Swimming
David Sharpe and Alison Grant were named the male and female swimmers of the meet and the Tigers claimed their 16th consecutive men's and 15th consecutive women's AUS titles at Memorial University over the weekend.
The Tigers collected a total of 54 medals, including 27 gold, 11 silver and 16 bronze, as the men finished with 376.5 points and the women finished with 408 points.
Rachel Shin (200m freestyle, 400m IM, 200m butterfly, 200m backstroke, 200m IM, 400m medley relay) and Molly Wedge (400m freestyle relay, 50m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 800m freestyle relay, 100m freestyle, 400m medley relay) paced the Tigers with six gold medals each.
Other women鈥檚 gold medal performers included Keishia Mills (100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke, 50m breaststroke, 400m medley relay), Ainsley Fraser (400m freestyle relay, 800m freestyle relay), Ceilidh MacPherson (400m freestyle relay), Cara McCallum (400m freestyle relay), Meagan Bernier (400m freestyle, 400m medley relay), Alison Grant (800m freestyle relay), Paige Crowell (800m freestyle relay).
Paige Robillard went home with the women鈥檚 AUS rookie of the meet honours after finishing with two bronze medals (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle).
On the men鈥檚 side, David Sharpe (100m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 200m butterfly, 200m backstroke, 400m medley relay) and Joe Ur (50m backstroke, 400m freestyle relay, 50m butterfly, 800m freestyle relay, 400m medley relay), led the way with five gold medals each.
Other men鈥檚 gold medal performers for the Tigers were Aodhan Somers (400m freestyle relay), Colin Flysak (400m freestyle relay), Nigel Champion (400m freestyle relay), Kyle Watson (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle relay), Chris Reith (800m freestyle relay, 1500m freestyle), Darragh Somers (800m freestyle relay), Jeremy Ryant (400m medley relay), Tony Liew (400m medley relay)
The Tigers will now head to the University of Toronto for the CIS Championships on February 20-22, 2014.
Women鈥檚 Basketball
The Tigers split a two-game set against the Memorial Sea-Hawks this weekend, rebounding from a tough 68-61 loss on Saturday with a resounding 73-48 beat down on Sunday morning.
The duo of Tessa Stammberger and Courtney Thompson combined for 33 points on Friday night and Ainsley MacIntyre grabbed 11 rebounds but it wasn鈥檛 enough as the Sea-Hawks used a late fourth quarter push to get past the Tigers, who let an eight-point lead slip out of their grasp as they lost 68-61.
Needing to turn things around on Sunday, the Tigers smothered the Sea-Hawks early in the first quarter and had their way with the defense, getting out to a 27-6 lead after just ten minutes of play. They鈥檇 never take their foot off the gas pedal the whole game, cruising to a 73-48 victory in front of their home crowd. AV俱乐部鈥檚 defense limited Kelia Pond, who burned them the day before with 17 points, to just two points on 1-5 shooting.
Stammberger had another double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Thompson and Robbi Daley combined for 28 points on 12-21 shooting.
The four-point win moves the Tigers back to .500 at 8-8 and they sit in fifth place in the ultra-competitive AUS with four games left in the season. They travel to Sydney next Friday to take on the Cape Breton Capers in a huge four-point contest.
Men鈥檚 Basketball
The Tigers couldn鈥檛 capitalize on two must-win four-point games against the last-place Memorial Sea-Hawks this weekend, dropping a heartbreaking 66-61 loss on Saturday night before blowing them out 73-50 on Sunday afternoon.
The loss on Friday marked the first time the Tigers had lost to the Sea-Hawks since November 8, 2008.
Ritchie Kanza Mata had 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals and Jarred Reid added 14 points, but the Tigers couldn鈥檛 regroup after a slow first quarter start where they only scored 11 points.
Kanza Mata played his heart out late in the fourth quarter, and after John Traboulsi鈥檚 three with 59 seconds left cut the deficit to four points, the Sea-Hawks held on for the 66-61 victory.
