WOLFVILLE, N.S. – While the Axemen swim team didn't finish first overall for the third meet in a row, the did finish second to RSEQ powerhouse McGill who attended this year's Kemp-Fry meet hosted by Dalhousie.
For the third meet in three meets, this season the Acadia Axemen finished comfortably ahead of rival Dalhousie, this time in Tigers' home pool.
"Coming into the weekend, our expectations were high since we have been having a successful run of victories in both men and women", noted Acadia's head coach Gary MacDonald.
"This meet we were focused on fast swimming and trying to get as many swimmers qualified for U SPORTS National Championship in February," said MacDonald.
The highlight of the weekend was the performance by first-year Axeman Dean Sangster. Sangster posted wins in the 100m and 200m backstroke. In both races, he qualified for the U SPORTS championship. Sangster finished second in the 50m backstroke and once again qualified for the U SPORTS championship in February.
Also qualifying for the U SPORTS Championship from the weekend results were Brett Liem in the 50m freestyle, Gordon Shortt in the 200m individual medley. Jessica Pelletier qualified for the U SPORTS championship in a preliminary swim in the 100m backstroke.
The story of Sunday evening's finale was the men's 400m medley relay where the Axemen finished second to McGill and qualified for the U SPORTS Championship. The relay team members included Dean Sangster (backstroke), Gordon Shortt (breaststroke), Ben Henger (butterfly), and Brett Liem (freestyle).
"Probably our best performance of the weekend came from the men's relays. They set three varsity records and qualified two relays for the U SPORTS Championship. Both Ben Henger and Reilly Baker are eligible to attend the national championship because of the relay qualifying times", noted MacDoanld.
All three men's relay teams narrowly missed beating the mighty McGill team by inches. McGill was a top give team last year at U SPORTS finals.
"Too many top swims to mention although all of Dean's backstroke events were awesome and Gordon Shortt lit it up with two back-to-back U SPORTS qualifying swims in the 50 breast and 200 IM," concluded MacDonald.
For the third meet in a row the Axewomen finished second versus Dalhousie and in this past weekend's meet, third overall behind McGill. Cali Bruce picked up the only first-place finish, but three individuals including Bruce, Madison Murray, and Kelsea Vessey posted two top-three finishes.
Final Team Standings
Women: Men:
1. Dalhousie 883 1. McGill 877.5
2. McGill 795 2. Acadia 735
3. Acadia 473 3. Dalhousie 612.5
4. Memorial 354 4. Memorial 322
5. UNB 316 5. UNB 214
6. Mount Allison 160 6. Mount Allison 130
Acadia Medal Count:
Axemen:
Brett Liem - 50m Freestyle – 1st (U SPORTS qualified), 50m and 100m Breaststroke – 3rd
Reilly Baker – 50m Freestyle – 3rd
Dean Sangster – 100m and 200m Backstroke – 1st (U SPORTS qualified both), 50m Backstroke – 2nd (U SPORTS qualified)
Gordon Shortt – 200m Individual Medley – 1st (U SPORTS qualified), 100m Breaststroke – 1st, 50m Breaststroke – 2nd
Andre Walcott – 100m and 200m Breaststroke – 2nd
Axewomen:
Cali Bruce – 200m Individual Medley – 1st, 400m Individual Medley – 2nd
Maddie Murray – 200m Breaststroke – 2nd, 400m Individual Medley – 3rd
Kelsea Vessey – 200m Butterfly – 2nd, 100m Butterfly – 3rd
Elisabeth Morrison – 200m Individual Medley – 3rd
Jessica Pelletier – Qualified for U SPORTS in the 100m Backstroke preliminaries.
Men's Relays:
800m Free Relay – 2nd (Harrison-Guy, Baker, Liem, Shortt)
400m Free Relay – 2nd (Liem, Baker, Shortt, Sangster) – U SPORTS qualified
400m Medley Relay – 2nd (Sangster, Shortt, Henger, Liem) – U SPORTS qualified