Day 1
[Saint John, NB] On day one of the 2020 Subway Atlantic University Sport Track and Field Championships, the St. Thomas Tommies broke two school records and had multiple personal bests. Ten university teams and over 250 athletes were in attendance at the Irving Oil Field House for the first AUS Track and Field Championships held in Saint John.
The competition got off to a fantastic start for the Tommies as Priya Bhutani shattered her school record in the 1000m by more than eight seconds, setting a personal best in a time of 3:10.52 to finish ninth overall. Jensen Elliot was the next Tommie to finish with a new personal best of 3:41.81, followed by Jessica Kenny in 4:05.12, Alaina Mejia in 4:31.46, and Julia MacDonald in a personal best time of 4:44.73.
In the 300m, Andrea Bell set a new personal best of 46.17, Grace Baker ran 47.18, and Iricia Flint-Downey finished in 55.29. Ravtej Singh recovered from a fall during his race to finish in 42.31 and Alexander Gallant set a new personal best of 42.41.
Ryan Terry led the way for STU in the 3000m with a new personal best of 4:20.27, while Lars Schwarz finished in 9:43.00, and Tristan Eisnor ran a time of 11:02.61 to finish the individual events for day one.
The Tommies’ day finished with the team relays. The women’s 4x200m relay team of Santanna Rafuse, Andrea Bell, Grace Beaulieu, and Grace Baker came together at the right to finish in sixth place with a season best of 1:58.09. The men’s 4x200m relay team of Tristan Sutherland, Ravtej Singh, Alexander Gallant, and Kirklin Robichaud ran their race of the season, setting a new school record of 1:41.12 for a fifth place finish.
In the 4x800m women’s relay, Jensen Elliot, Jessica Kenny, Alaina Mejia, and Priya ran 12:21.92 to finish sixth, while the men’s team of Tristan Eisnor, Ryan Terry, Alexander Gallant, and Lars Schwarz finished in sixth place in 10:34.50.
At the end of day one, the St. Thomas Tommies men’s team sits in seventh place, with Dalhousie, UNB, and St. FX in the top three positions. The women’s team is in eighth place, as Dalhousie, St. FX, and UNB lead the standings.
Day 2
[Saint John, NB] The St. Thomas Tommies stayed on track on the second and final day of the 2020 Subway Atlantic University Sport Track and Field Championships with three new school records and a collection of outstanding individual performances. The new track at the Irving Oil Field House in Saint John proved to be a fantastic venue for the St. Thomas athletes.
First year athlete Santanna Rafuse led the day with an incredible heat in the 60m dash, setting a huge new personal best and crushing the school record of 8.41 seconds with a time of 8.27 seconds. Rafuse’s run qualified her for the afternoon finals and placed her at seventh going into the competition. Rafuse is the first Tommie to qualify for the sprint finals in school history and finished eighth overall out of 28 competitors with a final run of 8.36 seconds. In the men’s 60m, fellow first year Kirklin Robichaud ran 7.59 seconds to finish in 17th place out of 33 athletes. Second year Tristan Sutherland narrowly missed his personal best with a time of 7.67 seconds for 19th place overall.
The 600m was a loaded event for the Tommies, with seven athletes taking part. Jensen Elliot ran a personal best with a time of 1:58.84 to lead the women, followed by first year Grace Beaulieu in a personal best of 2:12.43, Alaina Mejia in a season best 2:23.82, Jessica Kenny in 2:39.09, and Julia MacDonald in 2:41.93. Iricia Flint-Downey was disqualified for a lane violation. Ravtej Singh was the sole STU athlete in the men’s race and ran a time of 1:33.63.
The afternoon was a great time for individual performances by STU competitors. The women’s 1500m saw a second school record broken by almost eight seconds, as Priya Bhutani ran a personal best of 5:05.77 to finish second in her section and 11th overall out of 25 athletes. Tristan Sutherland bettered his school record in the high jump by five centimeters for a total clearance of 1.60m in the last individual event of the day.
The 4x400m relays closed out the Championships. The women’s team of Iricia Flint-Downey, Jensen Elliot, Alaina Mejia, and Priya Bhutani ran a time of 5:21.70 to finish in seventh place. The men’s team of Ravtej Singh, Lars Schwarz, Alexander Gallant, and Ryan Terry ran 4:01.84 for a sixth place finish.
In the team scoring, the Dalhousie Tigers were the first overall women’s team, followed by the St. FX X-Men, and the Moncton Aigles Bleu, with the St. Thomas Tommies in ninth place. Dalhousie also finished first overall in the men’s scoring, with the UNB Reds in second and St. FX in third. St. Thomas tied for seventh with the UPEI Panthers.