helena Fiore, Bre Langley, Kelly MacDonald and Paula MacDonald ran the 4x800m relay race in a time of 10:27.67, second to Dalhousie’s time of 10:08.02. Acadia placed third.

In the field events, X-Women athletes competed in the high jump, long jump, triple jump, shot put and 20lb weight throw.

In the high jump, Rebecca Bell earned a 1.40m jump and Mairead Davidson a 1.35m jump but Mary-Frances Lynch of Dalhousie took home top honors at 1.55m. Lynch also won the long jump with a jump of 5.24m. Davidson and Bell again competed for X, Davidson was 6th overall jumping 4.25m and Bell scratched at 4.06m. Sara Miller on Moncton won the triple jump event with a 10.70m jump. Bell came in at 9.77m followed by Davidson at 9.69m.

In the throwing events, Kim Armstrong, Chantal Paris and Caroline Cunningham all competed for StFX with Armstrong finished in second spot with a throw of 10.77m. Nicole Larade of Acadia won the event with a 12.12m throw. Paris earned third overall behind Armstrong with a throw of 10.02m while Cunningham was 7th overall (9.13m) out of the field of 12 competitors.

The same three X athletes competed in the 20lb weight throw which was won by Valerie Verdier (10.38m) of Moncton. Paris scratched at 9.85m, followed by Armstrong (8.39m) and Cunningham (8.31m).

Overall the X-Women earned 2 first place finishes, 6 second place and 5 third place showings in the conference championship. For complete championship results, click here.