The X-Women track and field team enjoyed their most successful AUS championship to date, taking home 5 gold, 7 silver and 7 bronze medals from the Feb. 27-28 championship held at the Universite de Moncton. The 19 count medal haul came from 12 different events and featured several multi-medalists.

X-Women sprinter Eugenia Renderos won gold in the 300m dash with a time of 43.28, and won silver in the 60m dash with an 8.12 second run. Jacklyn Phillips (8.65) and Heidi Stirling (8.72) also ran the 60m dash and came in 5th and 6th places, respectively. Joelle Marshall won silver in the 300m for StFX running with a time of 43.63 and Stirling won bronze with a 44.19 effort.

In the 600m, Marshall earned her second silver medal of the championship, finishing with a time of 1:41.14, while X teammates Celeste Black (1:42.69) and Katie Barnstead (1:43.22) were 3rd and 4th, respectively.

Bre Langley was the top StFX finisher in the ladies 1000m run, placing 5th overall with a time of 3:11.02. Monika Preibischova was 6th at 3:36.64. Preibischova also competed in the 1500m and placed 4th behind teammate Kelly MacDonald who earned a bronze medal finish. MacDonald’s time was 4:38.36 while Preibischova finished at 4:38.91. Erin MacNeil (5:01.07) and Helena Fiore (5:08.35) also ran in the 1500m and were 6th and 9th amongst the field of 13 competitors.

Preibischova took top honors in the 3000m race, earning her first medal of the championship in golden style with a 9:56.27. Teammate MacDonald won silver with a 10:00.83 run, followed by MacNeil (10:35.71) in 5th and Fiore (10:52.94) in 7th.

Sarah Deveau and Trina Kennedy competed in the 60m hurdles for the X-Women. Deveau came 4th overall with a time of 10:92 seconds while Kennedy was 6th at 11.47.

The X-Women fielded teams in each of the three relay races and took home medals in all three, earning gold in the 4x400m and silver in both the 4x200m and 4x880m. The 4x400m winning team consisted of Marshall, Black, MacDonald and Renderos and finished the race in a time of 4:09.29.Dalhousie (4:19.58) was second followed by Moncton (4:54.00) in third.

The 4x200m team of Kennedy, Phillips, Black and Stirling finished in 1:52.00 minutes behind the first place Dalhousie Tigers (1:47.81). Moncton was third (1:55.06). The silver medal 4x800m StFX relay team of Preibischova, MacDonald, Langley and Marshall finished with a time of 9:37.49, three seconds off the first place pace of Dalhousie (9:34.95) and well up on third place Moncton (12:50.01).

Switching to the field events side of the championship, X-Women jumper Rebecca Bell enjoyed success in the high jump, winning the gold medal with a jump of 1.56m. She also won bronze in the triple jump with a 10.37m effort and was 6th in the long jump at 4.64m. Mairead Davidson was the top X finisher in the long jump with a 4.67 jump. Davidson also won bronze in the high jump (1.50m) and was 5th in the triple jump (9.92m).

Two X-Women competed in each of the two throwing events on the championship agenda. Bobbi-Jo Cronk won gold in the shot put with a personal best throw of 10.62m and picked up the silver medal in the weight throw with a 12.83m throw. Chantal Paris won bronze in both the shot put (9.98m) and weight throw (9.68m).

Dalhousie won the overall team title and the AUS banner, their 21st consectuive title, although the X-Women gained significant ground on the reigning champions and finished just 16 points off the team total lead.

Looking ahead to the CIS track and field championship March 11-14 at Windsor University, both Kelly MacDonald and Monika Preibischova earned the CIS standard and qualified to compete in the 1500m and 3000m events and will be making the trek to Ontario.

StFX Sports Information