OUA Uncovered: 2011-2012 Year in Review

OUA UNCOVERED 2011-2012 YEAR IN REVIEW

OUA UNCOVERED: YEAR IN REVIEW

BADMINTON The Western Mustangs claimed their second consecutive provincial title at the 2012 OUA badminton championship on March 18th at the University of Toronto.

The championship consisted of five events: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.

The Mustangs finished the three-day event with 58 points, only one point ahead of the host Varsity Blues (57), to earn their fourth title in the past five years. Waterloo took home bronze with 54 points.

Western’s Martin Guiffre came back to defeat Waterloo’s Nathan Lee 11-21, 21-16, 21-8, while Bethany So of U of T dominated Western’s Fong Cho 21-7, 21-14. Warriors player Andrew Zhuang defeated U of T’s Jesse Assing to claim the third spot, while Blues veteran Melissa Hill topped Margaret Cameron of the Mustangs for third place on the women’s side.

Guiffre earned his second gold medal of the championship with partner Ross Golding in the men’s doubles event. The duo defeated Waterloo’s Lee and Andrew Tai Pow 22-20, 17-21, 21-15 for the first-place finish. Warriors pair Danusha Ambagahwita and Wes Marr earned the bronze medal.

Similarly, So picked up another first-place finish, teaming up with Jewel Ho to take the women’s doubles title. The pair defeated Waterloo’s Carrie Law and Stephanie Yeung 21-11, 21-17, while U of T’s Hill and Fiona McKee placed third.

Toronto capped off the event with a gold-medal performance from Andrew Wilkinson and McKee in mixed doubles action. The pair defeated Western’s Peter Butler and Christina Giuffre, while Tai Pow and Yeung brought home bronze.

The University of Waterloo tied the University of Western Ontario with six OUA All-Star awards.

(Source: Varsity Blues Athletics)

Male Most Valuable Player:............................................................ Martin Giuffre (Western) Female Most Valuable Player:............................................................. Bethany So (Toronto) Male Rookie of the Year:........................................................... Andrew Wilkinson (Toronto) Female Rookie of the Year:................................................................. Bethany So (Toronto) Coach of the Year:............................................................................... Rob Fowler (Western)

Photo Source: Varsity Athletics

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BASEBALL Jamie Lekas and Josh Jakymyc, both of Toronto, drove in two runs each as the Toronto Varsity Blues captured the 2011 OUA Baseball Championship with an 8-4 victory over the Western Mustangs October 16th at Betchel Park.

It is the Varsity Blues third championship in team history and their first since winning back in 2003.

Both Lekas and Jakymyc were key producers for Toronto on the day as they sparked both the Varsity Blues two-run first inning and five run eighth inning, which ultimately proved to be the difference in the victory.

After Toronto starting pitcher Andrew Bergman of Pickering, Ont., sat down the Mustangs in order in the top of the first inning, the Blues played some small ball in the bottom half. After a pair of singles, two stolen bases and a walk, Toronto found themselves with the bases loaded. Western starting pitcher Daisuke Suzuki of Toronto, promptly hit Lekas before giving up an infield hit to Jakymyc as the Varsity Blues built a 2-1 lead.

Western would cut into that advantage in the third thanks to an RBI single from Kevin Annett of London, Ont., but Toronto got that run back in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a perfectly executed suicide squeeze by catcher Kyle Bowers of Toronto.

The score would remain the same until the top of the seventh inning when the Mustangs took advantage of some poor fielding. After Bergman allowed two walks, Annett drove home his second run of the game to cut the lead to 3-2. The next batter, Shawn Robinson of Sarnia, Ont., laid down a sacrifice bunt which Bergman proceeded to throw over the head of his first baseman. Two runs would score on the error putting Western on top 4-3.

With the game in their hands, the Mustangs appeared set to force a second and deciding game in the doubleelimination format. However, in the bottom of the eighth, a walk, an error and a double steal set the stage for the game’s critical moment. Blues first baseman Brent Page of Hamilton, Ont., grounded a ball to Annett at second base which he threw away on his attempt to get Page at first base, allowing two runs to cross the plate. Toronto would then pound out three straight hits to put the game out of reach.

Veteran Blues pitcher Tyler Wilson of Port Hope, Ont., came into pitch the ninth and struck out two batters, including David Logan of London, Ont., to seal the championship.

OUA UNCOVERED: YEAR IN REVIEW

Toronto reliever Martin Sampson-Coburn of Toronto, who came on in relief of Berman in the eighth inning, earned the victory while Western reliever Jake Zuk of Mossley, Ont., was credited with the loss.

Harrison Carmichael of Charlottetown, P.E.I., drove in Toronto’s only other run as Western allowed three unearned runs in the game thanks to two errors.

For Toronto, it was their second win of tournament over Western after posting a 1-2 record against the Mustangs in the regular season.

Over the course of the two-day championship, Toronto pitchers allowed just six runs and were the story of the tournament.

(Source: oua.ca)

Most Valuable Hitter:................................................................ Shaun Valeriote (Brock) Most Valuable Pitcher: ...............................................................Adam Lentz (Waterloo) Rookie of the Year:..............................................................Johnathon Brouse (Laurier) Coach of the Year: .....................................................................Jim Sheppard (Toronto)

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BASKETBALL Men The Carleton Ravens are the OUA men’s basketball champions for the seventh time in 10 years, decimating the Ryerson Rams 82-39 in the Wilson Cup final March 3rd at the OUA Final Four tournament, hosted by the University of Waterloo and presented

by Recharge with Milk.

Fifth-year Raven guard Cole Hobin, of Ashton, Ont., earned the Kitch MacPherson Trophy, adding to his OUA East Defensive Player of the Year award captured earlier this week. Hobin posted a team-high 17 points, sinking a trio of three-pointers, and added 11 rebounds.

Carleton has now won four of the past five Wilson Cup titles, having been defeated last season in the title game by Lakehead. Ryerson was making the second trip to the championship game in club history, having previously lost in the 1999 final.

OUA East Player of the Year Phil Scrubb, of Richmond, B.C., was the only other Raven in double-digit scoring, tallying 13 points.

Carleton outscored Ryerson 48-14 in the second half.

The Ravens out-rebounded the Rams 43-19, and connected on 33 of 64 (51.6%) of field goal attempts.

Ryerson’s offence struggled to capitalize, posting a 26.9 shooting percentage (14 of 52) and sinking but one of 14 three-point attempts (7.1%). Ryerson grabbed just three offensive rebounds in the entire game. Jahmal Jones, of Mississauga, Ontario, was the lone Ram in double-digit scoring, amassing 11 points and scoring Ryerson’s lone threepointer.

The 43-point marked the most lop-sided Wilson Cup final since the championship game became a regular fixture in 1966, surpassing the previous mark of 40 points set when Ottawa defeated Western 88-48 in 1993. Ryerson’s performance was also the lowest point total of a Wilson Cup participant since 1966, breaking a mark previously held

by Carleton in a 77-41 defeat to Western in the 1988 final.

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Ryerson struggled out of the gates, posting a mediocre 20% shooting percentage (3 of 15) in the first quarter. Carleton had no such initial problems, connecting on nine of 17 field goal attempts (52.9%), including five three-pointers, to emerge from the first frame with a 23-11 lead.

Ryerson’s defence tightened up in the second quarter, holding the Ravens to 11 points and narrowing Carleton’s lead to 34-25 at half-time.

The Rams’ defensive rally was short-lived, and Carleton utterly controlled the third quarter, outscoring their opponents 27-6.

Ryerson sunk an abysmal one of 12 field goal attempts (8.3%) in the third frame and managed to secure not a single offensive rebound. Carleton’s dominance continued through the fourth quarter, returning the Ravens to the top of the OUA podium after a one-year absence.

(Source: Ian Spears)

West Player of the Year: ............................................................ Venzal Russell (Lakehead) West Rookie of the Year: ............................................................ Adam Presutti (McMaster) West Defensive Player of the Year: ...............................................Greg Carter (Lakehead) West Ken Shields Award: ............................................................... Dan McCarthy (Guelph) West Coach of the Year: ............................................................ Scott Morrison (Lakehead) East Player of the Year: .....................................................................Phil Scrubb (Carleton) East Rookie of the Year: ..................................................................Mike L’Africain (Ottawa) East Defensive Player of the Year: ................................................... Cole Hobin (Carleton) East Ken Shields Award: ..............................................................Kevin Churchill (Carleton) East Coach of the Year: .................................................................... Dave Smart (Carleton) Kitch MacPherson Trophy: ................................................................ Cole Hobin (Carleton)

Photo Source: Michael P Hall

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BASKETBALL Women For the third time in four years, uOttawa and Windsor’s women’s basketball teams met in the OUA championship game. In the 2009 championship game, Windsor won 68-51, while in 2010, the Gee-Gees were soundly defeated on home court, 83-55. On March 3, it was time for the Gee-Gees to return the favour, as Ottawa won their first OUA women’s basketball title since the 2003–04 season. And the Gee-Gees won in an unexpected 89-40 blowout as uOttawa dominated their rivals in every facet of the game. Ottawa was ranked sixth in the CIS coming into the game, while Windsor was ranked second. Windsor, the defending CIS champions, will have one last chance to qualify for the CIS Final 8, via the CIS regionals.

“We’ve had a couple of good starts like that this year. But I think this is the first time we’ve maintained what we started. We played 40 minutes of solid basketball with everybody contributing, and there was no one player that was the dominant player,” said Gee-Gees head coach Andy Sparks. “It was definitely a team contribution. It’s what we’ve been looking for.”

