Mount A wins 2010 ACAA badminton conference championship

For the second year in a row, the Mounties' badminton team ended the season with a solid performance and victories in four of five categories to clinch first place and win the Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association (ACAA) badminton conference championship held at Mount Allison on Saturday, Feb. 20.

Favoured to win in doubles, Brent Barkhouse and rookie Eric Freeman and Carrie and Heather Murray both sailed through Saturday's games winning every set and every match to take first place and earn top points.

Justin Barkhouse and Lori McKnight were challenged in three matches by opponents Holland College, Kings, and UniversitÉ Sainte Anne, but held each match to two games and won all three to take first place.

In women's singles, Dianne Boudreau of the UniversitÉ Sainte Anne squad was the easy winner on Saturday, while Mount Allison's rookie Mary Hodgett ended the day with three losses, but some greatly improved play.

The match of the day was the men's singles victory where Braden Freeman of Mount A defeated King's Ryan Macintosh in a hard-fought match, winning 2-1.

Janet Robinson won ACAA badminton coach of the year and it was for the fifth time since she started coaching badminton.

The badminton Mounties were also named the university's athletes of the week for their strong performance.

Final results were: Mount Allison, 43; UniversitÉ Sainte Anne, 30; University of King's College, 27; Holland College, 25.

Team advances to nationals

On Sunday, Feb. 21, Mount Allison also hosted the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) Nationals Qualifer. An all-star squad based upon individual category finishes will represent the Atlantic Conference at the nationals which will be held at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, (NAIT) March 4-6.

Mount Allison successfully defended titles from Saturday, with the exception of mixed doubles. The Barkhouse brothers will represent in men's doubles , while the Murray sisters advanced in women's doubles.

Freeman battled a second time to win men's singles, while Boudreau of Sainte Anne will be the women's singles entry.

The mixed team of Ian Manning and Dalia Lourenco Levin of King's College took first-place honours and will round out the team compliment of eight players. The two coaches will be Sam Stewart of King's College and ACAA coach of the year Janet Robinson. Mount Allison's Heather Murray was named female player of the year and Brent Barkhouse was named male player of the year.