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Busy Weekend for Sea-Hawks Teams with Mixed Results
It was a busy weekend for varsity teams at Memorial, with only the basketball teams not on the competitive schedule. The highlight of the weekend would be AUS all star placings in cross country for both Caroline McIlroy, who finished 2nd overall at the AUS championship and Jordan Fewer, who finished in 7th place in a tough field of competitors in the men's championship race. Both athletes have qualified for the upcoming CIS Cross Country Championships.
Cross Country Running
14 Memorial University Cross Country lined up at the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Championship race hosted by University of New Brunswick on Saturday Oct 29th. Weather conditions were ideal for a race with a crisp 5o, no wind, and sunny skies. The 7 female Sea-Hawks toed the line at 12:00pm for their 5km competition against 8 other Atlantic universities with a combined field of 55 runners. Caroline McIlroy after placing 1st and 3rd in her last two AUS races, bolted from the line with the top Dalhousie University runner. The two elite females ran stride for stride through the hilly terrain for the first 3km until the Dalhousie runner pulled away for the win. Caroline flew across the line for 2nd place overall in a time of 18:14, ten seconds ahead of 3rd place becoming the first AUS all-star for Memorial in the last 5 years. Victoria Ralph was the second female runner to cross the finish line in 15th place in a time of 19:58. Laura Lawes and Melanie Ammison sprinted for the line together for 18th and 19th overall in times of 20:57.9 and 20:58.1, respectively. Runner up for Rookie-of-the-year Courtney Munn was 24th in 21:30. Melissa Campbell was Memorial's sixth runner placing 25th in 21:31. Lindsay Oldham rounded out the Memorial female runners in 32nd in 22:09. The female Memorial Cross Country team placed 3rd overall out of the 8 teams in competition.
Caroline McIlroy – 2nd – 18:14
Victoria Ralph – 15th – 19:58
Laura Lawes – 18th – 20:57
Melanie Amminson – 19th – 20:58
Courtney Munn – 24th – 21:30
Melissa Campbell – 25th – 21:31
Lindsay Oldham – 32nd – 22:08
At 12:45pm the Memorial men lined up with a field of 48 against 7 other Atlantic Universities. The deeply talented field tore off at a heated pace with Memorial's top runner Jordan Fewer (nephew of Newfoundland's elite distance runner and Memorial's assistant coach Colin Fewer) fighting hard for a coveted top 7 placing with the lead pack. Through the demanding 10km course Jordan maintained his positioning with the lead runners right to the final straight away. Three runners sprinted to the line for the final AUS all-star positions with Jordan capturing 7th place overall and an all-star nod, only 3 seconds behind 5th place in a staggering personal best time of 32:57! Meanwhile, the next four Memorial runners ran a strategic race running in their own pack ratcheting up the pace and passing runners as they blazed through the course. In the end, Graham MacDonald was the second Memorial runner in 19th place in a time of 34:57 with Mark Hayward following behind him in 20th place in 35:01. Kassu Gebresellassie in his first AUS race placed 24th in a time of 35:49. Jonathon Slaney was the fifth Memorial runner that scored in 25th in a time of 36:11 with Nick Snow just behind him in 27th place in 36:14. Rudy Riedlsperger rounded out the impressive performance by Memorial with a huge personal best time of 36:58 for 31st place overall. The male Memorial Cross Country team placed 3rd overall out of the 7 teams in competition.
On November 12th, Caroline McIlroy and Jordan Fewer will be competing in the CIS Cross Country championship at Laval University in Quebec City.
Jordan Fewer – 7th – 32:57
Graham MacDonald – 19th – 34:57
Mark Hayward – 20th – 35:01
Kassu Gebresellassie – 24th – 35:49
Jonathon Slaney – 25th – 36:11
Nick Snow – 27th – 36:14
Rudy Reidlsperger – 31st - 36:58
Women's Soccer
On a cold final weekend of AUS regular season play, the Sea-Hawks hosted the Universite de Moncton in a two game series. The Sea-Hawks played well, but lost 1-0 in the series opener on Saturday. The Sea-Hawks had just a couple of quality shots on goal, but the UdeM keeper kept them from finding the back of the net. On Sunday, the Sea-Hawks played well again, with a couple of early chances by UdeM finding the back of the net. In her final game as a Sea-Hawk, 5th year fullback Lauren Murphy was able to capitalize on a header to put the Sea-Hawks on the scoreboard. The Sea-Hawks had a number of solid chances in the 2nd half, but the ball went inches wide on two occasions and the UdeM keeper was able to deflect the ball away on a couple of other occasions. Unfortunately time ran out giving UdeM a 2-1 win and the Sea-Hawks fell to Moncton to go 0-2 on their final weekend. Seniors Maxine Morris, Laura Tilley and Lauren Murphy played out their final home games as a Sea-Hawk.
