REDS Well Represented At Summer Games
(FREDERICTON, NB) 47 UNB REDS student-athletes, recruits and coaches will represent four different provinces at the upcoming Canada Summer Games, in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Games begin on August 8th and run through August 25th.
“It’s exciting to have our student-athletes competing at the Canada Games,” said Lauren Hale-Miller, head coach of the REDS’ women’s volleyball team. She’ll serve as coach of Team New Brunswick’s women’s beach volleyball team at the Games. “It’s great development for them. It also shows that we have student-athletes here that look to compete at the highest level that they can.”
STRONG VOLLEYBALL PRESENCE
UNB’s student-athlete contingent in St. John’s will include Talia Nixon and Sophy Soderman, of the REDS’ women’s volleyball team, and Finn McMorran and Connor Waugh of UNB’s men’s volleyball team. They’ll serve as New Brunswick’s women’s and men’s beach volleyball teams. Another member of UNB's men's team, Holden Cadden, will represent Nova Scotia in beach volleyball.
Both Nixon and McMorran are going to their second Games, and both will be competing in different sports than they did the first time.
In 2022, Nixon was a member of New Brunswick’s indoor volleyball team while McMorran represented the province in tennis.
“Going on a team of twelve is one thing,” said Nixon. “You’re a bit of a bigger force, you know more people, whereas this will just be me and Sophy, so learning how to work through our games together, work through our after-care, recovery, the pre-game, that’s just us figuring out how to be our own force, just us two.”
McMorran, named UNB’s men’s volleyball Rookie of the Year in 2024-25, says while it’ll just be he and Waugh on the beach court, there are benefits for the REDS.
“In our scenario, I’m blocking, and Connor is defending, so indoor translates well with blocking,” he said. “You have to be crafty, hit shorter shots, as opposed to hitting as hard as you want. For me as a blocker, playing against some very good teams in the RSEQ, being able to read-block has helped me a lot this season playing beach volleyball.”
New Brunswick’s indoor volleyball teams will both feature REDS recruits.
Incoming REDS Maddie Follmer and Clara Guitard will be part of the women’s team while Alex Bourque has been named to the men’s team.
Jamie Chiasson, an assistant coach with the REDS’ men’s team, will serve as the head coach of New Brunswick’s men’s team.
REDS’ recruit Lia MacQuarrie will represent Prince Edward Island.
“I recruited them because I thought they were the top either in our province or in their province,” said Coach Hale-Miller of the future REDS going to the Games. “It adds to their resume and gives them more confidence as they come into a new chapter of their life.”
LARGE TRACK & FIELD CONTINGENT
A total of 21 current or incoming REDS will represent New Brunswick in track and field, while two will compete for Manitoba and another for Nova Scotia.
REDS’ head coach Chris Belof will serve as the head coach for Team NB, along with three members of his UNB coaching staff.
Silas Conlin-Morse, the 2024 Atlantic University Sport men’s cross country Rookie of the Year, will run for Nova Scotia in the men’s 1500 and 5000 metres.
“To be able to represent Nova Scotia at the Canada Summer Games is a huge honour,” said the soon-to-be second year RED.
Like beach volleyballers McMorran and Nixon, Conlin-Morse will be going to his second Games.
In 2022, he competed in sailing and earned a bronze medal.
“To be able to go back to the Games in a different sport is just amazing,” he added.
Sprinter Anna Somers, of Dufferin, New Brunswick, will be a second-year RED in the fall. She’ll compete for New Brunswick in the 400-metres as well as the 4-by-100-metres and 4-by-400-metres relays.
“The Games will without a doubt enhance my competition experience, which is a great benefit to bring back to competition with the REDS,” she said. “Representing not only New Brunswick, but my university team is important to me, and I feel grateful to the REDS as they’ve prepared me for this moment.”
Other REDS women who’ll compete in track & field at the Games include Haley Angus (long jump/triple jump), Hannah Barnard (high jump), Charlotte Davis (hammer throw), Georgia Bernhard (3000m steeplechase), Emily Doucet (3000m steeplechase), Ivy Bialowas (5000m), Sierra Rodrigues (5000m), Shelby MacIsaac (400m hurdles/800m/4x400m relay), and Jillian Langille (4x400m relay). They’re all part of Team NB.
Ashley Morrow will represent Manitoba in the women’s hammer throw.
Other REDS men who’ll compete in track & field include Jackson Banks (100m/200m/4x100m relay), Brodie Pennie (1500m), Caden Jones (3000m steeplechase), Oliver Arnfast (decathlon/pole vault), Tony Jeong (shot put/discus/hammer throw), Caden Wolverton (400m/4x400m relay), Hayden McKinnon (800m/4x400m relay), Jack Mellish (4x100m/4x400m relays), as well as Jared Howse and William Boyle, who will run the 5000-metres against REDS teammate Conlin-Morse.
“I’m excited to be running against my fellow REDS,” said Conlin-Morse. “I’ve learned a lot from both Jared and Will, but I don’t think being on different provincial teams will change anything about who we are and how we race. I’ll have to be at my very best to be able to beat them.”
UNB’s Liam Palmer will represent Manitoba in the men’s 3000-metre steeplechase.
REDS RUGBY, BASKETBALL, AND MORE
Bailey Andrews, head coach of UNB’s women’s rugby team, will coach New Brunswick’s men’s Rugby 7s side.
Four current REDS will be part of that team, including Finlay McSporran, Paxton Kilburn, Charlie Preston, and Nate Pugh.
Avery Saunders, who will join the REDS women’s rugby team in the fall, will be a member of New Brunswick’s women’s 7s side at the Games.
Two members of the REDS’ women’s basketball team’s coaching staff will also be in St. John’s.
Former AUS MVP Jayda Veinot is an assistant coach with New Brunswick’s women’s basketball team and Madeline Belding will serve on New Brunswick’s mission staff.
And two members of New Brunswick’s mission staff are regular contributors to the REDS.
Photographer Fran Harris is a veteran of multiple Canada Games. Her work appears regularly on our website and social media, and Peter Jewett is the voice of REDS women’s and men’s basketball on AUStv.
STORY BY: Andy Campbell/UNB REDS
FILE PHOTOS BY: UNB REDS