(PHOTO OF SARAH McCUAIG BY GARY RUSH)

QUEBEC CITY (Feb. 27/11) -- Distance runner Sarah McCuaig from Waterloo, Ont., won four gold medals to lead McGill to a second-place finish at the Quebec university track and field championships, a two-day meet hosted by Université Laval, Feb. 26-27.

The 21-year-old physiology sophomore finished first in the 1000m (2:56.19) and 1500m (4:38.58), in addition to leading a pair of relays to victory - the 4x400 (4:03.54) and 4x800 (9:16.87).

"Sarah's performance was very strong," said Dennis Barrett, in his 26th season as head coach at McGill. "She ran with confidence, took control of her races and that's what you need to do to be a champion."

McCuaig ran the anchor leg of the winning 4x400 along with junior Charlène Puel from France, senior Catherine Drouin-Audet of Repentigny, Que., and Aimee Castro, a sophomore from Hamilton, Ont.

Joining McCuaig on the victorious 4x800 was Drouin-Audet, Castro and Genevieve Blanchard, a sophomore from Sherbrooke.

The only other individual gold medalist on the Martlets was Louisa Lobigs, a first-year exchange student from Australia, who won the 3000m in 10:07.65, almost 12 seconds faster than her nearest competitor.

One other performance of note was a silver-medal effort by Stephanie Harris, a master's student in chemistry who hails from Calgary. Harris destroyed her own school record in the women's weight-throw with a toss of 14.65m, surpassing the standard of 14.44 she set in 2009.

On the men's side, Montreal native Maxime Beaumont-Courteau and Eric Ellemo of Hudson, Que., each won gold for McGill, which finished third of five teams.

Beaumont-Courteau, a fourth-year medical student, jumped 4.70 metres in the men's pole vault, smashing his own school record of 4.65m.

Ellemo, a kinesiology sophomore, posted a winning time of 36.36 seconds in the men's 300m.

Laval captured the men's title with 169 points, followed by Sherbrooke (86), McGill (76), Montreal (9), UQAC (3) and UQAM (0).

On the women's side, Sherbrooke took home the conference banner with 139 points. McGill was second with 104.5, followed by Laval (46), Montreal (38.5), UQAM (23) and UQAC (2).

Next on tap is the CIS championship meet in Sherbrooke, March 10-12.

2011 QUEBEC TRACK & FIELD MAJOR AWARD WINNERS:

Female athlete of the year:
Pascale Délisle, Sherbrooke

Male athlete of the year:
Jason Guénette, Laval

Female rookie of the year:
Laurence Beaudet, Montréal

Male rookie of the year:
Jean-Samuel Lapointe, Laval

Women's Coach of the Year:
Richard Crevier, Sherbrooke

Women's Coach of the Year:
Jean-Philippe Morency, Laval

Women's athletic performance of the year (field events):
Mélanie Blouin, Laval

Men's athletic performance of the year (field events):
Alexandro Allison Abaunza, Laval

Women's athletic performance of the year (track events):
Kimberly Hyacinthe, UQAM

Men's athletic performance of the year (track events):
Ben-Youssef Méité, Sherbrooke

Women's Citizenship Award:
Pascale Délisle, Sherbrooke

Men's Citizenship Award:
Mathieu Raymond, Laval

2011 QUEBEC TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP MEET STANDINGS:

WOMEN:
1. Sherbrooke, 139 points
2. McGill, 104.5
3. Laval, 48
4. Montreal, 38.5
5. UQAM, 23
6. UQAC, 2

MEN:
1. Laval, 169 points
2. Sherbrooke, 86
3. McGill, 76
4. Montreal, 9
5. UQAC, 3
6. UQAM, 0

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (tel.)
www.mcgill.ca/athletics
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca