McGill Track and Field hosted the McGill Team Challenge, the largest indoor track and field meet in Canada, on Jan. 24 and 25. The meet brought together teams from all over eastern Canada and the northeastern US to compete.
On the first day of the meet, sophomore Jorden Savoury broke the McGill record for the 60-metre sprint twice. She beat the previous record of 7.69 seconds—which she set just two weeks prior—with a time of 7.66 seconds in a preliminary race and again in the finals with a time of 7.65 seconds, to finish third place overall. Second-year graduate student Allison Frantz won the women’s pentathlon with a score of 3,486 points, helping the McGill women to second place at the end of the first day of competition.
The McGill men ended the first day in sixth place out of 14 teams. They won the 4 x 800m relay with a time of 7:48.25, a mere 10 seconds away from a school record. The relay team was comprised of first-years Sebastian Danson and Nicolas Bernard and second-years Jasper Ross and Jack Crosby. Second-year graduate student Simon Bernier, finished the 3000m race in 16th place out of over 50 runners, with a personal best time of 8:46.
“The 3000 is my favorite event,” Bernier said. “It’s long enough that you have time to enjoy it but short enough that you don’t have time to get bored.”
On the second day, Bernier placed 23rd out of 72 runners in the 1500m, with a time of 4:06.57. Bernier hopes to improve on his times throughout the season with the goal of making Nationals next year.
“I have a goal for this year to be ‘halfway’ to Nationals,” Bernier said. “[I want to] improve on my times, so that next year, I will have a good base to work off of.”
Also running the 1500m on the second day was fourth-year Rachel Langelaan. Although she did not get the personal best she was hoping for and was later disqualified, her main goal was not a specific time but rather to enjoy the event.
“It’s my last home race at McGill, so I am just hoping to go out there and have fun,” Langelaan said prior to the race. “It’s my last season, so I just want to enjoy it with my teammates and hope that the team does well.”
Langelaan ran the 1000m on Jan. 24, finishing with a time of 3:16.1.
“I felt pretty good, [and] I was pretty happy with [my race],” Langelaan said “It was my first time running the 1000 in a bit, so it was fun.”
Other highlights from the second day included the men’s heptathlon, in which fourth-year Kurt Soderstrom finished third overall with 4,301 points, second-year Alexander Stathis finished fifth with 4,103 points, and graduate student Taylor Leger finished sixth with 3,979 points. While the McGill women’s and men’s teams finished the competition in fifth and sixth place, respectively, the athletes enjoyed their time at the Team Challenge.
“It was good to be able to run with people [who] are the same speed as I am,” Bernier said. “That’s why the McGill Team Challenge is so great.”
Moment of the meet
Second-year Jorden Savoury broke the McGill 60-metre sprint record twice in one day. She beat the previous record of 7.69 seconds, which she also held, bringing it down to 7.66 seconds in the preliminary round. She then brought it down again in the finals with a time of 7.65 seconds.
Quotable
“I used to always do the same thing [before races, but then] this summer at Nationals, they sat me down for an hour in the waiting room before my race, and that’s when I realized pre-race rituals really don’t matter, and so what I try to do is just get mentally ready, and then my body will just follow.” – Simon Bernier on his pre-race rituals.
Stat Corner
Three McGill athletes placed in the top 10 of the men’s heptathlon, with fourth-year Kurt Soderstrom finishing third with 4,301 points, second-year Alexander Stathis finishing fifth with 4,103 points, and graduate student Taylor Leger finishing sixth with 3,979 points
