REDS Victories Highlight Day 1 At AUS Championships

(SAINT JOHN, NB) The Dalhousie Tigers lead the women's and men's teams standings after day one of competition at the 2023 Subway Atlantic University Sport Track and Field Championships.

The event is being held at the Irving Oil Field House, in Saint John, NB.

The host UNB REDS celebrated a 1-2 finish in the women's 300-metres, with Shelby MacIsaac beating teammate Jillian Langille to the finish line by less than 2/10ths of a second.

"There were a lot of fast girls that pushed me, so I'm happy with how it went," said MacIsaac.

"I'm really happy," added Langille. "I'm really glad I got to run with Shelby. Seeing her the whole race was what pushed me too."

Dal's Carly Birrell won the women's 1000-metres, while Allie Sandluck, of STFX, won the women's 3000-metres.

"I put a lot of hard work in, so it feels awesome," said Sandluck. "It's about being patient. 15 laps is a long race, so I tried not to go out too quick and then mentally tough it out."

Dal's Dan Lord won the men's 300-metres, beating Tigers teammate Zach James by 4/10ths of a second.

The Tigers' Aidan Goslett established a new AUS record in winning the men's 1000-metres. He beat UNB's Mitchell Kean and Jared Howse to the line.

Saint Mary's Andrew Peverill also set a new AUS record in winning the men's 3000-metres. Peverill took more than six seconds off the previous record, set in 2019.

In the women's 60-metre hurdles, Moncton's Caroline Gagnon beat Dal's Lorena Heubach to the line, by 18/100ths of a second while MacIsaac was third.

Moncton's Max Mazerolle won the men's 60-metre hurdles, beating teammate Guillaume Basque and Cape Breton's Balwinder Singh Sethi.

UNB won the women's 4-by-200-metre relay, beating the UPEI Panthers and Dal, while the Tigers won the men's 4-by-200, beating Saint Mary's and UPEI.

In an exciting men's 4-by-800-metre relay, Dal won gold while the REDS earned silver.

Both teams smashed a 38-year-old record. The Tigers shaved 14 second off the old mark, set in 1985, while the REDS beat it by more than 13 seconds.

The Tigers won the women's 4-by-800, beating the X-Women and the REDS.

On the field, UNB's Lexie Shannon jumped to a new AUS record and the gold medal in the women's triple jump.

Shannon beat Dal's Kayli Friesen with a jump of 12.05 metres.

"It was a relief to get it out of the way in my first three jumps, instead of waiting until my last jump, like I typically do," said Shannon.

Dal swept the medal podium in the women's high jump.

Amelia Reid cleared 1.56 metres to beat teammates Georgia Scott and Kiersten Hicks.

"It feels very good," said Reid. "I'm excited by and very happy with my performance."

"A bad jump is when I'm trying to think too much about different cues and what to execute, but today, I just focused on running at the bar and getting in the air."

Moncton's Samuel Bourque won the men's shot put, beating Dal's Andre Hendricks and UNB's Liam Turgeon.

Dante Isadore, of the Saint Mary's Huskies, is the men's long jump champ. He jumped 6.76 metres to beat Dal's Skeets Greene and Nick Beaulieu.

Heubach won the women's shot put with a put of 12.28 metres, better than teammate Chelsea MacIsaac and Moncton's Kyla Hughes.

Memorial's Shae Ledevehat won the women's pentathlon, scoring 3502 points to beat Dal teammates Abbi Gaudry, who took the silver medal, and bronze medallist Amanda Black.

"I think Lexie's performance, obviously, was very exciting and the men's 4-by-8, but there was a lot of PBs and personal records across the board," said REDS head coach Chris Belof. "The fact we're in the position we are, on both the women's and men's side, is really exciting too. Going into day two, we're pleased."

The conference championships conclude Saturday, with competition beginning at 9:00am.

Women's Team Standings

1          Dalhousie                    100

2          UNB                             55

3          STFX                            31

4          Moncton                     25

5          Memorial                    14

6          UPEI                            8

7t         Saint Mary's                6

7t         Cape Breton                6

9          Acadia                         1

Men's Team Standings

1          Dalhousie                    65

2          Saint Mary's                35

3          UNB                             33

4          Moncton                     23

5          STFX                            11

6          Cape Breton                10

7          Memorial                    8

8          UPEI                            6

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics