Spectacular track and field season ends in disappointment

By Mike Murphy | Despite not winning any medals at the recent Canadian Interuniversity Sport track and field championships, which McGill hosted from March 8 to 10, the Martlets and Redmen had a lot to be proud of as a whopping 21 of their members qualified for and participated in the highly-competitive event.

You have to take what hand you’ve been dealt, learn from it and hope to do better next year,” said head coach Dennis Barrett. “We did have four personal bests and a number of seasonal bests over the weekend so that is something positive that we can build on,” he said. The Quebec champion Martlets finished 14th, as did the Redmen, out of 24 participating universities.

McGill’s best finish came from Keith Esch (U2 International Development) who was fourth in the high jump with a height of 1.95 metres. Esch, who stands 6-foot-7, won gold at the Quebec championships with a leap of 1.90m. On the women’s side, Jessica Warren (U5 Management) set personal bests in both the 1,000m, in which she finished fifth, and 1,500m, in which she took sixth place. The three-day meet, held at Tomlinson Fieldhouse, attracted sold-out crowds in each of the final two days.