The X-Men track and field team competed at the 18th annual McGill Team Challenge this past weekend in Montreal at Tomlinson Fieldhouse.

The largest indoor meet in Canada attracted 27 university teams and 792 athletes. Guelph won the men’s title with 124 points, followed by York (94) and Ottawa (79). The X-Men were 13th with 14 points amongst the 19 teams.

The highlight of the weekend for StFX was veteran distance runner Connor McGuire’s first place showing in the 3000m event. McGuire won the race that featured 46 runners in a time of 8:20.23, a personal best for him. He also earned a very respectable fifth place finish in the 1500m race, crossing the line at 3:52.85.

Also competing in the 3000m race for StFX were Scott Donald who placed 17th in a time of 8:46.49. Stuart MacPherson (9:21.07) was 38th, while Ryan Hatchard (9:24.05) and Patrick Marlow (9:27.57) were 40th and 41st.

Donald was also the second best X-Man in the 1500m, finishing in 30th place overall in the race that featured 85 competitors. His time was 4:04.71. Seven more X-Man ran, including Gabe Quenneville (4:09.67) in 43rd, Bryden Tate (4:11.24) in 46th and Riley Johnston (4:14.95) in 62rd. The remaining X finishers were Hatchard (64th, 4:15.50), MacPherson (67th, 4:16.86), Marlow (68th, 4:17.16) and Brandon MacDonald (81st, 4:29.89).

In the 1000m race of 47, Quenneville was the top X-Man in 23rd place, racing to a time of 2:55.98. Tate was 28th at 2:38.30, and was followed by teammates Mackenzie Munroe (36th, 2:43.44), MacDonald (41st, 2:50.01) and Stu MacNeil (42nd, 2:52.65).

In the shorter distance races, StFX had four competitors in the 600m race, seven in the 300m and six in the 60m dash.
Out of 55 finishers in the 600m race, Munroe was the first X-Man to cross the line, placing 20th at 1:23.74. A.J. Doyle was 44th at 1:28.97, while MacNeil (1:30.24) and Alex Vanderlindern (1:32.62) were 46th and 49th, respectively.

In the 300m event, freshman Mackenzie Munroe was once again the top X finisher, coming in 25th with a time of 36.43. Hayden Peters (36.89) was 39th, Conor Kyte (37.29) was 48th, while Max Maund (55th, 37.71), Andre Peach (62nd, 38.22), Doyle (71st, 38.90) and Chris Shibley (73rd, 39.31) rounded out the StFX field in the race that featured 82 competitors.

None of the X-Men who raced the 60m dash qualified for the final of 16 as the top time in the field of 78 was 6.80. Peters ran 7.51 in 53rd in the preliminary round, with his StFX teammates close behind. Peach was 56th at 7.53, followed by Kyte (58th, 7.54), Greg Gilroy (61st, 7.60), Shibley (62nd, 7.61) and Rob Bird (65th, 7.65).

Gilroy also ran the 60m hurdles, placing 20th with a time of 10.19. X-Men teammate Jake McKenna was 17th at 9.30.
McKenna also competed in the long jump and high jump events where he placed 18th overall in both disciplines. He jumped 5.72 m in the long jump and 1.65m in the high jump.

Devon Martell competed in the indoor pentathlon for StFX, finishing out of the top 15. He clocked 9.46 in the 60m hurdles, 5.88m in the long jump, 8.02m in the triple jump, 1.75m in the high jump and was unable to compete in the 1000m event.

Rounding out the results for the X-Men was an 11th place showing in the 4x200m relay race. Andre Peach, Conor Kyte, Hayden Peters and Max Maund represented the blue and white in the relay event.

For complete meet results, click here.

The X-Men will have the coming weekend off, before heading to Halifax on February 16th for the Dalhousie Invitational. The AUS championship is scheduled for February 23-24th in Moncton.