Rookie point guard Kellie Ring (Ottawa, Ont.) helped the Gee-Gees get off to a quick start as she scored on Ottawa’s first two offensive possessions. After fifth-year centre Hannah Sunley-Paisley (Toronto, Ont.) scored to stretch the lead to 6-0, Windsor was forced to take a timeout, less than three minutes into the match. But the Gee-Gees’ run did not stop there as fourth-year forward Jenna Gilbert (Ottawa, Ont.) and fifth-year forward Bess Lennox (Ottawa, Ont.) hit back-to-back treys to stretch the lead to 12-0. After Windsor finally responded with a three-point play, Gilbert scored five more points, including another threepointer. The six-foot-tall forward hit three treys in the first quarter alone, as Ottawa took a 28-12 lead after one.

Ottawa’s dominant start continued into the second quarter, as the Gee-Gees stretched the lead to 23 points midway through the frame. With Sunley-Paisley on the bench, Lennox and fifth-year guard Teddi Firmi (Kitchener, Ont.) led the way for the Garnet and Grey on offence. The two crafty veterans made a big difference on the defensive end as well, and Windsor struggled to get good shot attempts. At halftime, the Gee-Gees held a commanding 46-16 lead, and limited Windsor to 15 per cent shooting from the field.

The Gee-Gees did not let up after the intermission, as Ottawa scored the first eight points of the third quarter, ending any hopes of a Windsor comeback. Another Gee-Gees’ three-pointer, this time by second-year guard Laura-Èmilie Cyr (Montreal, Qué), increased Ottawa’s cushion to 42 points, late in the quarter. uOttawa put the final touches to an OUA gold medal victory in the fourth quarter, with Ring providing a bulk of the offence. With the final result no longer in doubt, the Gee-Gees inserted some of their younger players into the game, and they performed just as well as their more experienced teammates. Fans at Montpetit Hall began to celebrate; the Gee-Gees had won their first championship banner of the 2011–12 varsity season.

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“Going into Calgary, it’s so good to know that my team can dominate with me on the bench. It was awesome to watch. To beat the reigning national champions like that, it makes me feel like we can go all the way,” said Sunley-Paisley. “It’s an awesome way to go out. The only thing better than this would be to win nationals.”

(Source: U Ottawa Athletics)

West Player of the Year: ...................................................... Jessica Clémençon (Windsor) West Rookie of the Year: .....................................................................Shelby Kurt (Laurier) West Defensive Player of the Year: ....................................Miah-Marie Langlois (Windsor) West Joy Bellinger Award: ........................................................Lindsay Druery (Lakehead) West Coach of the Year: ............................................................... Chantal Vallee (Windsor) East Player of the Year: .................................................... Hannah Sunley-Paisley (Ottawa) East Rookie of the Year: ....................................................................... Kellie Ring (Ottawa) East Defensive Player of the Year: .................................................. Bess Lennox (Ottawa) East Joy Bellinger Award: ................................................................ Bess Lennox (Ottawa) East Coach of the Year: .....................................................................Andy Sparks (Ottawa)

Photo Source: Richard Whittaker

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CROSS COUNTRY

Once again it was the Guelph Gryphon men and women’s teams who dominated at the 2011 OUA Championships, presented

by Suunto. The Gryphons swept the team titles for the seventh consecutive year on October 29th in Ottawa.

Guelph head coach Dave Scott Thomas was very pleased with the result after a hard fought race by both his men’s and women’s teams. “We knew we were coming in with strong teams, and we wanted to use this step for the national championships in two weeks. We know the competition there will be deeper and tougher. So today we went in with strategies to try and set up that competition and go for some national titles,” said Thomas.

“But credit to the other schools that came out hard today. I mean the Lancers (men’s team) came at us very hard and forced us to be at our best, they ran a fantastic race,” he added.

On the men’s side, Guelph claimed four of the top six spots with Andrew Nixon (Thunder Bay, Ont.) of Guelph winning the gold medal and the OUA MVP title with a time of 30:51.8. “I was hungry for it and I’m happy that I was able to win today,” said Nixon.

When asked about leading his team to a seventh consecutive title, the third-year runner was all smiles and said: “It’s indescribable, and continuing this tradition is what we came here to do and we’re still making a name for ourselves.”

Finishing just two seconds behind Nixon, was Guelph teammate and 2010 OUA Rookie of the Year Ross Proudfoot (Sudbury, Ont.) who bettered last year’s fourth place finish with a time of 30:53.9. In third place was Windsor’s Matt Walters (North Bay, Ont.) with a time of 30:57.1. Finishing fourth was last year’s champion from Guelph Alex Genest (Lac Aux Sables, Que.), and rounding out the top six were Windsor’s Anthony Berkis (Oshawa, Ont.) in fifth, and Guelph’s Aaron Hendrikx (Parkhill, Ont.) in sixth.

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Hendrikx’s performance was enough to earn him OUA Rookie of the Year honours in being the first rookie, under 21 years of age and in his first year of eligibility, to cross the finish line with a time of 31:15.0.

The Gryphons earned 20 points for the OUA team title, their eleventh since 1999, while Windsor finished in second with 40 points, and Queen’s in third with 103 points.

On the women’s side, the Gryphon’s may have claimed the overall team championship banner but it was Toronto’s Tamara Jewett (Toronto, Ont.) who captured the women’s individual OUA title and MVP with a time of 17:33.5. “It feels wonderful, I’m very happy!” said Jewett following the race. “The course was good, I really liked it, and it was such a beautiful day,” she added.

Jewett was followed by Guelph’s Genevieve Lalonde (Moncton, N.B.) in second with a time of 17:46.1, and in third was Andrea Secaffian (Guelph, Ont.), also from Guelph, at a time of 17:49.7. Rounding out the top six were McMaster’s Victoria Coates (Newmarket, Ont.) who came fourth, while Carise Thompson (Lynden, Ont.) of Guelph and Jen Bays (Whitby, Ont.) of Western finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Guelph earned 25 points for the OUA team title, one more than last year’s championship team. This marks Guelph’s eighth consecutive women’s title. Coming closest to the Gryphons was McMaster who claimed silver for the second straight year with 57 points, while Western was third with 88 points.

The top seven runners in the men and women’s race earn OUA first team all-star recognition. Second team all-stars are finishers eight through 14. Joanna Brown (Carp, Ont.) of Guelph was named Rookie of the Year after being the first rookie (21 years and under) to cross the finish line in 15th place with a time of 18:32.9.

(Photos and Aritcle by UOttawa Athletics)

Men’s Most Valuable Player: ...........................................................Andrew Nixon (Guelph) Men’s Rookie of the Year:............................................................. Aaron Hendrikx (Guelph) Men’s Coach of the Year: ........................................................Dave Scott-Thomas (Guelph) Men’s Community Service Award: ............................................ Cory McCurry (McMaster) Women’s Most Valuable Player: .................................................... Tamara Jewett (Toronto) Women’s Rookie of the Year: ......................................................... Joanna Brown (Guelph) Women’s Coach of the Year: ..................................................Dave Scott-Thomas (Guelph) Women’s Community Service Award: ................................................Kathryn Pistor (York)

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CURLING The Laurier Golden Hawks women’s curling team earned their second straight Ontario University Athletics Curling Championship title, and the Waterloo Warriors took men’s curling gold for the first time since 04-05 on February 20th at the Guelph Curling Club.

The Laurier squad, consisting of skip Laura Crocker (Scarborough, Ont.), vice Sarah Wilkes (Scarborough, Ont.), second Jenny Gates (Sudbury, Ont.), lead Pamela Feldkamp (Burlington, Ont.), and alternates Cheryl Kreviazuk (Ottawa, Ont.) and Kerrilyn Mathers (Kitchener, Ont.), avenged an early round loss to the Western Mustangs.

Crocker and company downed Western by an 8-4 score in the final.

In the contest, Western, led by skip Caitlin Romain (Iroquois Falls, Ont.), were able to steal one from the veteran Laurier team in the first end. The Golden Hawks responded immediately as Crocker made a draw for three in the second to take a lead. Western responded by putting up two in the third, before stealing one in the fourth to take 4-3 lead into the fourth end break.

Coming out of the break, Laurier evened the score with a single in the fifth end before stealing two each in the sixth and seventh to take home the victory.

Laurier advanced to the final after narrowly knocking off eventual bronze-medalists Guelph, 4-3. Western earned their spot in the final by slipping past the Brock Badgers, 5-4.

On the men’s side, thanks to an early morning tie breaker, the Waterloo Warriors won three games on the tournament’s final day to take home the seventh OUA Curling Championship banner in school history.

In the finals, Waterloo skip Jake Walker (Minden, Ont.), guided his troops past the Carleton Ravens by a score of 3-2. The contest was tight throughout and scoring was scarce. Waterloo was forced to take a single point in the first end, but stole a single in the third to jump out to a 2-0 lead.

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Over the next two ends, each team was forced into single points. Facing three Waterloo stones in the seventh end, Carleton skip Chris Lewis (Ottawa, Ont.) drew to the single point to leave Waterloo with a 3-2 lead with the hammer in the final end.

Despite Carleton’s best efforts, the Warriors applied pressure, didn’t allow the steal, and took home the gold medal.

The Warriors, skipped by Walker with vice Ed Cyr (Minden, Ont.), second Geoff Chambers (Innerkip, Ont.), lead James Freeman (Brantford, Ont.) and alternate Nathan Ransom (Sioux Lookout, Ont.), had a rocky path to the gold. Thanks to a four-way tie in pool play, the team had to beat Laurentian in a tie break to earn their semifinal spot. In the semi, it took an extra end for the Warriors to knock off the Toronto Varsity Blues.