On Sunday, the Tigers flipped the script, shooting 44.3% (up from 28.8% on Saturday) from the field and led virtually the whole game as they turned a good team effort into a solid four-point win.
The starting guard tandem of Reid and Kanza Mata led the Tigers in the win, combining for 31 points, ten rebounds and nine assists, while Traboulsi and Simon Marr had 15 and 12 points, respectively.
The win moves the Tigers back into seventh place in the AUS, and they will need to win every game here on out to have a chance to get into the AUS playoffs. They head to Cape Breton next Friday to face the Capers at 8:00pm.
Men鈥檚 Volleyball
The Tigers won a key matchup against the UNB Varsity Reds 3-2 in the first game of the 2013-14 Subway AUS Championship at the Dalplex on Friday night. The Tigers opened the match with a tough 26-24 win in the first set, but the Varsity Reds came back to take the second set by the same score. The teams split the next two sets which set the stage for a thrilling fifth and final set.聽
The score was tied at eight in the fifth set until the Tigers put the pressure on the Varsity Reds, pulling away with the 15-12 victory as Kristen O鈥橞rien put it away to seal the deal.
Bryan Duquette had a game-high 23 kills to lead the Tigers while Alex Dempsey added 16 kills of his own in the victory. Adam Sandeson came up huge with 18 digs.
The teams will be back at it for game two in Fredericton on February 15 at 7:00pm.
Women鈥檚 Hockey
It was a tough weekend for the women鈥檚 hockey team as they saw their losing streak extend to five games with home losses against Moncton and StFX in their final home games of the season.
They got down early against the Aigles Bleues as they allowed four first period goals on just 12 shots. The Tigers fired back in the second period as Fielding Montgomery netted two goals and Megan O鈥橬eill added one of her own in the second period to make it 4-3 heading into the third period. Despite firing ten shots in the final frame, the Tigers couldn鈥檛 find the back of the net and they fell 4-3.
It was a rough outing on Saturday night against a strong StFX X-Women squad, as they allowed four power play goals and two even-strength goals to fall 6-0. The Tigers got 23 shots on net but couldn鈥檛 solve StFX goaltender Sojung Shin.
The Tigers will finish out their season on February 16 when they try and end their series on a high note in Antigonish against the X-Women.
Men鈥檚 Hockey
The Tigers couldn鈥檛 capitalize on the opportunity to win back-to-back games for the first time this season as they fell to the StFX X-Men and Acadia Axemen this weekend on the road.
On Friday, Luke Madill鈥檚 early first period goal got the Tigers up 1-0, but the X-Men added two late third period goals to take the victory 3-2. Wendell Vye made 40 saves in the loss as the X-Men poured on 43 shots on net.
On Saturday, three first period Acadia goals dug the Tigers into a hole they couldn鈥檛 get out of, and Francois Gauthier鈥檚 second period goal wasn鈥檛 enough as the Tigers fell 6-1. Bobby Nadeau made 42 saves in the loss.
The Tigers will finish out their season with two home games next weekend against the UNB Varsity Reds on Friday and the Moncton Aigles Bleus on Saturday, both games are at 7:00pm at the Halifax Forum.
Track and Field
The Tigers hosted their annual Tigers Track Classic at the Canada Games Centre this past Saturday.
Macayla Cullen brought her A-game and won both the women鈥檚 long and high jumps. Will Russell grabbed the gold in the men鈥檚 1500m run, while Shannay Beals ran her way to the top of the podium in the women鈥檚 60m dash. Michelle Reddy had wins in the 600m and 1500m events, while Sarah Taplin won the triple jump event. Kyle Scott (18-19 yrs) and Isaac Norman (20-34 yrs) claimed victories in the 300m dash, while Smith Chas (18-19 yrs) leapt to high jump victory.
The Tigers will now buckle down and prepare for the AUS championships in Moncton on February 22.