QSSF Championship: McGill's Darlington set record, earns performance-of-meet honours

PHOTO OF JUSTIN DARLINGTON BY GARY RUSH

MONTREAL - McGill's Justin Darlington of Montreal, earned performance-of-the-meet honours for field events with a school record leap of 2.07 metres in the men's high jump at the Quebec university track & field championship meet at Richard Tomlinson Fieldhouse over the weekend.

Medal winners are posted below and complete results are available online at: www.mcgilltrack.com

Sherbrooke swept both the men's and women's team titles. They finished first in the men's division with 140 points, followed by McGill (112) and Laval (104).

Darlington, a 6-foot-4 marketing freshmen who broke his own Redmen record of 2.05m, was one of four gold medal winners for the McGill men, who also garnered five silver medals and eight bronzes. Each automatically qualifies for the CIS national championships in Windsor, Ont., March 11-13.

Other Redmen gold medalists who automatically earned all-conference honours included pole-vaulter Maxime Beaumont-Courteau (4.60m), a third-year medical student from Montreal and Canadian Olympian Hank Palmer (60m, 6.82seconds). Palmer, a native of Pierrefonds, Que., also ran the anchor leg of the winning 4x200 relay squad, which was clocked in 1:30.65. The quartet included lead-off sprinter Andrew Archibald of Halifax, N.S., freshmen Eric Ellemo of Hudson, Que., and Montreal native Andrew Hamilton, who was an all-conference running back with the football Redmen last fall.

On the women's side, Sherbrooke finished atop the standings with 151 points, followed by McGill (144) and Laval (104).

The Martlets registered 20 podium finishes, including five golds, seven silvers and eight bronze medals. The only woman to break a McGill record was Alana Battiston, a science senior from Toronto, who finished third in the pentathlon with 3,365 points, surpassing her team record of 3,351.

Gold medalists included Hayley Warren, a 5-foot-3 kinesiology freshman from Orillia, Ont., who was a double winner, taking the 60m hurdles in 8.86 seconds and running lead-off on the winning 4x200 relay, which finished in 1:43.40, just missing the school record of 1:43.26 set a dozen years ago. Joining her on that foursome was freshman Genevieve Blanchard of Sherbrooke, Que., junior Alison Cameron-Vendrig of Ottawa and senior Sabrina Lavoie of Montreal.

It was a good day for the McGill relays squads, which swept all three races.

The 4x800 established a QSSF championship meet record with a time of 9:21.56, smashing the previous mark of 9:29.77 set by Sherbrooke in 2008. The quartet was composed of Charlene Puel, a sophomore from France, plus freshman Sarah McCuaig of Waterloo, Ont., Aimee Castro, a rookie from Hamilton, Ont., and sophomore Catherine Drouin-Audet of Repentigny, Que.

The Martlets winning 4x400 relay was clocked in 3:56.32 and included Lavoie, Cameron-Vendrig, Battiston and Anne Ruggirello, a marketing sophomore from Glenview, Illinois.

Mélinda-Megan Rock, a third-year education major from Baie Comeau, Que., claimed McGill's other gold medal, winning the pole vault with a height of 3.30 metres.

Final Standings

Women
1. Sherbrooke 151
2. McGill 144
3. Laval 104

Men
1. Sherbrooke 140
2. McGill 112
3. Laval 104



MAJOR AWARD WINNERS

WOMEN:

Championship team: Sherbrooke

Track performance of the meet: Genevieve Thibault - Laval

Field performance of the meet: Pascale Delisle - Sherbrooke

Athlete of the meet: Pascale Delisle - Sherbrooke

Athlete of the year: Pascale Delisle - Sherbrooke

Rookie of the year: Melanie Hughes - Sherbrooke

Athletics, Academics & Citizenship Award: Nathalie Larouche - Laval

Coach of the year: Richard Crevier - Laval


MEN:

Championship team: Sherbrooke

Track performance of the meet: James Poulin-Cadovius - Sherbrooke

Field performance of the meet: Justin Darlington - McGill

Athlete of the meet: Pierre Puyjalon - Sherbrooke

Athlete of the year: James Poulin-Cadovius - Sherbrooke

Rookie of the year: Olivier Lavoie - Sherbrooke

Athletics, Academics & Citizenship Award: James Poulin-Cadovius - Sherbrooke

Coach of the year: Richard Crevier - Laval

Source:

McGill Sports Info