Carleton earned their spot in the finals by knocking off Western 5-2 in the other semifinal.

The Varsity Blues, lead by skip Evan Lilly (Sudbury, Ont.) took the men’s bronze by beating Western 6-5.

(Source: Trent Athletics)

Men’s Coach of the Year: ................................................................... Scott Allen (Waterloo) Women’s Coach of the Year: ..................................................... Murray Etherington (Brock)

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FENCING

Men The Queen’s Gaels and Toronto Varsity Blues finished the men’s OUA Fencing Championships in a tie for first place and after a tiebreak with one competitor from each team competing in each weapon, the Gaels were victorious.

The final best of three scenario started with the Foil competition that was won by the Varsity Blues 5-0, next in the Epee event Queen’s forced a final match with a 5-4 win. The final decision on the overall champion came down to a first to five between the Gaels Francois Beaucage-Gauvreau and the Varsity Blues Gordon Geringas where Beaucage-Gauvreau defeated Geringas 5-2 securing the Championship for Queen’s.

The team Foil went to the Toronto team followed by Carleton and Queen’s. The team Epee was won by Ottawa with Queen’s and Ryerson also placing while the team Sabre went to Toronto with Western and McMaster closing out second and third respectively.

In the individual Epee, Ottawa Gee-Gee Marc-Andre Leblanc finished first followed by Queen’s Gael Karl Gardner and Ryerson Ram Arseni Tikhomirov. The individual Foil event saw Varsity Blues Kyle Chan and Tomasz Blazejewski finish first and second respectively. Alecs Tudors of the Carleton Ravens rounded out the top three. The Queen’s Gaels Francois Beaucage-Gauvreau successfully defended his individual Sabre title from a year ago with the top three being filled out by the Varsity Blues Gordon Geringas and RMC Paladins Steven Morris.

OUA All-Stars were John Wright from the Gee-Gees in the Epee, Dean Loubert from the Gaels, Mohammed Alshayeb from the Marauders and Alexandre Salat from Carleton in the Foil and Mike Ivankovic from the Ravens in the Sabre. The George Tully Trophy for sportsmanship was awarded to Beaucage-Gauvreau from the Gaels.

(Source: Brock Athletics)

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Women The Carleton University women’s fencing team took home the Kay Aoyama Trophy as they captured their third Ontario University Athletics Championship title in school history February 19th at Brock University.

The Ravens medaled in each of the team events including silver in Women’s Epee and bronze in both Foil and Sabre.

Winning gold in each of the three team events were the University of Ottawa (Foil), Ryerson University (Epee) and the University of Toronto (Sabre).

Leading Carleton in the individual events was Catriona Sibert who captured gold in the Women’s Foil event taking home the Maitre Ken Wood Trophy.

Ryerson’s Joanna Kolbe won gold in Women’s Epee taking home the Dr. Al English Trophy. York’s Kayla Lambie received the Fred Wach Trophy for her gold medal performance in Women’s Sabre.

Other major award winners included University of Toronto’s Kristina Han who received the Dave O’Donnell Sportsmanship Trophy. The Christian Vidosa Trophy for Coach of the Year went to Royal Military College coach Patricia Howes.

(Source: Jessica Barrett, oua.ca)

Photo Source: Michael P Hall

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FIELD HOCKEY

The Guelph Gryphons field hockey team were represented again at the CIS national championship tournament, but not as OUA champions, as they dropped a tough match October 30th to rivals, the Toronto Varsity Blues 6-0.

The Waterloo Warriors edged out the Western Mustangs 2-1, in the bronze medal game.

The Gryphons walked onto the pitch hungry for another OUA title, but were faced with a challenge they couldn’t overcome.

The Gryphons fought a tough battle with the Varsity Blues, but had a difficult time keeping possession and attacking their opponent’s goal.

“We came off a tough game yesterday against Waterloo and I think the nerves were there,” said University of Guelph head field hockey coach Michelle Turley. “It was anybody’s game today and Toronto came out flying and we didn’t carry out our game plan. The one fortunate thing is that we won a silver medal and there is a silver lining in that.”

The first goal came at the 26-minute mark when Alex Thick (North Vancouver, BC) scooped the ball over Guelph goalkeep, Kaye McLagan (Mitchell, Ont.) and into the net. Thick would earn her second after capitalizing on a corner opportunity to advance Toronto’s lead to 2-0 at half time.

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The Gryphons had their fair share of goal scoring chances in the second half, but weren’t able to take advantage of their corner opportunities or break away situations. The Blues proved once again how dangerous their squad is when executing short corners, and used these opportunities to their advantage throughout the entire match.

The Varsity Blues goalkeep, Kathryn Williams (Burlington, ON) was flawless, and earned the shutout for Toronto.

The Varsity Blues scored four additional unanswered goals in the second half and would claim the OUA championship title for the 2011 season.

(Source: Gryphons Athletics)

Player of the Year: ......................................................................... Brittany Seidler (Guelph) Rookie of the Year:..................................................................Amanda Woodcroft (Toronto) Gail Wilson Award: ............................................................................. Rachel Berta (McGill) Coach of the Year: ..........................................................................John DeSouza (Toronto)

Photo Source: Jamie MacDonald

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FIGURE SKATING

Photo Source: Nathan Luo

The Western Mustangs skated their way to their second OUA figure skating championship in a row on Friday evening. After leading by a narrow three-point margin on day one, the Mustangs pulled ahead to defeat the silver medal-winning Queen’s Gaels by twenty points. The Toronto Varsity Blues rounded out the podium with 65 points, and a respectable third place finish.

Diane Szmiett (Watford, Ont.) rounded out day one action in the short ahead of Brock’s Aly Martin and Ryerson’s Christina Pulla (Whitby, Ont.). Her exceptional skate was indicative of the Mustangs’ performance for the final day of competition.

In the gold freeskate, Ryerson’s Lisa Makeeva (Barrie, Ont.) took gold, followed by first-year Gael Elizabeth Liao (Hamilton, Ont.). First-year Mustang and Liao’s twin Christine earned the bronze medal.

Former Canadian Champion and Olympic competitor (in ice dance) Paul Poirier (Unionville, Ont.) won the men’s open freeskate event for Toronto, followed by McMaster’s Eric Ritter and Guelph’s Francis Adamo (Guelph, Ont.).

In the dance category, Emily Young won the open solo dance for Queen’s, while Amanda Tully (Barrie, Ont.) and Avery Leigh Farr (Bradford, Ont.) placed second and third for Toronto and Western, respectively. Western’s Catherine McLean (London, Ont.) gained another gold medal on day two for the senior silver solo dance, ahead of second-year Ram Katherine Billinsky (Etobicoke, Ont.) and Carleton’s Kristen Wright.

Mustangs pair Stephanie Buono (London, Ont.) and Alisha Giel (Toronto) also took gold in the gold creative dance, ahead of a three-way-tie for second place between Ryerson, Guelph, and Queen’s universities. Lauren Malott (Waterdown, Ont.) and Carly Smith (Whitby, Ont.) also came out on top of the senior silver similar dance field, followed by Waterloo’s Sarah Mitchell (Toronto) and Mallorie Webb (Bracebridge, Ont.). Guelph’s Sarah Sheperd (London, Ont.) and Holly Linde (Hepworth, Ont.) snatched the final spot on the podium.

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Rounding out the two-day event was synchro, the category that features all schools’ athletes in pre-choreographed programs that emphasize edge quality, unison, teamwork, handholds, and various pinwheel formations. The Guelph Gryphons took the title, followed by Western in second and Toronto in third.

Despite missing the synchro top spot, the Mustangs’ three other gold medals of the day secured the win, and allowed the thirteen-time champions to defend their OUA figure skating title.

(Source: Western Athletics)

Gold Ladies Singles:......................................................................... Lisa Makeeva (Ryerson) Short Program: .................................................................................Diane Szmeitt (Western) Open Men:............................................................................................. Paul Poirier (Toronto) Coach of the Year: .................................................................................. Alma Moir (Western)

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FOOTBALL McMaster quarterback Kyle Quinlan threw four touchdown passes to lift the Marauders to a 41-19 victory over the Western Mustangs in the 104th Yates Cup at TD Waterhouse Stadium.

Quinlan, from South Woodslee, Ont., captured the Dalt White Trophy as the game MVP, posting completing 16 of 24 passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns. He was also a driving force in the McMaster ground game, amassing 103 yards on 10 carries.

McMaster posted just eight yards of net offence in the first quarter, but regrouped from its lackluster start with a run of 34 unanswered points to claim its first OUA football title since 2003. The win also marked the first time that McMaster has won a Yates Cup on the road.

Marauder receiver and 2011 OUA MVP Michael DiCroce, of Hamilton, Ont., led McMaster receivers with 128 yards on four receptions and a pair of touchdowns, including a 102yard receiving major. Chris Pezzetta, of Burlington, Ont., topped McMaster rushers with 145 yards on 19 carries, including one touchdown.

In the losing effort, Western’s Tyler Varga, of Kitchener, Ont., the winner of the 2011 Norm Marshall Trophy as the OUA rookie of the year, gained 154 yards on 30 carries. Quarterback Donnie Marshall, of London, Ont., threw for 187 yards, connecting on 14 of 27 attempts and a single touchdown.

Linebacker Aram Eisho, of Hamilton, Ont. led the Marauders defenders with 9.5 tackles, including two tackles for a loss.

“I am awestruck at how well our defence played— they exceeded every expectation we had

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of them this game,” said a jubilant McMaster head coach, Stefan Ptaszek, celebrating his first Yates Cup banner as a head coach.

