By Neale McDevitt
Following a busy weekend of sports, four McGill teams found themselves ranked in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Top 10. It comes as no surprise that the defending national champion McGill Martlets hockey squad is ranked best in Canada for the third straight week. Both the soccer and basketball Redmen both earned seventh spot in their respective rankings while the volleyball Martlets came in at tenth.
Here are some of the notable recent performances by McGill teams and athletes.
Basketball
The McGill Redmen basketball team took the Jack Donohue Memorial Tip-Off men’s basketball tournament in Ottawa on Oct. 26 with a 75-74 win over the host Ottawa Gee-Gees. Matthew Thornhill, a third-year forward from Ile Bizard, Que., proved to be the hero when he drained a three-point basket with 16.6 seconds remaining to propel McGill to the win.
Sean Anthony, a 6-foot-4 power forward for the Redmen, was voted tourney MVP after racking up 73 points, 31 rebounds, nine steals and six assists in three games.
Soccer
The McGill women’s soccer team closed out its regular season with a 4-0 win over Concordia to capture its third straight Erica Cadieux Memorial Cup, a trophy awarded to the winner of the McGill/Con U contest. The soccer Martlets finished the season in fourth place in the provincial standings with a 9-4-1 record. The Martlets will meet division-leading Montreal (13-1-0) in a conference semifinal at CEPSUM Stadium on Oct. 31 (6:30 p.m.).
The Redmen soccer team finished the regular season with a 3-3 draw against Concordia. The team will face the Laval Rouge et Or in the Quebec semifinal game at Molson Stadium at 7 p.m. on Oct. 31.
Cross-country
Alexander Duhault, an 18-year-old freshmen on the Redmen cross-country team was named rookie of the year in men‘s cross-country running by the Quebec Student Sports Federation (QSSF). Duhault’s teammate, Graydon Snider, earned all-conference status.
On the women’s side, three Martlets were named to the QSSF all-star team; Mélanie Myrand, Brittany Therrien and Christina Lo Basso.
Swimming
In dual swim meets against Yale and Brown this past weekend, the Redmen’s Steven Bielby, won eight of his nine races. In the first meet on Oct. 24 versus Yale, the 19-year-old electrical engineering major won the 100-and 200-yard freestyles, the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley.
Against Brown the next day, Bielby won the 200 and 500 freestyles, the 200 fly and anchored the 4×500 freestyle relay to victory, along with teammates Jason Boivin, Sean Bell and Sam Thrall. The only other member of the Redmen to win an event over the weekend, was fifth-year veteran Francois Castonguay who took the 100 fly in 53.46 seconds at Yale.
Leanne Roach starred for the Martlets, winning three races and finishing second in two others. The 18-year-old science freshman won the 200 breaststroke against both Yale and Brown. She also bested all Yale swimmers in the 100 breaststroke, clocking in at 1:08.61.