A recap of Varsity Club action from the past week.

Field Hockey W
Gaels Women's Field Hockey go Undefeated in Home weekend

The Gaels hosted the OUA Field hockey teams this weekend at Tindall field, going undefeated in their three games against the York Lions, Waterloo Warriors, and McGill Martlets. The Gaels pulled off a 1-1 tie with York, a 3-0 win against Waterloo and a 4-0 win against McGill to pull into third place in the OUA standings. Off to a promising start, Queen's has already matched their total number of wins from last year in the second week of play.

The Gaels battled through a scoreless first half against York University on Saturday. The lions slipped a goal into the net early in the second half, but Queen's remained composed, allowing second year Taylor Herrington to put the ball into York's net shortly afterward. Although they fought hard, the final score remained 1-1. In their second game of the day, the Gaels played Waterloo and were up 3-0 at halftime, with goals coming from Herrington (open play), third year Caitlin Gordon (penalty corner) and first year Nicole Dye (penalty corner). There were no goals in the second half, despite many exciting chances. On Sunday, Queen's faced McGill, beating them 4-0, with Herrington scoring another two goals, bringing her weekend total to four. First year Justina Johl and second year Margot Gunning also scored for the Gaels. All four goals were scored in field play.

Queen's played in front of a good crowd of friends and parents, who provided incredible support at their home weekend. The field hockey team would like to thank everyone for their support, and invites fans to continue to tune in for updates throughout the season.

Fastpitch W
The Queen's fastpitch team came away from their second week of play with two road wins against the Guelph Gryphons in double header action Saturday, 2-1 and 7-6.

Pitcher Jade Yarex took the first win 2-1, pitching all seven innings and giving up only two hits. Strong defense by the outfield, including a diving catch by Carlie Foss in left field, helped keep Guelph at bay. Jenna Bolton broke the 1-1 deadlock in the top of the seventh with a home run.

The second victory went to rookie pitcher Taylor Bluhm, winning 7-6 in extra innings. Pitching all eight innings and providing solid at bats, Bluhm led the team to victory in the bottom of the eighth, picking up the game-winning RBI on a single to right field.

Offensively, the Queen's lineup swung the bat better in the second game, leading to a higher scoring game with 8 great hits. Despite strong winds on Saturday, defense remained solid, highlighted by a pair of throws from center-fielder Jennifer Collins to home plate for outs. Rookie first baseman Kyrstin Coughlin also showed great range, making key saves at crucial moments in the game.

The Gaels double header on Sunday against Toronto was rained out.

The fastpitch team hosts a pair of double headers this weekend, playing the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday at 2pm and 4pm, and then the Laurier Golden Hawks on Sunday. The home diamond is located at Garrigan Park, Kingston, Ontario.

Golf
On the men's side, Queen's played in two tournaments in two days in London, Ontario, taking the team gold medal on the second day.

The Gaels finished sixth on Thursday, with a team score of 318. Russell Bowie had the best score on the day for Queen's with a two over par 74, tying him for the fifth best individual score. Western placed first, Laurier second, and Waterloo third, while Laurier's Daley Byles shot the best individual score of 69.

On Friday, Queen's grabbed the team gold medal in a very tight field. The Gaels totalled 303 on the day, led by Bowie's 73, which earned him a silver medal in a three-way tie for second. Brad Burtch-Timmons and Jordan Gregoris shot 75 and 76, respectively, for Queen's. Waterloo, Laurier, and Toronto all totalled 305, with Waterloo taking second and Laurier third on the tie-breaker, because of lower scores by their last scoring player. Toronto's Ryan Tsang won the individual title with an amazing round of 66.

On the women's side, the Gaels played at a two-day tournament hosted by Western. Queen's was third after day one, with a team score of 273.

Cycling
Last weekend, the Queen's University Varsity Cycling Club competed at the Mansfield Outdoor Centre near Collingwood, Ontario. A series of three separate events were held: an eliminator, a time trial, and a classic cross country race. The eliminator is a short 300m circuit that starts four people, with the top two finishers moving on to the next round; the time trial (TT) is an individual race against the clock through technical, forested single track; and the cross country (XC) race is the usual mass start, hour-long race.

Queen's was dominant in the eliminator series, winning all four categories.
Men's A: Etienne Moreau
Men's B: Cameron Lawrence
Women's A: Haley Golding
Women's B: Amanda Schevers.

The time trial had its record smashed by Etienne Moreau, who rode it in 8min15s. The next fastest were Cameron McPhaden (8min47s) and Jason LeBlanc (9min2s) who took second and third in Men's A to sweep the podium for Queen's. The other categories also contributed a good number of points to the overall.

Sunday's XC race was stopped early because of a gigantic wasp nest that had been disturbed and became a danger to the riders. One woman from the University of Toronto was taken to hospital because of her unknown allergy to wasp stings. She later returned in an impressive comeback to compete in the Women's B race, where she placed second.

In the other women's race, Andrea Burley won her first A-level race and Haley Golding placed second. Cameron Lawrence placed second in Men's B. In Men's A, Etienne Moreau won his fourth consecutive event, while Cameron McPhaden placed second.

The top Gaels overall were:
Men's A: Etienne Moreau (1st), Cameron McPhaden (2nd), Jason Leblanc (4th)
Women's A: Haley Golding (1st), Andrea Burley (2nd)
Men's B: Cameron Lawrence (1st)
Women's B: Amanda Schevers (4th)

Next weekend the Gaels will travel to Caledon, Ontario to race at Albion Hills on Sunday.

Baseball M
The Gaels picked up a pair of wins in their Saturday double header in Kingston against McMaster. Queen's won a close battle 12-11, before shutting out the Marauders 5-0.

On Sunday, Queen's had its double header against Laurier rained out.

The Gaels host York before travelling to Ryerson for a pair of double headers this weekend.

Women's Lacrosse
The women's lacrosse team will play in a tournament at Trent this weekend.

Men's Lacrosse
Queen's split their games on the weekend, falling 7-6 to an undefeated McGill team and doubling up Ottawa 14-7. Joshua Smith finished the weekend with six goals and two assists between the two games.

The Gaels will play at Trent and Concordia this weekend.