Moncton, NB – The StFX X-Men are the 2014 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) track & field champions. The X-Men claimed their first ever conference championship this past weekend at the two-day event held at the Universite de Moncton.
Their 137 points bettered that of second place Dalhousie with 107 and third place UNB with 78. Dalhousie had won the previous 12 consecutive AUS banners.
Veteran StFX head coach Bernie Chisholm commented, "It was a tremendous weekend by both the X-Men and X-Women, and to win the first ever banner for StFX is quite an accomplishment."
"Everyone gave 100%, we went there with a purpose. We were able to close the gap significantly on women's side and the men's team had a fantastic showing," continued the AUS men's coach of the year.
"We had a lot of medals after first day, and our men's 4x400m relay team had an AUS record-setting performance, so it was just a fantastic showing all around."
The StFX X-Men took home a record-high 18 AUS medals including six gold, eight silver and four bronze.
The X-Men were led by AUS male track athlete of the year and meet MVP Bryden Tate who won gold in both the 1000m and 1500m events, along with a bronze as a member of the 4x800m relay team. Tate is a third year runner from Heatherton, NS just outside of Antigonish.
The StFX 4x400m relay team won gold for the second consecutive year, and in doing so, shattered their own AUS record by over three seconds. The team consisting of Adam Mitchell, Andrew Bain, Max Maund and Mackenzie Munroe ran to the record-setting 8:09.80 performance.
Two members of that relay squad also captured individual gold medals. Mackenzie Munroe won gold in the 300m event, defending his 2013 title, and Andrew Bain won the 600m race, just beating out his teammate Munroe who took the silver.
Rounding out the gold medalists for the X-Men was Robert Kennedy, a transfer student from Dalhousie who successfully defended his AUS shot put title, but this time as a member of the blue and white. Kennedy also medaled in the weight throw, winning silver.
Picking up additional silver medals for the X-Men were Demetrius Ferguson in the 60m dash, Adam Mitchell in the 300m, Scott Donald in the 1000m and Jake McKenna in the pentathlon.
Both the X-Men 4x200m relay team and the 4x800m relay team won silver. Members of the 4x200m squad include Adam Mitchell, Demetrius Ferguson, Matt Murphy and Thomas Faour, while Gabe Quenneville, Cal DeWolfe, Scott Donald and Bryden Tate competed in the 4x800m relay race for StFX.
Scott Donald picked up his third medal of the weekend with a bronze in the 1500m, while Lee Wesselius had bronze in the 3000m event. Max Maund leaped to a third place showing in the triple jump while freshman thrower Dennis Brianski won bronze in the shot put.
Thomas Faour was honored as the AUS male community service award winner. The first-year math and science student from St. John's, N.L. is involved in the 2014 'Run for the Cure' campaign, a charity run in support of cancer research.
The complete results from the 2014 Subway AUS championship can be found by clicking here.
The CIS national championship is schedule for March 6-8 at the University of Alberta.