Vaughn Taylor took home the best finish among University of Victoria track athletes at the national championships in New Brunswick over the weekend.
However, Taylor couldn’t defend his 2020 national title in the 600-metres, finishing fourth during Saturday’s final at the U Sports Track and Field Championships in Saint John.
Vikes runners Jack Boden and Brandon Vail also had top-10 finishes at the University of New Brunswick-hosted competition, placing fifth in the 1,000m, and eighth in the 3,000m, respectively. The Vikes men’s 4 x 800m relay team of David Waller, Benjamin Seshadri, Anton Kuipers and Boden wound up sixth.
Overall, the Vikes men’s team placed 16th out of 24 schools with a total of 13 points.
Jennifer Erickson, the lone member of the Vikes women’s track team to qualify for nationals, finished 11th in the 3,000m.
READ: UVic Vikes track athletes chasing national gold
Also competing at nationals over the weekend was the UVic men’s basketball team.
The Vikes fell 94-77 to the Carleton Ravens in the opener of the U Sports Men’s Final 8 tournament in Edmonton, and wound up sixth following a 98-72 loss to Dalhousie Tigers in Sunday’s consolation final. The Vikes beat McGill 77-68 Saturday to reach the final.
UVic was the higher-seeded team entering the tournament, but faced a tough test in the Ravens, who went on to win the school’s third straight U Sports championship and 16th national title. The Ravens took the lead a few minutes into the April 1 game and never gave it up, beating the Vikes for a fourth consecutive time in head-to-head play at the Final 8 tournament.
READ: No. 2-seed Vikes men’s basketball tip-off at nationals against Carleton
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