By McGill Reporter Staff
Freshman Justin Darlington won silver and bronze medals and teammate Hayley Warren captured bronze at the 2010 CIS track and field championships in Windsor, Ont., last weekend. They marked McGill’s first medals at Nationals since 2006, when the Redmen won gold in the 4×400 relay and bronze in the 1000m (Stephen Douglas). The last CIS medal for the Martlets was in 2003, when Sarah Ali-Khan captured triple gold, winning the 600m, 100m and 1500m.
Darlington, a 6-foot-4 marketing major from Montreal, finished second in the men’s high jump with a leap of 2.04 metres and was third in the triple jump at 14.87m. Warren, a kinesiology freshman from Orillia, Ont., was third in the women’s 60m hurdles, clocking in at 8.79 seconds.
McGill almost won another medal in the women’s 4x800m relay but were beaten in a photo finish at the line by McMaster, which was clocked at 9:05.78. The Martlet foursome finished in 9:05.79.
The Martlets took 11th place in the overall standings while the Redmen finished 13th.
Three hockey Martlets honoured
Three members of the No.1-ranked McGill Martlets earned national honours prior to the CIS women’s hockey championships last weekend.
Cathy Chartrand, a third-year defenceman from Lac Nominingue, Que., was named to the CIS first all-star team along with forward Ann-Sophie Bettez of Sept-Îles, Que. Martlet teammate Vanessa Davidson received second-team honours.
It marked the third straight all-Canadian award for Bettez, a management junior who was voted to last year’s top unit and was a second-team all-Canadian as a freshman in 2007-08, when she was named CIS rookie of the year. Chartrand, a physical education junior, who was the top-scoring defenceman in the country this season with 10 goals and 28 points in only 20 games, was a member of the second CIS all-star team a year ago.
For Davidson, a fifth-year physical education senior, it marked the fourth time that she has merited all-Canadian status, including a pair of first-team selections in both 2007 and 2008. She joins goaltender Kim St-Pierre as the only other hockey Martlet to accomplish this feat. St-Pierre earned first team honours in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003.
Wilfrid Laurier goaltender Liz Knox edged out Chartrand for the CIS player of the year award.
Volleyballer Thomson scores rare fifth all-Canadian award
Jennifer Thomson, a 5-foot-7 power hitter on the volleyball Martlets, has earned second-team all-Canadian honours and becomes one of the few players in CIS history to achieve all-Canadian status in each of her five university seasons. Named CIS rookie of the year back in 2005-06, the 23-year-old native of Rosemère, Que., earned back-to-back first-team nods in 2006-07 and 2007-08 to go with three second-team selections. Thomson, who is completing a master’s degree in education, was a five-time all-star in the Quebec conference. This past season, she finished third among league leaders in digs (3.71), fifth in kills (3.02 per game), seventh in service aces (0.37) and eighth in hitting percentage (.226).
The only other McGill athletes to earn all-Canadian honours five times in the same sport were Vicky Tessier (basketball, 1992-97) and Linda Thyer (cross-country running, 1990-95).
Redmen hoopsters shine at QUBL awards
Two basketball Redmen players, both students in the Desautels faculty of management, are among the major award recipients announced by the Quebec University Basketball League.
Matt Thornhill, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard from Île-Bizard, Que., was selected as the league’s most outstanding player of the year and received all-conference status, while OlivierBouchard, a 5-foot-10 point-guard from Montreal, was named rookie of the year. He also merited second-team all-star status and received QUBL all-rookie honours along with McGill teammate Nicolas Langley of Missoula, Montana. Bouchard, the shortest player on the Redmen squad, quickly found a spot in the starting rotation, finishing his inaugural CIS season with an average of 9.9 points and 3.7 assists per game. The 20-year-old freshman shot 39.8 per cent from the floor, 34.8 per cent from beyond the three-point line and drained 79.6 per cent of his free throws.
– With files from Earl Zukerman, McGill Athletics and Recreation.