Hail to the conquering heroes

The women’s track and field team earned national medals last weekend, winning silver at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The men’s team was agonizingly close to also capturing medals, but had to settle for a fourth-place finish.

Megan Brown propelled the Blues into the top three with a gold medal in the 1500m race. The female event MVP was only slightly faster than teammate Beth Wightman, who won silver.

Sarah Boyle and Melissa Clifford also did well on the women’s side, finishing first and third, respectively, in the high jump. Jason Wurster was one of the Blues’ bright spots on the men’s side, winning bronze in the pole vault.

Toronto’s Carl Georgevski was named CIS women’s coach of the year at the event. Read Thursday’s Sports section for more on U of T’s track and field success.

-MATT SOMERS

A door slammed in the face

The ice in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, was particularly unkind to the women’s hockey team over the weekend, as they ended up finishing fifth at the CIS championships. The Blues lost their two round-robin games-to Alberta and St. Francis Xavier, and were relegated to a fifth-place match against Dalhousie.

The good news is that Toronto ended their tournament with a 2-0 victory over the Tigers. Katie Dowdall and Sue McCutcheon were the Blues’ goalscorers, and goalie Lisa Robertson earned the shutout.

The Alberta Pandas won gold at the tournament, beating Laurier 2-1 in the final game. Jamie Coffin and Jenna Barber scored for the champs, while Laurissa Kentworthy had the only tally for the Golden Hawks.

McGill defeated St. Francis Xavier on Sunday to capture bronze, rounding out the medalists.

-MS

Rest in peace

Andre Laplante, McGill’s nordic ski coach and an associate mining professor, passed away after a competition on March 5. It appears he had a stroke after an event in Ste. Anne de Bellevue. He was 52.

The thoughts and prayers of everyone at The Varsity are with Laplante’s family as they struggle through this difficult time. May his body and soul rest in peace.

-MS