The UNB Reds and St Thomas Tommies co-hosted a RSEQ interlock meet on Saturday. With 250 runners competing the Tommies were in tough.
Laval Rouge et Or dominated both men's and women's events, with three runners in the top seven of the men's event and the top four runners in the women's race.
In the women's 6K Abby Donnelly finished first for the Tommies with a time of 27:47, shaving 2:53 off her time from the first meet this year. Nicola Hines and Alaina Mejia also cut time off their StFX meet times, and Kassidy Richard rounded out the runners for the Tommies.
Lars Schwarz continued to lead the way for the men's team as he was the top runner once again, beating his season best time in the 8000m by 32 seconds. Team captain, Ryan Terry trimmed almost two minutes from his time and Mark Bartlett beat his season best by over three minutes. Harry Scarbro rounded out the runners for the Tommies in his first AUS action and had a personal best time.
"Our runners at the UNB/STU Invitational showed a lot of improvement in the biggest meet of the season," said head coach Nick Larade. "Competition was tough with a very deep field, as the meet was an Interlock event with teams from Quebec and Maine, in addition to the AUS runners. The women's race had 127 participants while the men's race had 123 runners on a sunny day with perfect temperature for racing. The St. Thomas teams rose to the occasion though, as six of our eight runners had personal best times and the other two had very strong races."
The Tommies will have a short turnaround as they are heading to Moncton for a meet at UdeM this weekend before AUS Championships on the 27th at Dalhousie University.
Results
Women's 6000m
Abigail Donnelly 27:47
Nicola Hines 29:46
Alaina Mejia 33:57
Kassidy Richard 37:14
Men's 8000m
Lars Schwarz 28:44
Ryan Terry 29:33
Harry Scarbro 40:21
Mark Bartlett 40:21