Daniel Brown leads Varsity Reds as track and field season starts

The 2014-2015 UNB track and field season officially got underway at the 15th annual Gagetown Last Chance meet, which took place on Saturday November 29th at the camp Gagetown track. The event hosted athletes across all age groups but the majority were found in the university age classes where UNB had the biggest team by far. 

The men's team was lead by Daniel Brown who won the 600m in a time of 1:23.17s breaking his own school record of 1:24.15s that he set last year at the AUS championships when he finished third.  Presently Brown ranks second in the AUS by only 0.08s. Brown came back from his 600m to finish second in the 200m with a time of 23.47s.  Both throwing records were also broken this weekend. Brad Carragher improved on his on shot put record throwing 11.92m while Luke Dillman also recorded a new school record in the weight throw throwing 12.88m to beat the previous record of 12.81m.

A number of other athletes put down great results and/or personal bests during the five hour competition.  Artabaz Nazari came in second (7.25s) and Mike Whitcomb came in third (7.27s) in the 60m both of which were lifetime bests.  Jonathan Bunn won both the 1000m (2:42.63s) and the 1500m (4:14.21s) and Jordan Johnson jumped 1.90m in the high jump. 

"Our men's team came out firing today.  We had 13 men race in the 60m and while some were doing it more for training they still treated it as a competition and they were determined to measure each other up.  That's what track and field is about. No hiding. No missed plays. Just you and your result and that is what this team needs to remember. The AUS conference is getting deeper and we need to be able to compete with the best of them. Our men are strong and hungry and today some performed well and others not so well but I am certain that all of them will debrief and come back ready ready to compete at the Moncton Last Chance or in the new year," said head coach Jason Reindl. 

Next up for the V-Reds will be focusing on their studies as they prepare for the first term final exams. A number of Reds will also compete on December 20th in Moncton at the Moncton Last Chance meet.   After that the team will split with the majority going to Moncton for the UdeM JSA Open on January 17th while another group will head to Halifax to compete at the ANS Indoor Open on the same day.  The team will quickly regroup as they will head to Montreal on Thursday January 22nd to compete on the 23rd and 24th in the McGill Team Challenge, which is the biggest university meet in Canada.

Full results for the Gagetown Last Chance meet can be found at:http://www.anb.ca/Results/view-results.php?id=770