Varsity sports roundup

It was busy and successful weekend for McGill varsity sports teams, paced by a sweep of UQAM in men's and women's basketball.
McGill's Aleksandar Mitrovic drives to the net in McGill's 68-42 defeat of UQAM at Love Competition Hall, Saturday. / Photo: Derek Drummond

Basketball

Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a game-high 14 points as McGill overwhelmed UQAM 68-42 in Quebec university men’s basketball action before a Parent’s Day crowd of 342 at Love Competition Hall, Saturday.

The Redmen moved back into sole possession of first place atop the RSEQ conference standings with a 6-2 record, two points ahead of Concordia (5-3) and Bishop’s (5-3).

Mitrovic, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound native of Serbia, played a team-high 29 minutes and shot 7-for-11 from the floor. He leads the Quebec league in field-goal shooting with a 57.7 per cent success rate. Mitrovic also had a team-leading four of McGill’s 15 steals as an unusually aggressive Redmen squad forced UQAM into 22 turnovers. McGill only coughed up the ball nine times.

In women’s action, Anneth Him-Lazarenko, a fifth-year senior from Panama City registered a “double-double” as the McGill women’s basketball team exploded in the final quarter to unseat UQAM off their perch atop the conference standings and hand the Citadins a 71-55 setback at Love Competition Hall, Saturday.

The result left McGill at 6-2 and tied atop the RSEQ conference standings with Concordia (6-2) and UQAM (6-3) in what looks to be a heated stretch run over the next month before playoffs begin on Feb. 27.

Track and Field

Caroline Tanguay of St. Hubert, Que., captured a pair of gold medals as the McGill University women’s track and field team finished first of four schools at the Laval Invitational meet, Saturday.

It was the second consecutive meet title for the Martlets, who struck gold in four events and registered 91 points to finish ahead of Laval (73), Sherbrooke (51) and UQAC (13).

Tanguay, a physical therapy freshman, finshed atop the podium in both the high jump (1.60m) and the pole vault (3.50m).

McGill’s other event winners included freshman Helena Reinfels (300m; 42.36) of Puslinch, Ont., and senior Alana Battiston (shotput, 11.20m) of Toronto, who also claimed silver in the high jump (1.55m).

On the men’s side, McGill finished second overall, also winning four events. They were led by Sherbrooke native El-Hadj N’Doye, also a rookie defensive back on the football Redmen, who claimed gold in the high jump, clearing a height of 1.90 metres.

Freshman Benjamin Raymond of Laval, Que., won the 1500m (3:59.19), while sophomore Riley van Ryswyk of Surrey, B.C., took the pole vault (4.40m).

The Redmen 4×200 relay squad also finished first in the 4x200m. The winning quartet was composed of Javier Montalvo of Closter, N.J., Tim Kong of Edmonton, Sebastien Mezeret, a native of France, and Dong Hyun-Kim of Vancouver, B.C.

Montalvo also finished second in the 600m (1:24.34).

Hockey

Katia Clement-Heydra of St. Bruno de Montarville, Que., scored four points, including a natural hat-trick with a school record three goals in 118 seconds as the No.1-ranked McGill Martlets cruised to a 6-1 victory over Ottawa in women’s hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.

The win, which improved clinched a playoff berth for the 16th straight year, improved McGill’s unblemished record to 16-0 against CIS opponents and 13-0 in conference play. It was also their 27th consecutive conquest over the Gee-Gees and enhanced their lifetime record against Ottawa to 72-12-7.

The night before, Freshman Gabrielle Davidson of Pte. Claire, Que., tallied twice and Logan Murray of Calgary collected four assists as the Martlets edged the No.3-Montreal Carabins 4-3 in a match-up of two of the nation’s top women’s hockey teams at McConnell Arena.

On the men’s side, Mathieu Pompei, a rookie centre from Laval, Que., scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner as McGill rallied with three unanswered goals in the final period to defeat Ottawa 5-3 in OUA men’s hockey at the uOttawa Sports Complex Arena, Friday.

It was McGill’s fourth straight victory – their first win in three tries against the Gee-Gees this season – and improved the defending national champions’ record to 14-6-1. The Redmen remain third in the OUA East, three points behind division-leading Carleton (15-5-2) and just one back of UQTR (15-5-1).

Indoor soccer

Rebecca Green scored in the 20th minute of play to give the McGill Martlets a 1-1 draw against the UQTR Patriotes in Week 2 of the RSEQ indoor soccer schedule at the Centre Sportif Alphonse-Desjardins, Sunday.

Meaghan Rye was the goalkeeper of record for McGill but suffered a leg injury after a collision late in the contest and was replaced by Aidan Mahoney, who played the last five minutes.

The Martlets are 1-0-1 and will head to Kingston next Sunday for a couple of exhibition games against UOIT and Ottawa.

In men’s action, UQTR quadrupled the Redmen 4-1. Milan Havlin netted the lone McGill goal and ‘keeper Thomas Daechsel was charged with the loss.

The Redmen are 0-2-0 in league play and will take on the Académie de l’Impact, a farm team of the Montreal Impact, on Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Centre Marie-Victorin.

It marked the first games since a coaching change was announced at McGill, with Marc Mounicot moving from the Martlets bench to take over as bench boss of the Redmen and Jose Valdes leaving to men’s team to take control of the women’s program.

Swimming

Veteran Steven Bielby of Pte. Claire, Que., and Montrealer Sami Eid each claimed gold medals for McGill at the fourth Quebec Cup swim meet at Universite Laval, Friday.

McGill, which won only two races at the competition, finished a disappointing third of six teams in both the men’s and women’s divisions.

“It wasn’t a spectacular meet for us,” understated McGill head Peter Carpenter. “We had two key members missing (Michael Luck and Rayven Snodgrass) and half the team seems to be suffering from some illness but still there are never excuses and the fact of the matter is we will need to be much better in three weeks at the provincial championships. I believe we will be.”

Bielby, a master’s student in engineering, stood atop the podium in the 400m individual medley (4:28.32) and also produced a bronze medal finish in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay (3:28.28).

Eid, a mathematics freshman, won the 200m backstroke in 2:05.71 and swam the leadoff leg on the bronze medal-winning 4x100m medley relay, which was clocked at 3:54.78.

Pierre-Alexandre Renaud of Laval, Que., was third in the 200m freestyle (1:52.86) and also swam the anchor leg on the aforementioned bronze medal winning 4×100 freestyle.

Marc-Andre Benoit, another Montreal native and an accounting sophomore, helped both relays place third on the podium.

On the women’s side. Kathleen Caldwell of White Rock, B.C., led the Martlets with one silver medal and a pair of bronzes

Caldwell, a 5-foot-9, education freshman, guided the women’s 4×100-metre medley relay to second place in four minutes, 22.96 seconds. She placed third in the 200m backstroke, clocking in at 2:17.43. She also reached the podium in the 400m individual medley, finishing in 4:55.20.

With files from Earl Zukerman