The first quarter saw Western failing to capitalize on numerous opportunities and a sluggish McMaster start. Mustang place kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, of St. Catharines, Ont., missed two field goal attempts in the first quarter, his initial try being the victim of a bad hold, and the second being partly blocked by the McMaster line and rattling through the end zone for a single point. McMaster, which posted just single first down in the opening frame, conceded a safety touch rather than punt into the wind from its own end zone, giving Western a 3-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The Marauder offence sputtered to life in the second quarter, capping their first drive of the quarter with a 29-yard field goal by Teddy Peters, of Mississauga, Ont. Pezzetta added a major score on a seven-yard rush to give McMaster a 10-3 advantage McMaster’s defence made a dominating goal line stand with three minutes remaining in the quarter, stopping the Mustangs on three straight plays from within their three yard line and forcing a turnover. In the dying seconds of the half, Western had again driven the ball to the McMaster 16 yard line, but a 40-yard interception by McMaster defensive back Joey Cupido, of Hamilton, Ont., again kept the Mustangs off the score sheet.

The Marauder offence dominated the second half, widening its lead with DiCroce’s 102-yard major and a 15-yard Peters field goal in the third frame.

M c M a s t e r opened up a 34-3 lead the opening minutes of the final quarter with Quinlan finding, in succession, Robert Babic, of Oakville, Ont., and Bradley Fochesato, of Windsor, Ont., for a pair of touchdowns.

Largely unheard of since the first quarter, Western’s offence finally found the end zone at the 7:22 mark of the final frame, capping an eight-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard rushing score from Varga.

Quinlan and DiCroce connected for one final McMaster major in the final minutes of the game, followed by Donnie Marshall connecting with Zach Bull, of Port Colborne, Ont., for a seven-yard touchdown at the 13:39 mark.

(Source: Ian Speers for oua.ca)

Most Valuable Player: ................................................................ Michael DiCroce (McMaster) J.P. Metras Trophy (Lineman of the Year): ...................................... Osie Ukwuoma (Queen’s) President’s Trophy (Outstanding Stand-up Defensive Player): ............ Ryan Chmielewski (McMaster) Norm Marshall Trophy (Rookie of the Year): ..........................................................Tyler Varga Russ Jackson Award Nominee: ..............................................................Dillon Heap (Laurier) Dalt White Trophy (Yates Cup MVP): ................................................Kyle Quinlan (McMaster) Dave Knight Award (Coach of the year): .............................................Joe D’Amore (Windsor) Photo Source: Michael P Hall

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GOLF The Waterloo Warriors took home both the men’s and women’s OUA golf Championships in Kingston, Ontario. Both men and women battled through high winds and tough conditions on the final day of action on October 18th.

The Waterloo men’s team entered day two at Cataraqui Golf and Country Club trailing first place Queen’s by five strokes. The team was led by strong play from individual leader Garret Rank (Emira, Ont.) who finished the tournament at two-over and shot an impressive 68 in the final day.

On the team leaderboard, Waterloo came home with the Championship with a combined team score of 594, followed by the Queen’s Gaels at 600 and Western Mustangs at 601.

On the individual circuit, Rank topped all golfers finishing two-over for the tournament and taking home the gold medal for the second year in a row.

Guelph’s Chris Hemmerich (Kitchener, Ont.) finished four-over and took home the silver, while the Gaels’ Russell Bowie (Mississauga, Ont.) who shot six-over brought home bronze thanks to his 73 second round score.

Finishing out the first team allstars were Western’s Charles Fitzsimmons (North York, Ont.) who shot a six-over and Jordan Oudyk (Oshawa, Ont.) who finished eight-over.

Waterloo’s Simon McInnis (Toronto), McMaster’s Greg Gabel (Ancaster, Ont.), Ottawa’s John Henry MacDonald (Cherry Valley, Ont.), Harris Bundy (Toronto) of the Western Mustangs, Laurier’s Brett Murray (Newmarket, Ont.) and Queen’s Matt Courchene (Carleton Place, Ont.) were named OUA second-team all-stars for their top-ten finishes.

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On the women’s side, no amount of wind or overcast skies could throw the Waterloo Warriors off their game. With a total combined score of 486, the Warriors were victorious.

Finishing in second place was the Western Mustangs team, who were 18 strokes behind the Warriors at 504, while the Guelph Gryphons faired one stroke more in third place, scoring 505.

The Windsor Lancers’ Meaghan Pototschnik (Stratford, Ont.) posted an impressive 77 in the final round and took home the individual gold for the tournament. Potoschnick’s two-day scores were 82 and 77, putting her 15-over, two shots lower than round one leader from Guelph Christine Fraser (Kingston, Ont.).

Rounding out the top three and tied for second place were Fraser and Waterloo Warrior, Jane Tang (Toronto) at 17-over.

The Varsity Blues’ Laura Upenieks (Toronto) and Warriors’ Mandy Wong (Calgary, Alta.) rounded out the first-team all-stars.

Brock’s Kristine Littlefield (Brampton, Ont.), Waterloo’s Devon Rizzo (Stratford, Ont.) and Western’s Jessie Mercer (Plainfield, Ont.) were named OUA second-team all-stars for being top-eight finishers.

Men’s golf Coach of the Year honours were given to Dave Hollinger and his leadership with the Waterloo Warriors men’s golf team. Chris Dickson was named women’s golf Coach of the Year for his efforts with the Western Mustangs.

(Source: Queens Athletics)

Men’s Individual Champion: .............................................................Garrett Rank (Waterloo) Women’s Individual Champion: .......................................... Meaghan Pototschnik (Windsor)

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LACROSSE The Western Mustangs won the OUA Women’s Lacrosse title in Guelph after defeating the Guelph Gryphons 12-6. The Mustangs finished their season undefeated and captured the gold.

The game started out in Guelph’s favour after Amy Johnson (Ajax, Ont.) grabbed the first goal of the match four minutes into the first, off of a free position. Western responded only a minute later with an unassisted goal from midfielder Tenyka Snider (Caledon, Ont.). Guelph regained their lead after their second goal from Alyssa Nevills (Orangeville, Ont.). The Gryphons soon added another to the scoreboard when Stacey Pogue (Peterborough, Ont.) broke away from Western defense and got around Mustang goalie Cait Mancuso (Pelham, Ont.).

It looked like a strong start for the Gryphons, until Western’s Nicole Pullen (Westside, Ont.) scored a pair of goals to tie up the game. This set of events seemed to shake the Gryphons confidence and the Mustangs were able to build a lead for the rest of the first half. The Mustangs exited the first ahead 6-3.

The Gryphons struggled to cut off the Mustang’s strong attacks throughout the second half. Western took off with a pair of goals from midfielder Emmi Morris (Brampton, Ont.), and another from Snider. The Gryphons tried to close the gap with two goals from Dana Skyvington (Mississauga, Ont.) but the Mustangs kept breaking through Guelph the defence and adding more to the board.

In the very last seconds of the game, the Gryphons forced one final attack and succeeded with a goal from Skyvington, ending on a high note, but finishing the game 12-6. The Mustangs hard work and endurance paid off and they took home the gold. The Gryphons captured silver for one of their best finishes in recent program history.

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Top scorers for Western were Tenyka Snider with four goals and one assist and Nicole Pullen with four goals and two assists.

Mustang Lauren Crape (Calgary, Alta.) was awarded OUA Defensive MVP and was named an OUA All-Star. Cait Mancuso, the Mustangs goal-keep, was named an OUA All-Star goaltender.

Dana Skyvington led the Gryphons with three goals and won OUA Offensive MVP and was named an OUA Attack All-Star.

Gryphon Coach Steph Green was awarded with OUA Coach of the Year.

(Source: Guelph Gryphons Sport Info)

Most Valuable Player (Offensive): ..................................................Dana Skyvington (Guelph) Most Valuable Player (Defensive): .................................................... Lauren Crape (Western) Coach of the Year: ................................................................................Steph Green (Guelph)

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HOCKEY Men

Francis Verreault-Paul scored once and added two helpers as No.2-ranked McGill skated to a 4-1 victory over No.3 Western Mustangs to capture the 101st edition of the Queen’s Cup, emblematic of the OUA men’s hockey championship before 1,751 at Thompson Arena on March 10th.

It was McGill’s third consecutive Queen’s Cup title in as many years and the fourth in five seasons after a 62-year drought when they claimed the Cup in 1946. The Redmen have now won the trophy 17 times since it was first presented in 1903. Only Toronto has won more league titles with 41.

It was a dominant performance by the Redmen, who had a 37-26 advantage in shots, including a 17-8 margin in the opening period.

McGill led 2-0 after one period on goals by Andrew Wright of Toronto and Benoit Levesque of Vaudreuil, Que. Eighteen seconds into the second period, it looked as if McGill would extend their lead to three when Verrault-Paul took off on a breakaway. Fortunately for the trailing Mustangs, Josh Unice (Holland, Ohio) robbed the feisty forward with an incredible glove save, and kept the game at two goals. The Mustangs showed some signs of life when defenceman Dominic Desando of London, tallied at 2:04 but the wind was sucked violently out of their sails when Mustangs defenceman Geoff Killing coralled a high shot from Verreault-Paul and accidently batted the puck into his own net for a 3-1 McGill lead.

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Verreault-Paul, a senior from Mashteuiatsh, Que., who led the league in goals for the third consecutive season, was named as the Harrow Sports Canada player of the game which comes with the Jack Kennedy Trophy. He was credited with the goal, assisted on the game-winner and then drove the final nail in the coffin, setting up a third-period marker by Christophe LongprePoirier of Longueuil, Que., at 8:57.

