The X-Men track and field team competed in the 17th annual McGill open this past weekend in Montreal at the largest indoor meet in the country. The X-Men had athletes entered in the 60 and 300 meter dash, 600, 1000, 1500 and 3000 meter runs, 60 meter hurdles, high jump and long jump.

In the 60 meter dash Conor Kyte had the best time out of the three X-Men who competed, finishing 1st place in heat 1 with a time of 7.44 seconds.  Kyte was followed by Jide Ojuawo in 5th place in heat 5 at 7.46 and Greg Gilroy in 5th place in heat 11 at 7.54. There were 11 preliminary heats with the X-Men failing to advance to the finals.  

In the 300 meter dash the X-Men once again had three runners compete. Max Maund led the way for the blue and white, finishing 1st place in heat 8 with a time of 36.7 seconds, a personal best time for him.  Maund was followed by Kyte in 2nd place in heat 10 at 37.74 and Jide Ojuawo at 2nd place in heat 11 with a time of 38.12.

The 600 meter run featured another personal best by Maund who finished in 2nd place in heat 7 with a time of 1.23.66. Teammates Stu MacNeil (1.29.62 ) and Alex VanderLinden (1.30.59) followed in 4th and 6th positions respectively, in heat 8. In the 1000 meter run Ben Dunn- George finished 3rd place in heat 5 with a time of 2.41.18 while MacNeil placed 9th in heat 5 with a time of 2.53.11.

The 1500 meter run had the greatest number of participants for the X-Men with 9 runners competing.  Connor McGuire paced the X-Men winning heat 2 with a time of 3.57.44, a personal best time for him, and good enough for a 7th place showing overall with 85 runners taking part in the 1500m event. 

McGuire was followed by teammate Riley Johnston, 6th place in heat 4 at 4:07.51, Stephen Deering, 8th place in heat 4 at 4:08.74, Bryden Tate, 12th place in heat 3 at 4:09.46, Gabe Quennevile, 3rd place in heat 5 at 4:09.89, Aaron Doucette, 8th place in heat 5 at 4:13.48, Zach Macdonald, 9th place in heat 5 at 4:13.54, Ben Dunn-George, 1st place in heat 6 at 4:15.28 and Ryan Hatchard finishing 8th place in heat 6 at 4:26.60.

The 3000 meter run also hard a large contingent of X-Men, as the blue and white had 8 runners compete.  McGuire once again led the way for the X-Men, posting another personal best time of 8.40.17 as he finished 1st in heat 2 and came 6th overall in the field of 44 runners. 

McGuire was followed by Stephen Deering, 3rd place in heat 3 at 9.00.81, Gabe Quenneville, 4th place in heat 3 at 9:01.03, Bryden Tate, 6th place in heat 3 at 9:03.98, Riley Johnston, 12th place in heat 2 at 9:04.30, Aaron Doucette, 14th place in heat 2 at 9:09.29, Zach Macdonald, 9th place in heat 3 at 9.19 and Ryan Hatchard 12th place in heat 3 with a time of 9.25.62. 

In the 60 meter hurdles, Greg Gilroy was the lone StFX competitor, coming in 6th place in heat 1 preliminaries with a time of 9.70 seconds. 

In the field events, Sam Babcock finished in 6th place in the high jump with a 1.85 meter jump, while Chad Samson finished 5th in the long jump at 5.94 meters.

Numerous X-Men had personal best performances over the two-day event. StFX will get a three week rest before they return to action on February 18th in Halifax to compete in the Dalhousie Last Chance meet.