The Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus had one of the best weekends in its history at the Atlantic University Sports Indoor Track and Field Championships presented at the Irving Oil Field House in Saint-Jean on Friday and Saturday.

The Bleu et Or athletes have not only won 11 medals, but also set a provincial record and two U de M records, not to mention breaking no fewer than 45 personal records.

There are also the AUS Most Valuable Athlete on the Field Award for Samuel Bourque, the Championships Most Valuable Athlete Award for Max Mazerolle, and the Student-Athlete Award for Community Service for Alain Lavoie.

Mazerolle and Bourque, but also Caroline Gagnon, were obviously the protagonists of the Aigles Bleus during these championships. They will also be the three representatives of the Bleu et Or at the Canadian University Championships, which will be held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in two weeks time.

Mazerolle won three gold medals, in the 60m hurdles (8s48), pole vault (3m90) and heptathlon (4462 points).

“My goal was to win three events, but I’m still a little surprised about the pole vault gold,” said Mazerolle, 20. I suspected it would be between me and Cameron Davis (UNB), but the latter got through a bad strategy completely eliminated from the podium. He preferred to wait for 3:70 before starting to jump, and that wasn’t a good idea. He wasn’t warmed up enough to jump that high from the start.”

“I know full well that I don’t have a chance of a medal in Saskatoon, but I believe it’s possible to break the Aigles Bleus’ heptathlon record. It belongs to Jean-Luc Bastarache and has 4569 points. I was just 107 points from beating him this weekend,” added Mazerolle, who won the AUS Championships Most Valuable Athlete award for the second straight year.

Bourque won the shot put (16m01) and finished second in the hammer throw (16m42). That last shot was a new record at U de M.

“It was a very nice weekend,” admits Bourque. My main focus was on breaking the 16m in the shot put, so I was pleasantly surprised to land 16m42 in the hammer. I did not expect that. It’s my best shot ever.”

“In Saskatoon I would like to win bronze. I’m currently fifth in Canada, but only 29 centimeters separate me from third in the country. One good day for me and one less good day for the other and it could happen. A podium finish is definitely achievable,” says the blue and gold colossus, who feels very honored with the title of SUA’s top athlete in the field.

As for Gagnon, she triumphed in the 60-meter hurdles, beating both the Aigles Bleues and New Brunswick marks. She crossed the finish line with a lap time of 9 seconds with no hundredths.

“My goal was to crack nine seconds,” admits the young 21-year-old sprinter. I ran well this winter with races of 9s20 and 9s14 and thought it was possible for the weekend. But it’s coming. My goal is to break the nine seconds in Saskatoon. Since I’ll be competing against faster girls, I’m confident it will help me get even faster.

If Mazerolle, Bourque and Gagnon shone, the performances of Guillaume Basque and Kyla Hughes should not be overlooked.

The Basque ended his weekend with a silver medal in the 60m hurdles (8s70) and bronze podiums in the pole vault (3m30) and heptathlon (3973 points). For his part, Hughes won bronze in the shot put (11:96) and hammer throw (14:52).

“I’m less satisfied because I didn’t throw well. I’m capable of better, but that’s what happens in life. I missed my best throw by 50cm and that made a difference,” reveals Hugues, who won gold in 2022.

Also note the wins of the UNB Reds’ Jillian Langille (60m hurdles), Shelby MacIsaac (300m), Abigail Passy (pole vault), Lexie Shannon (triple jump) and Christopher Grant (hammer throw).

Also of note is the gold medal for New Brunswick’s Ryan Evans of the Western University Mustangs at the University Indoor Track and Field Championships in Ontario. Evans achieved an impressive total of 5106 points.

This is the best performance this year in Canada, all ages combined.