Hubert Morin, an engineering senior from St. Georges de Beauce, Que., gave a solid performance between the pipes for McGill. The second-team all-star kicked aside 25 of 26 shots, improving his post-season record to 7-0 this year and 23-5 lifetime.

Josh Unice, a first-team all-star, was beaten four times on 37 shots and took the loss.

Both McGill and Western had already qualified for the CIS championship tourney in Fredericton, March 22-25, but the Redmen are expected to go in as the No.2 seed, as the OUA champion, giving them a preferential draw.

“It’s great to win that trophy,” said Kelly Nobes, Head Coach of the Redmen. “It’s over a hundred years old so it’s got a lot of tradition to it. But more importantly, for us is peaking at the right time and building momentum leading up to Fredericton. There are still some things that we can do better but we’ll talk about that later. We’ll enjoy this victory for now.”

(Source: Jessica Barrett, oua.ca)

West Most Valuable Player: ....................................................... Keaton Turkiewicz (Western) West Rookie of the Year: ................................................................. Zach Harnden (Western) West Defenceman of the Year: .........................................................Scott Aarssen (Western) West Most Sportsmanlike: ......................................................................Chris Ray (Waterloo) West Randy Gregg Award (Outstanding Student-Athlete): ......................... Kirt Hill (Waterloo) West Coach of the Year: ....................................................................Clarke Singer (Western) East Most Valuable Player: .......................................................... Marc-Andre Dorion (McGill) East Rookie of the Year: ....................................................................Corey Bureau (Queen’s) East Defenceman of the Year: ..................................................... Marc-Andre Dorion (McGill) East Most Sportsmanlike: ............................................................... Matthieu Methot (Ottawa) East Randy Gregg Award (Outstanding Student-Athlete): .....................Jon Lawrance (Queen’s) East Coach of the Year:....................................................................... Darren Lowe (Toronto) Bill L’Heureux Trophy (Outstanding Player in League Play): ................Keaton Turkiewicz (Western) Jack Kennedy Trophy (Outstanding Player in Championship): ............. Francis Verrault-Paul (McGill)

Photo Source: Michael P Hall

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HOCKEY Women For the eighth time in nine season, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women’s hockey team became OUA Champions after they defeated the Western Mustangs 5-1 on March 3rd to sweep the best-of-three championship series 2-0.

The Golden Hawks, the top-ranked team in the country, used a three goal first period, including two goals in a 19 second stretch before the game was five minutes old, to propel them to the victory.

“It feels amazing to win this championship with this team,” said fourth-year team captain Abby Rainsberry following the on-ice celebrations. “We’ve been through so much this year, we’ve overcome so much adversity, that I think we’ve really earned it.”

As was the case all post-season, Laurier came flying out of the gates, dominating the Mustangs from the opening puck drop.

The Hawks would be rewarded just over four minutes in when Laura Brooker of Fergus, Ont., jumped on a loose puck and beat Western netminder Olivia Ross of Huntsville, Ont., for her second goal of the playoffs.

Just 19 seconds later, off another scramble in front of Ross, Tammy Freiburger of Wingham, Ont., put a backhand shot past Ross to give the purple and gold a quick 2-0 lead.

Laurier would keep the pressure on throughout the frame and before the period was out, rookie forward Danelle Im of Toronto, finished off a great feed from fellow rookie Jessie Hurrell of Palgrave, Ont., to stake the Hawks to a 3-0 advantage. Laurier outshot Western 19-7 in the opening 20 minutes.

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“The first period is the one you always have to have to get things going,” said Freiburger, whose goal would stand up as the championship-winning tally. “The back-to-back goals were the key to the game.”

The second period was much of the same for the Hawks but Ross stood strong, holding her team in the game as she turned aside 18 shots in the period to keep the game at 3-0 heading into the final period.

Western would reward their goaltender just two minutes into the third period when Stacey Scott of London, Ont., found the back of the net past Laurier’s Rachel Hamilton of Wasaga Beach, Ont., to give the Mustangs some life, trailing just 3-1.

However, the Golden Hawks were not to be denied the title on this night as a pair of power play goals from Hurrell and Paula Lagamba of Toronto, put the game out of reach and Laurier cruised to their 10th OUA Championship in team history.

“It feels extra special this year, there’s no question, after being upset last year in the semifinals,” said head coach Rick Osborne after the game. “I was just so proud of our whole team, especially our leaders Rainsberry, [Alicia] Martin, [Katherine] Shirriff and [Fiona] Lester. They were all here last year, so they really led the way. Their character and their stick-to-itiveness all year, they’ve been pillars of strength.”

Hamilton, who got the start in the deciding game in place of number one goaltender Erika Thunder of Buffalo Point, Man., who was out with a knee injury, finished with 21 saves to pick up her first win against OUA competition since a 5-4 over Western on January 7.

Western’s Ross stopped 44 shots for the Mustangs in the defeat.

Three Golden Hawks recorded multiple point games in the victory including Freiburger, who finishes tied with Brooker for the team lead with seven points during the championship run, as well as Hurrell and Lagamba.

(Source: Laurier Athletics)

Most Valuable Player: .................................................................. Morgan McHaffie (Queen’s) Rookie of the Year: ..................................................................Rebecca Bouwhuis (Waterloo) Top Scorer: .................................................................................. Morgan McHaffie (Queen’s) Coach of the Year: ..........................................................................Shaun Reagan (Waterloo)

Photo Source: Trevor Mahoney

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NORDIC SKIING

Cool and windy temperatures set the scene for 99 skiers to compete on the first of the two-day 2012 OUA Nordic Ski Championships, hosted at Laurentian University. Competing in the on the trails were eight teams from across the province from Carleton, Guelph, Lakehead, Laurentian, Nipissing, Queen’s, Toronto and Waterloo.

Harry Seaton took home gold for Lakehead University in the 10km Classic with a 25:27.1 finish and fastest lap of the day at 12:32.0. Finishing 34.6 seconds back, Peter Beisel from Carleton University received the silver medal with a 26:01.7 race time.

The bronze medal went to Carleton University’s Leeland Hawkings with a 26:02.7 race time, 35.6 seconds behind the leader.

Lakehead’s Andrea Lee would complete the Women’s 5km Classical in a time of 14:51.0, 0.3 seconds ahead of fellow teammate, Alannah MacLean, who captured silver with a final time of 14:51.3. Rounding out the the top three was Carleton University’s Kendra Murray, capturing bronze with a time of 15:22.0.

At the Men’s Freestyle Relay, Lakehead A used the last lap to pull away from both Carleton teams to claim the gold. Carleton A was second and Carleton B was third. On the Women’s side the results were a carbon copy, with a little more drama at the finish. Lakehead’s Daphne Haggarty and Carleton’s Anna Crawford were neck and neck coming to the line before Haggarty slid her boot ahead, winning the relay for Lakehead by 0.2 seconds. Carleton B rounded out the top three.

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On the second day, Harry Seaton took home gold for Lakehead University in the 15km freestyle with a 39:21.4, his second of the Championships.

Finishing 6.1 seconds back, Leeland Hawkings from Carleton University received the silver medal with a 39:27.5 race time. The bronze medal went to Carleton University’s Peter Beisel with a 39:29.1 race time, 7.7 seconds behind the leader.

Lakehead’s Andrea Lee would complete the women’s individual sweep with a time of 31:19.0 in the 10km freestyle, 13.5 seconds ahead of fellow teammate, Alannah MacLean, who captured silver with a final time of 31:32.5. Rounding out the the top three was Carleton University’s Kendra Murray, capturing bronze with a time of 31:39.1.

The Men’s Overall Champion was Harry Seaton of Lakehead who had a combined time of 1:04:48.4, 41.1 seconds ahead of the next closest racer. The Women’s Overall Champion was also a double gold medal winner; Andrea Lee of Lakehead. Lee had a combined time of 46:10.0, 13.5 seconds faster than her teammate, Alannah MacLean.

As a team, Lakehead won both the men’s and women’s banners, each team scoring 42 points.

Carleton was second on both sides as the women scored 56 points and the men had 45. Rounding out the top 3 was Guelph on the women’s side with 150 points and Toronto on the men’s side with 96 points.

(Source: Lakehead Athletics)

Coach of the Year: .........................................................................................................Alison Godwin

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Photo Source: Western University

ROWING On October 29th at the 2011 OUA Rowing Championships hosted by Brock University at the St. Catharines Henley Island, the Western Mustangs swept both the men’s and women’s team titles.

In the history of OUA rowing, it was the Western men’s 25th conference title and the women’s 21st.

The Western men put together one of top finishes in the history of the OUA Rowing Championships, winning gold in seven of the eight races, which included the men’s LWT 1x, HWT 1x, LWT 4+, LWT 8, HWT 4+, HWT 8 and LWT 2x.

Capturing gold in the HWT 2x was the host Badgers. Brock finished second to Western in six of the seven races.

On the women’s side, the Mustangs captured three gold including the heavyweight 4+ and 8 and the lightweight 4.

Winning gold in the other five events were Queen’s (LWT 8 and LWT 1x), Brock (HWT 2x), Ottawa (LWT 2x) and Laurentian (HWT 1x).

Rounding out the top three placings on the men’s side were Brock and Queen’s. Queen’s and Brock finish second and third overall in the women’s overall team standings.

(Source: Brock Athletics)

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RUGBY Men Coming off a championship loss last year, and having not taken home the Turner Trophy since 2004, the University of Western Ontario Mustangs were finally crowned OUA men’s rugby champions on November 13th as they downed the rival Queen’s Gaels 21-15 at TD Waterhouse Stadium.

