Arnfast & Grant Lead UNB Men At AUS Championships

(MONCTON, NB) Ashley Morrow and Christopher Grant led the UNB REDS on the second and final of competition at the Atlantic University Sport Track & Field Championships, in Moncton.

Morrow won the women's weight throw gold medal with a UNB and AUS record toss of 17.91 metres to beat second place by more than three metres and qualify for the U SPORTS Championships, next month. Morrow was named the field athlete of the meet.

Grant won the men's weight throw with a distance of 16.70 metres, eight centimetres better than teammate Tony Jeong, who claimed the silver medal.

UNB took both the women's and men's 60-metres.

Shaniece Smikle won the women's 60 with a time of 7.57 seconds, besting second place by 2/10ths of a second, and Jackson Banks won the men's race in 6.87 seconds. Teammate Camrie Sharpe was fourth, but just 14/100ths of a second off Banks' pace.

"My coaches believed in me before I fully believed in myself," said Smikle. "That confidence carried me through every step of the 60-metres. When I crossed first, it was not just my moment, it reflected all of us."

Jared Howse won his second individual gold medal of the weekend, finishing first in the men's 1500-metres. Howse beat teammate Silas Conlin-Morse by just over a second. UNB's Brodie Penney was fourth.

In the women's long jump, UNB's Haley Angus missed out on a bronze medal by a single centimetre.

Oliver Arnfast won the men's heptathlon, his third gold medal of the weekend, and UNB ran to second place finishes in both the women's and men's 4-by-400-metre relays.

Arnfast was named the AUS men's track & field MVP.

"Wrapping up my final AUS Championships, I couldn't be happier with how things went," said Arnfast. "I couldn't have done it without our coaching staff and my teammates. I'm proud of the team's performance, and it speaks to all the work that everyone puts in."

"It was a very exciting weekend for our teams," said REDS' head coach Chris Belof. "On the men's side we had a full team effort competing for every point and challenging in a close battle for a team title. Our men were led by mix of young and veteran athletes that combined for our highest men's point score in program history."

"Our women came in ranked third and proved they were up to the task, finishing second overall. It's has been exciting to see both teams come together at the championship part of our season." 

In the team standings, the REDS' women finished second overall, behind Dalhousie and ahead of Memorial. The UNB men were second as well, finish behind Dal and ahead of Saint Mary's.

The U SPORTS Track & Field Championships take place March 5-7 at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg.

"I'm very proud and excited to represent this team at U SPORTS, knowing how much has been built together," added Smikle.

STORY BY: Andy Campbell/UNB REDS

PHOTOS BY: John Murray/for Atlantic University Sport