Men's Soccer
With a golden opportunity to compete for a playoff spot at home, the Sea-Hawks couldn't find any rhythm on Saturday. UdeM came out hungry and was challenging every ball. Bourama Simpara opened the score for UdeM at the 18th minute on an unassisted goal. The Sea-Hawks had some quality scoring chances in the first half with four shots on goal, but the UdeM keeper made some good saves, keeping the Sea-Hawks off the board at half-time. Coming out of the half, the Sea-Hawks were down one and there was a sense of urgency to score the equalizer. The Sea-Hawks did a decent job of creating scoring chances, with 7 shots on net in the 2nd half, but some strong saves by the keeper, kept the Sea-Hawks scoreless. Simpara moved around the Sea-Hawks defense to give UdeM a 2-0 at the 75th minute on a 2nd unassisted goal and at the 90 minute Alban Akakpo put the game away giving Moncton a 3-0 lead and a trip to the AUS playoffs. On Sunday, with the playoffs out of the picture, Coach Betts shuffled his line up a little, providing chances for a variety of players. The Sea-Hawks got goals from Scott Woodfine and Steven DeLong, but UdeM was able to find the net on three occasions to defeat the Sea-Hawks 3-2 and moving Moncton from 7th to 4th in overall AUS standings with 6 points earned over the Sea-Hawks. Ryan Yetman, Zach Hynes and Jay Babstock all finished their 5th year with the Sea-Hawks on the weekend and were recognized on Sunday for their contributions to the program.
For more information, contact Justin Fowler at 864-4506 or seahawks@mun.ca
Women's Volleyball
The Sea-Hawks Women's Volleyball headed to Halifax to compete in an AUS League Tournament to open the 2011 regular season. The Sea-Hawks competed against, Dalhousie, UNB and Cape Breton, picking up one win on Saturday again the UNB Varsity Reds. The Sea-Hawks were without the services of Erin Bursey a key player in the line-up this season. The Sea-Hawks lost 3-0 to Dalhousie on Friday night, with set scores of 23-25, 22-25, 19-25. Samantha March led the team with 11 kills and 15 digs, while Chantel Jones earned player of the match honors in a dominating performance. On Saturday morning, the Sea-Hawks defeated 2011 AUS Champion UNB 3-0, winning 25-18, 25-20, 25-19. Chantel Jones led the way with 10 kills, 4 aces and 3 blocks. Second year Jill Lynch had a great performance with 9 kills, 2 aces and 7 digs. On Sunday, the Sea-Hawks faced Cape Breton and got out to an early 2-0 set lead winning 25-22, 25-20. The team seemed to struggle mentally the rest of the match and ended up dropping the match in five sets. Set scores were 25-22, 25-20, 20-25, 24-26, 10-15. Chantel Jones led the way with 18 kills, 5 blocks and 5 digs, while Beth Forsey contributed 47 assists. The team will travel to St. FX next weekend and will see their first home action on November 12th against Cape Breton.
Men's Volleyball
The Memorial Men's Sea-Hawks saw their first league play in an Interlock tournament at Universite de Montreal. The team faced Universite de Montreal on Friday night, losing in 3 straight sets.
On Saturday, morning, the Sea-Hawks faced Laval University, ranked 6th in the country and again lost in three straight sets. Saturday evening, the Sea-Hawks faced Sherbrooke opened the match with a 30-28 set win. The Sea-Hawks dropped the next 3 sets to lose 3-1.
Box scores for all three matches were unavailable.
Fri. October 28th
Memorial 0 Montreal 3 (25-19,25-19,25-17)
Sat. October 29th
Memorial 0 Laval 3 (25-19,25-20,25-14)
Sat. October 29th
Memorial 1 Sherbrooke 3 (30-28,18-25,25-17,25-14)
Swimming
The Sea-Hawks competed at a race in Goffstown, New Hamphire this weekend and the team enjoyed really strong swimming for this point in the season. The swimmers were racing yards, which is a slight adjustment, but there were some close CIS qualifying times, which is great for this early in the season.
David Forbes was very impressive with two big first place finishes in the 100y Butterfly and the 50y Freestyle. Forbes went 51.49 in the 100y Butterfly, just 1.3 seconds off the CIS Championship standard and this was Forbes strongest 100y Butterfly since Feb '10. In the 50y Freestyle, Forbes raced to a 21.86, just .8 off of the CIS Championship standard. Forbes was a 24.03 in the 50y Butterfly, again just a second off of the qualifying standard.
Leah Tomblin had a very impressive 100y Backstroke clocking a 58.53, .6 off the CIS standard and 3 seconds faster than her 100y Backstroke last year at this point. Tomblin also raced to a 1:00.30 in the 100y Butterfly, just off her best converted time and a time that will put her in medal contention in the 100y Butterfly in the AUS, both races were first place finishes.
Richard Hibbs had a great showing in the 200y Freestyle beating his best time and clocking a 1:50.86. He also raced to a 23.76 in the 50y freestyle, just .4 off his best time converted from meters to yards. Hibbs was also a 29.29 in the 50y Breaststroke. Ryan Allen had a big drop under his converted 100y Butterfly time with a 58.66. In the 50y Freestyle Allen raced to a 24.35 and a 29.74 in the 50y Breaststroke.
Dayna Hogan continues to take off time in the 200y Freestyle this season swimming a 2:05.62, she also swam a 26.09 in the 50y Freestyle. Kelsie Rogers just out-touched Hogan in the 50y Freestyle with a time of 26.08 and had a strong 100y Butterfly finishing with a time of 1:03.67.
The team showed very positive signs at this early event and sets them up well for the Dalhousie Invitational in three weeks time. The goal is to qualify some swimmers early in the season for CIS championships and it appears from these results that it may be achievable at the upcoming Dal meet.
Wrestling
The Memorial Wrestling team were competing at the Concordia Open on Sunday, October 30th and at the time of release, results were unavailable. Fourteen wrestlers competed for Memorial at the event. Results will be circulated when available.
For more information contact seahawks@mun.ca