Andrew Crow (Victoria, B.C.), Lukas Belkovec (Shawnigan Lake, B.C.) and Garen Keleshian (Uxbridge, Ont.) had tries for the Mustangs, while Mike Turnbull (Oakville, Ont.) scored twice on penalty kicks to help lead Western to the win on what was a chilly, windy Sunday afternoon.

“We came out confident, made sure there were no nerves and played our game today,” said Mike Penczak (Brantford, Ont.), who was named the match MVP. “It got a little heated [during the game], but we settled down and played our game.”

Western got off to a quick start in the championship contest, as Keleshian put the Mustangs on the board first with the game’s opening try, a beautiful run that brought the crowd to its feet.

The Mustangs were in penalty trouble early and often in the first half, which allowed Queen’s to move up the field. The Gaels closed the gap on the scoreboard when Western took a penalty 15 meters out from the try line and the Gaels’ Liam Underwood knocked the ball through the posts to make the score 5-3.

Western kept the pressure on after Queen’s got on the board, and the match got heated quickly with lots of pushing and shoving after the whistle. Crow, a workhorse all season long for Western, drove through the Queen’s defensive line and into the try zone for the Mustangs’ second score of the game.

A huge open field hit by Western’s Rory Tomlinson (Allison, Ont.) earned a huge roar from the Mustangs’ supporters in the stands, as the game’s intensity continued in front of the season’s largest crowd.

Trailing 13-3, Queen’s finally got their first try of the game in the second half, after a long goal line stand by Western resulted in Queen’s swinging the ball out wide and Scott Kyle (Singapore) going in untouched to make the deficit 13-8. After that try, however, Western increased the pressure and showed why they were an undefeated team in 2011. Turnbull and Penczak both had very strong games for the Mustangs, moving the ball with efficiency and precision.

Western’s third try came from Balkovec, who ran through a half dozen Queen’s players before diving in for the score to give Western an 18-8 lead.

Queen’s came on strong in the final five minutes of the game, and a try from Matthew Wolfe (Toronto) brought the score to within three at 18-15 with less than five minutes to play. But the Mustangs outfought the Gaels down the stretch, pushing up field and tallying another three points on a penalty kick for a 21-15 advantage, which would stand up as the final.

“It feels great to win here [at home] with these guys,” said Penczak of hoisting the Turner Trophy on home turf.

(Source: Western Mustangs)

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Most Valuable Player: ....................................................................... Mike Penczak (Western) Rookie of the Year: .............................................................................Seb Pearson (Western) Trillium Award: ................................................................................... Mike Turnbull (Western) Coach of the Year: ...............................................................................Darrell Divine (Guelph)

Photo Source: Michael P Hall

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RUGBY Women The Guelph Gryphons won their fourth straight OUA Championship over the McMaster Marauders, 36-5 on October 29th in Guelph at Varsity Field. The victory also marks the 12th time the Gryphons have won the OUA title since it was first competed for in 1994.

The Guelph Gryphons came up against their toughest competition this season against a fast Marauder team. McMaster showed great ball retention and speed off the mark, pinning Guelph deep into their own end in the first five minutes of the play.

“I’m really proud of the effort we put forth today and it was great to win our fourth straight title in front of our hometown fans.

Our defence held strong and managed to clear the ball from their end with great composure,” head coach Colette McAuley said following the OUA gold medal win.

The Marauders and Gryphons battled for field position on a cold, dry night that saw several handling errors from each team. The Gryphons had too many powerful runners for the Marauders to contend with though, and OUA MVP Jacey Murphy (Alliston, ON) touched down after a great driving run. OUA All-Star Brittany Benn (Napanee, ON) was able to score another great team try three minutes later. The Marauders fought valiantly though, trying to poach the ball in the rucks and slowing down the Gryphon offence. Guelph was only able to score one more try at 26 minutes in the first half. OUA All-Star Stephanie Tibelius (Ottawa, ON) was able to convert only one try in the first half to make it 17-0.

In the second half, Guelph looked to push the pace even faster against a tiring Marauder defense and prop, Devon Keys (Newmarket, ON) touched down at the 42-minute mark. Hooker, Jane Kirby (Brampton, ON), and rookie, Melanie Michener (Hawkestone, ON), added two more tries in the second half. Tibelius converted two of those three tries for a final tally of 36 for the Gryphons.

McMaster was able to penetrate Guelph’s strong defence off several penalties and OUA All-Star Natasha Turner (Rockcliffe, ON) touched down for the Marauder’s only five points of the game.

(Source: Gryphons Athletics)

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Russell Division Most Valuable Player: ........................................... Karla Telidetzki (Toronto) Russell Division Rookie of the Year: .................................................Cindy Nelles (McMaster) Sheils Division Most Valuable Player: .................................................Jacey Murphy (Guelph) Sheils Division Rookie of the Year: ...................................................Brittany Priddle (Guelph)

Photo Source: Michael P Hall

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SOCCER Men The McMaster Marauders men’s soccer team reclaimed the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championship title November 6th with a 3-1 defeat of the Toronto Varsity Blues.

Toronto and McMaster met in the 2009 OUA gold-medal match when the Marauders defeated the Blues 1-0 in penalty kicks at Toronto’s Varsity Centre. The Blues, who were defending champions coming into the game, also won their title with a 1-0 victory in penalty kicks over the York Lions in 2010.

The Marauders controlled the play throughout the first half and opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a goal from secondyear striker Paterson Farrell (Oakville, Ont.) off a corner kick. Blues midfielder Dylan Bams had a solid chance to even the score just before the half. The Fanny Bay, B.C., native caught Marauders goalkeeper Angelo Cavalluzzo (Hamilton, Ont.) out of the net but defender Robert Scholosser came sprinting in to clear the ball out of harms way. McMaster held a 1-0 lead after the first 45 minutes of action.

The Varsity Blues had trouble penetrating into the Marauders territory early in the second half until the 53rd minute when second-year midfielder Ezequiel Lubocki of Winnipeg sent a shot just over the cross bar from 20 yards out to keep Cavalluzzo

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on his toes. The Marauders extended their lead in the 59th minute as rookie midfielder Brandon Gutierrez of Brampton, Ont., jumped on a rebound off the back post to put McMaster up 2-0.

Blues leading scorer Mario Kovacevic of Woodbridge, Ont., cut the lead to one in the 67th minute, sending a shot from 12 yards out into the bottom right corner of the net off a corner kick opportunity.Kovacevic almost evened the score in the 75th minute.

After Geoffrey Borgmann was taken down, the Blues were awarded a free kick in front of the Marauders net. The second-year striker set the ball through traffic but Cavalluzzo dove to make the last-second stop and maintain the one-goal lead.

Toronto poured on the pressure in the final 10 minutes and despite a few corner kick opportunities, were not able to find the back again.Farrell would add his second of the game in inury time and the final whistle blew in a 3-1 favour of the Marauders.

(Source: Andrea Elliott, oua.ca)

East Most Valuable Player: ............................................................Darragh McGee (Toronto) East Rookie of the Year: ..................................................................... Jamie Baker (Ryerson) East Coach of the Year:....................................................................Sandy Mackie (Carleton) West Most Valuable Player: ..............................................................Robbie Murphy (Guelph) West Rookie of the Year: ....................................................................Gersi Xhuti (McMaster) West Coach of the Year: ....................................................................... Keith Mason (Guelph)

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SOCCER Women The No. 4 Queen’s Gaels prevented the No. 5 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks from repeating as OUA Champions as they defeated the Hawks 5-3 in penalty kicks on November 6th at University Stadium in Waterloo After 120 scoreless Queen’s Melissa Mississauga, Ont., deciding goal in the for the silver medal.

minutes, Jung of scored the shootout, forcing the Hawks to settle

In what was a back and forth game, both teams demonstrated why they are considered two of the top teams in Canada. Queen’s got the game’s opening chance when forward Jackie Tessier of Winnipeg, Man., fired a shot from the top of the box but Laurier keeper Mallory Woeller of Kinburn, Ont., made the save.

Laurier would respond minutes later when midfielder Alyssa Lagonia of Kitchener, Ont., broke in all alone but she was forced into a shot she didnt want to take and it was smothered by Queen’s keeper Chantal Marson of London, Ont.

Photo Source: Michael P Hall

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After a scoreless opening half, it was the Hawks who brought up their intensity to start the second half and they appeared to break the deadlock early on. On a free kick from 25 yards out, Lagonia found the head on Tania Pedron of Maple, Ont., in the box. Her header found the bottom corner of the net but the goal was waived off as Pedron was ruled to be offside.

The score would remain tied at zero after 90 minutes so the teams proceeded to 30 minutes of extra time. Neither Laurier nor Queen’s generated much in the way of scoring opportunities and these two rivals headed to penalty kicks to decide the championship.

After the first shooter for each team scored, Summer Rybicki of Burlington, Ont., gave the Gaels the lead with a goal to the bottom corner of the net. Lagonia then stepped up for the Hawks but her effort was punched away by Marson.

The Hawks and Gaels would trade two goals each following the Lagonia miss giving Jung a chance to win the game. She got Woeller moving the wrong way and slid it into the right side of the net to give Queen’s the victory.

“Queen’s is a very strong team and we knew that coming in it was going to be a fight,” said an emotional Pedron following the game. “It’s unfortunate, the outcome, but we left it all out on the field.”

(Source: Laurier Athletics)

East Most ValuablePlayer: ..................................................................... Riley Filion (Queen’s) East Rookie of the Year: .................................................................. Jessie DeBoer (Queen’s) East Coach of the Year:............................................................. Anthony Capotosto (Toronto) West Most Valuable Player: .............................................................. Alyssa Lagonia (Laurier) West Rookie of the Year: .......................................................................Emily Brown (Laurier) West Coach of the Year: ..................................................................... Randy Ragan (Guelph)

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SQUASH

The Western Mustangs swept the men’s and women’s titles for the second consecutive year at the 2012 OUA squash championships, February 4-5, at the University of Toronto.

