Athletes of the week
Jonathan Brunelle
In an elimination match against the Concordia Stingers, junior forward Jonathan Brunelle shone when his team needed him the, while tallying five points for the McGill Redmen. The Boisbrand, QC native and alumnus of the QMJHL tallied eight points total during the three-game OUA East playoffs. Brunelle has scored 37 points–the second-highest total on the team–during this season on 12 goals and 25 assists. If past performance–he has five game-winning goals on the season–is a good predictor for future potential, Brunelle will come through once again.
Melodie Daoust
It’s not very often that the No. 2 team in the CIS can add a late season addition that also happens to be the best player in the country, but former Olympian Melodie Daoust is just that. In her debut weekend, following a prolonged absence due to injury, Daoust did not miss a beat, tallying two goals and four assists in the Martlets’ two victories over the weekend. The physical and health education major from Valleyfield, QC, joins the Martlets just ahead of their playoff race, an important addition for a team that has shown that it is not invincible. With Daoust back in the lineup, it may not take long for the Martlets to return to their title-winning ways.
Beyond the box score
Redmen Basketball
It was a relatively quiet week for the Redmen (9-4) basketball team, with just one game on the docket. The Redmen took on the Bishop’s Gaiters (7-7) on the road and triumphed 56-46 in front of a crowd of over 400. Senior guard and team captain Vincent Dufort led the way with a double-double, including 15 points and 11 rebounds, while going 5-11 from the field and 5-5 from the free throw line. Burgeoning sophomore centre Francois Bourque continued to dominate on the glass, pulling down 11 rebounds of his own and adding six points as well. The Redmen managed to come out on top despite some shooting struggles. McGill shot 37.5 per cent from the field, and went just 4-20 from beyond the arc. The Redmen need just one more win in order to lock down first-place in the RSEQ, and that may come Thursday as McGill plays host to last-place UQÀM (4-9).
Martlet Basketball
Alex Kiss-Rusk, last week’s Tribune Athlete of the Week, continued to shine for the Martlets (12-1), posting a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead her team over the Bishop’s Gaiters (0-14) by a margin of 51-34 on Saturday. Despite the lopsided score, the Martlets were a mess coming out of the gates, managing a measly four points in the first quarter. Strong performances from frontcourt veterans Kiss-Rusk, Mariam Sylla, and Gabriela Hebert in the third quarter led to a 19-4 run that put the game away for McGill’s 12th victory of the season. The Martlets are now one win away from clinching a first-place finish atop the RSEQ for the fifth consecutive year, and could do so at home against UQÀM on Thursday night.
Redmen and Martlet Track and Field
The annual Redmen Classic brought out the best in McGill’s athletes on Saturday night in the Tomlinson Fieldhouse. The McGill Track and Field team captured five gold medals, with Hao Xu and Steven Murray qualifying for the CIS Nationals in the men’s high jump and men’s 300m events. Xu, a mechanical engineering student from Houston, matched the CIS qualifying standard with a 2.03m jump. Murray, a senior sprinter from Burlington, ON, qualified with a blazing time of 34.86 seconds in the 300m. Murray was also part of the winning men’s 4x200m relay team, along with junior Tim Kong, freshman Ryan McLelland, and junior Javier Montalvo. Their time of 1:29.90 was 44 tenths of a second off of the CIS qualifying time. Lenny Dion, also a senior linebacker on the Redmen football squad, won the shot put event with a distance of 12.45m bringing home another gold for McGill.
By the numbers
5 – Average number of goals scored per game by the Redmen hockey team in their three-game series against Concordia.
10 – Number of goals scored by the Martlet hockey team in Friday’s win over Carleton, the most in a regular season game since a 10-0 win on Jan. 28, 2012, also against Carleton.
24.6 – Shooting percentage allowed by the Redmen basketball’s stingy defence in Saturday’s win on the road against Bishop’s.
.701 – Head Coach David Daveiro’s total winning percentage while at the helm of the Redmen basketball team.