After finishing atop their pool with a 2-0 record on Saturday, Western’s men defeated the McMaster Marauders 6-0 in semi-final action before blanking the Queen’s Gaels 6-0 in the gold-medal match. The Mustangs did not lose a single point en route to their 29th straight banner.

Similarly, the Mustangs women went 2-0 on Saturday and met the Marauders in the semifinals, defeating them 6-0. Western went on to top the Waterloo Warriors 5-1 in the championship final to earn their second consecutive and third title in the past four years.

Western’s Ryan Herden and Waterloo’s Micaala Seth were named the championship most valuable players for their first-place finishes in the No. 1 spots for their respective teams.

The McMaster Marauders and host Varsity Blues earned the men’s and women’s bronze medals, respectively. The Marauders men topped Toronto 4-2, while U of T defeated McMaster 6-0 in women’s action.

(Source: Varsity Blues Athletics)

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Men’s Player of the Year: ................................................................... Ryan Herden (Western) Men’s Rookie of the Year: .......................................................... Justin Vanderleest (Western) Men’s Coach of the Year:........................................................................Jack Fairs (Western) Women’s Player of the Year: ..............................................................Micaala Seth (Waterloo) Women’s Rookie of the Year:...............................................................Pooja Chugh (Toronto) Women’s Coach of the Year: ............................................................... Vinit Kudva (Waterloo)

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SWIMMING The OUA Swimming Championships wrapped up February 11th at Laurentian University and the theme of breaking records continued as two more relay and four individual marks were set.

McMaster’s Konrad Bald set the first record of the night in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 28.40 in a preview of a great performance just an hour later. Bald and his McMaster teammates wrapped up the 2012 OUA’s in style as they smashed the 4x100m freestyle relay record by five seconds with a time of 3:19.88 in the last event of the meet.

Sandwiched in between Bald’s record setting races, Guelph’s Alisha Harricharan set the mark in the 100m butterfly at 1:00.32, followed by Toronto’s Mike Smerek in the same discipline at 53.57. Toronto’s Andrea Jurenovskis set the record in the 50m backstroke with a time of 28.44 and the Western women’s relay team bettered their mark in the 4x100 freestyle relay with a time of 3:47.15.

After winning both the 200m and 400m IM, Toronto’s Vanessa Treasure and McMaster’s Cameron Bailey were named the winners of the Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Awards for Individual Medley Excellence. Both athletes were also named female and male Swimmer of the Meet, respectively.

Western currently took the women’s banner with 954.5 points, followed by Toronto with 713.5 and McMaster with 560.5. Toronto topped the men’s side with 816 points, followed by McMaster with 671 and Western with 638.

For the home town Laurentian squad, Brittany Maltais and Emily Jones both reached the podium on the final day of competition. Maltais won the 50m breaststroke in a time of 32.65 and Jones was third in the 50m backstroke, clocking in at 29.60.

(Source: Laurentian Athletics)

Men’s Swimmer of the Meet: ...................................................... Cameron Bailey (McMaster) Men’s Rookie of the Year: ................................................................Graham Hawes (Toronto) Men’s Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Award: ................................................... Cameron Bailey (McMaster) Men’s Award of Distinction: Wesley Greig (Waterloo) Matthew Stephenson (Guelph) Men’s Coach of the Year:............................................................. Byron MacDonald (Toronto)

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Photo Source: Michael P Hall

Women’s Swimmer of the Meet:...................................................Vanessa Treasure (Toronto) Women’s Rookie of the Year:.............................................................. Bridget Coley (Toronto) Women’s Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Award:................................................Vanessa Treasure (Toronto) Women’s Award of Distinction: Heather Maitland (Toronto)

Pamela Ruksys (Toronto)

Heather Martin (Western)

Brittany Maltais (Laurentian) Women’s Coach of the Year:...............................................................Paul Midgley (Western)

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TENNIS The Western University hosted the 2011 OUA Tennis Championship this weekend at the Western Tennis Centre from October 7-9, 2011. Toronto finished on top of the men’s standings, with Western finishing in the silver medal position and York finishing with bronze. On the women’s side, it was Montreal winning gold, York taking silver and Western winning the bronze.

The Blues finished with a combined team score for 12.5 points, only half a point ahead of the second-place and host Western Mustangs. The last time the men’s tennis team won the coveted title was 2008.

Waterloo’s Vincent Chan (Markham, Ont.) took home the gold-medal in the men’s singles competition, after narrowly defeating Toronto’s Stefan Srnic (Belgrade, Serbia) 6-4 and 6-2.

Istanbul native Eren Turkmenler of the Varsity Blues placed first in the number two flight, coming back to defeat Waterloo’s Nachiket Yardi (Mississauga, Ont.) 3-6, 7-6, 6-0.

Chan, Srnic and Turkmenler were named OUA all-stars for their efforts.

Photo Source: Jamie MacDonald

On the women’s side, Montreal’s Kim Polisios won the top women’s title over York’s Valerie Ushanova (Toronto) 6-1 and 6-2. Celine Wauthier placed first in the number two flight after defeating home-side Western’s Victoria Au, 6-1 and 7-6.

Montreal’s Polisios, Wauthier and Ushanova were recognized as OUA all-stars for their performances.

(Source: Mustangs Athletics)

Men’s Coach of the Year:..........................................................................Mike Mitchell (York) Women’s Coach of the Year: ..................................................... David Desrochers (Montreal)

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Photo Source: Michael P Hall

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TRACK AND FIELD The University of Windsor Lancers men’s and women’s track and field teams repeated as champions on February 25th, each finishing atop the team standings at the 2012 OUA Track and Field Championships at the Toronto Track and Field Centre.

The Lancers men’s team finished with 153 points for their 14th straight OUA title, while the women won by 13 points for their third consecutive banner. The host York Lions finished third in the men’s event and sixth in the women’s standings.

In the men’s shot put event, Guelph’s Tim Hendry won the gold medal with a throw of 17.68 metres, well past the previous record of 16.93 metres set two years ago. Finishing just behind Hendry was the Lions’ Umar Khan with a throw of 17.34 metres, a new personal best, while Hendry’s teammate Brent Roubos won bronze with a toss of 16.74 metres.

The Lancers earned all three podium spots in the 60m hurdles. Amilia Di Chiara picked up gold in a time of 8.66 seconds, Kelsi Mayne earned silver at 8.72 seconds and Sarah Swain grabbed bronze in a time of 8.80 seconds.

The Varsity Blues turned the trick in the pentathlon, with Rachel Jewett winning gold, Flo Peters taking silver and Juliana Bergin claiming the bronze.

The third sweep came in the long jump thanks to the Mustangs. Alicia Smith and Caroline Ehrhardt tied for first with a distance of 5.66 metres, but Smith was awarded the gold medal as her second jump was better than Ehrhardt’s. Teammate Morgan Hall picked up the bronze with a distance of 5.57 metres.

The Lions also put two student-athletes on the podium in the women’s shot put. Elizabeth Petrov won the gold medal with a throw of 14.83 metres, which makes her the new No. 1 in the CIS, while Cynthia Appiah won bronze with a throw of 14.15 metres. Finishing between them was Windsor’s Celine Freeman-Gibb with a distance of 14.22 metres.

The men’s 3000m race produced a thrilling finish as Guelph’s Alex Genest and Windsor’s Matt Walters battled to the very end, with Genest winning the gold medal by just .14 on the clock. They both crossed the finish line 10 seconds ahead of bronze medal winner Paul Janikowski, also of Windsor.

Guelph continued its dominance of the middle distance events by winning four out of six medals in the women’s 1000m and

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3000m events. Rachel Aubry and Nadine Frost finished first and third, respectively, in the 1000m, while Andrea Seccafien and Carise Thompson went one-two in the 3000m. The silver medallist in the 1000m was Ottawa’s Jennifer Perrault, while Victoria Coates of McMaster joined the two Guelph athletes on the podium for the 3000m.

In the men’s 300m event, Lions sprinter Dontae Richards-Kwok finished second between two runners from Ottawa, gold medallist Oluwasegun Makine and bronze medallist Michael Robertson.

The second new record came in the women’s 4 x 400m relay, as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues shaved more than five seconds off the old mark set last year by Windsor to claim the gold medal. The Lancers won the silver medal after crossing the finish line more than six seconds back, and the Ottawa Gee-Gees grabbed bronze.

Toronto’s Jewett, who ran the second leg of the record-setting relay, won her third medal of the meet in the women’s high jump, finishing in a tie for third place with Guelph’s Julia Wallace. Jewett’s teammate, Shaneista Haye, won the gold with a jump of 1.71 metres, and Kelly Morrison from the Lancers grabbed silver.

Another athlete who returned home with several medals was Windsor’s Nicole Sassine, who won four at the meet. In addition to the silver earned in the 4 x 400m relay and a gold on day one in the 300m, she won a silver in the 60m and gold in the 4 x 200m relay. The other two medallists in the 60m were winner Sarah Pierce and third-place finisher Jeannette Goode, both from the Gryphons, while Western and Guelph rounded out the medals in the relay.

The Lions won three gold medals on the day.

Kristin Obrochta and Elizabeth Petrov went one-two in the women’s weight throw to start the second day of competition, finishing ahead of the Lancers’ Ami Schimanski. Rookie David McKay won the men’s pole vault event with a personal-best jump of 5.00 metres and Vinh Le finished first in the men’s triple jump.

The Lions also put two men on the podium in the 60m race as Dontae Richards-Kwok and Tyrone Halstead won silver and bronze, respectively, with CIS qualifying times. Richards-Kwok finished the meet with three medals, also running the opening leg of the bronze-medal winning 4 x 400m relay team.

The winner of the 60m race was Windsor’s Aaron Dawson in a blistering time of 6.70 seconds.

(Source: York Lions)

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VOLLEYBALL Men The Western Mustangs lost a heartbreaker of a match in the OUA Finals to the Queens Gaels on February 25, 2012.

Set scores were 25-22, 22-25, 27-25, 16-25 and 12-15.

It was a close point spread for most of set one until Western broke away 16-13 at the technical. Three kills in the set from setter Sean McKay helped the team to the 25-22 victory.

The Gaels played a strong second set led by seven kills from Michael Amoroso. With the score 19-15 in favour of the Gaels, the Mustangs were forced to take two timeouts before the end of the set. A good serving run from Garrett May brought the Mustangs within reach with a score of 22-23 but it was not enough and the Gaels shut down the Mustangs with kills from Amoroso and Joren Zeeman.

Western succeeded in taking back a 2-1 lead winning the third set 27-25.

The teams rallied to the technical when Western’s offensive side took over. With the middle wide open, Mathew Waite and Phil James were able to beat the Queen’s blockers and notch enough points for the win.

Zeeman, frustrated with the set at hand, was given a yellow card early in set four and with emotions at all time highs, managed to translate that into points for the Gaels. Down 8-12, the Mustangs called timeout. By the technical break, they were down 10-16 and further defensive errors along with serve errors, played a role in the 16-25 loss.

The fifth and final set could have gone to either team. Up 3-0, Queen’s forced Western into a timeout. Western came back onto the court with what appeared to be a renewed sense of direction. An attack from Garrett May and key block from Mathieu Poulin brought the Mustangs within two points of the Gaels. In the end, the Gaels took the set 15-12 and with it, the 2011/12 OUA Men’s Volleyball Championship banner.

Waite had 21 points in the match (14 kills, 5 solo blocks, 1 serve ace) for the Mustangs. James contributed nine kills, seven digs and two serve aces for a total of 14 points. Poulin put up 10 points (8 kills, 8 digs, 1 solo block).

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Queen’s veteran and Tournament MVP Zeeman had a match high of 26 points (20 kills, 13 digs, 5 solo blocks), while Amoroso followed with 20 points (17 kills, 4 digs, 3 solo blocks).

Players of the game went to James for Western and Zeeman for Queen’s.

(Source: Mustangs Athletics)

Most Valuable Player: ...................................................................... Joren Zeeman (Queen’s) Rookie of the Year: .............................................................................. Alex Elliott (McMaster) Libero of the Year: ............................................................................Niko Rukavina (Queen’s) Dale Iwanoczko Sportsman Award: ........................................................... Karim Khalil (York) Coach of the Year: ................................................................................... Jim Sage (Western)

Photo Source: Michael P Hall

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VOLLEYBALL Women The Queen’s Gaels captured their first ever OUA women’s volleyball championship banner in a dramatic four set showdown with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in front of a crowd of over 400 enthusiastic supporters on February 25th.

After the first three sets were won alternately by Queen’s, Ottawa, and Queen’s, Ottawa held a 16-13 lead at the technical timeout in the fourth set. Queen’s immediately fought back to take a 17-16 lead with Becky Billings providing the serving. A kill

by Laura Carmanico stopped the bleeding, but tournament MVP Natalie Gray came right back with a kill off the Ottawa block.

Carmanico again responded for the garnet and grey, attacking from the backcourt and catching Queen’s off-balance. Natalie Gray stepped up again and completed two consecutive points to take a 22-18 lead. Player of the Match Kelsey Bishop had a dagger of a kill for the 24th point, before Gray again used the Gee-Gee blockers to score, this time for the gold medal winning point.

“It was a fantastic tournament, a fantastic win,” said Gaels coach Joely Christian-Macfarlane, clutching the championship trophy. “We started the season with the idea that we were just going to play the best volleyball we could play match after match and we found a way to do that so when we got to the final we could play the best match of the year. I’m very excited to take our team to McMaster.”

“They were just outstanding,” stated Gee-Gees coach Lionel Woods, praising the effort of the Gaels. “Even when they did make a mistake, they didn’t make two. I thought our kids threw it right back as much as they could and we played our best in set two. But they played their best in the other three sets and the right team is going to McMaster next weekend.”

Queen’s won the opening set, which opened with the nerves evident for both sides as each team had serves float long during the first rotation. A combo block by Ottawa’s English twins tied up the set at 15-15, but Queen’s was able to stabilize their serving faster than the Gee-Gees, taking advantage of Ottawa’s uncharacteristic continued errors and landing two aces of their own to take a 25-19 first set victory.

Ottawa won the second set thanks to a varied attack and more consistent serving. A beautiful backset by Christina Grail set up Laura Camanico for a huge kill right before the 16 point timeout, as this time the Gee-Gees held the 1615 lead. Grail then dove backwards to dig up her own partial block and Myriam English buried her attack to give the Gee-Gees a two point lead. A perfectly executed line kill by Karina Krueger Schwanke boosted the Gees to a 21-18 lead and Schwanke then combined with Kathryn Weihrer to reject the Gaels’ next attack. Katie Haggarty of Queen’s had block at 21-23, but Kelsie English put away a quick attack to capture the second set for the Gee-Gees.

Ottawa opened the third set with a big attack by Schwanke which was dug up perfectly by the Gaels’ libero Shannon Walsh, giving OUA Award of Merit winner Natalie Gray the chance to score the first point. Queen’s opened up an 8-4 lead, forcing Ottawa to call a time out. A stuff block by Anna Pedjase continued the Queen’s run, carrying them to a 10-4 advantage and the eventual set victory at 25-18, the largest victory of the afternoon.

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Lionel Woods summed up the weekend tournament by saying, “I think that was the best OUA match of the year. It was a battle, it was exciting, it was fast; heavy hitting, hard digging – what a great way to end it.”

For the Gee-Gees, their silver medal finish is a step up from last year’s bronze. Laura Carmanico was named the Ottawa player of the match: she scored a team leading 12 kills and also had 7 digs.

(Source: UOttawa Athletics)

Rookie of the Year: ....................................................................... Chelsea Briscoe (Ryerson) Libero of the Year: ................................................................ Meagan Nederveen (McMaster) Coach of the Year: ......................................................................................... Nick Tran (York) Award of Merit: ....................................................................................Natalie Gray (Queen’s)

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WATERPOLO Men The host Carleton Ravens men’s water polo team knocked off the three-time defending champion Toronto Varsity Blues 9-8 on November 20th to capture the OUA title.

The win marked the second championship in the history of the Carleton program. The Ravens last won in 2007-08 and have been the only team to win the title other than the Varsity Blues since 2004-05.

Carleton was able to hold the lead many times throughout the game, but the competition was fierce as the Varsity Blues tied it up every time.

With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Charles Bouwer (Ottawa) would score what proved to be the gamewinning goal to lead Carleton to victory.

Rookie Andrew Di Perna (Ottawa) was also integral to the Ravens’ championship win, leading the team with three goals. Luke Spooner (Auckland, New Zealand) collected an impressive five goals for the Varsity Blues in the loss.

The Ravens advanced to the championship game by defeating the McMaster Marauders 7-4 in semifinal action earlier in the day. Ognjen Gutovic (Cacak, Serbia) played a big role in the victory, leading the Ravens with three goals. Rich Saunders (Hamilton) was the top scorer for McMaster with two goals.

The Varsity Blues defeated the York Lions 15-8 in the other semifinal matchup.

Earlier in the day, The McMaster Marauders defeated the York Lions 17-8 to capture bronze at the OUA Championships.

Despite York’s hard fought effort, the Marauders maintained a strong lead throughout the game. The top scorers for McMaster were Jiaqiao Tang (Hamilton) and Rich Saunders (Hamilton), with three goals each. Straun Wefers (Toronto) scored three of his own for the Lions.

(Source: Ravens Athletics)

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WATERPOLO

Women The host Carleton University Ravens women’s water polo team’s dream of a third consecutive title was shattered on November 27th as they fell 9-4 to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at the 2011 OUA Championships.

This marks the fourth time Toronto has captured the Janice GIlbey Memorial Trophy in the 24 years since women’s water polo became a varsity sport in 1988-89. Carleton has won the trophy eight times, including four of the past five.

This was the fourth year in a row that Carleton and Toronto have met in the final. The Ravens last lost to the Blues in 2008 by a score of 13-9.

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After finishing the preliminary round undefeated, which included a 7-3 victory over Toronto, Carleton’s hard-fought effort in the championship game wasn’t enough to stop the Varsity Blues’ powerful offence. Toronto collected an outstanding five goals in the third quarter thanks to Nicole Brown (Burlington, Ont.), who scored three, and captain Casey Pottier (Kitchener, Ont.), with two.

Brown was the top scorer for the Blues. Meaghan Broddy (Calgary) led the Ravens with three goals of her own. Pottier was named MVP of the tournament.

The McMaster University Marauders won the battle for third place over the Queen’s University Gaels 4-3. A goal by Meredith Williams (Toronto) from the Gaels tied the game up at 2-2 after the second period. However, the Gaels were unable to score in the third, while Bryn Sutherland (Hamilton) of McMaster collected a key point for the Marauders to make it 3-2.

Heather Dumitru (Hamilton) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the fourth quarter.

(Source: Ravens Athletics)

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The Brock University women won their fifth straight Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Wrestling championship title and the Western University men won their first OUA title since 1994 on February 11th at McMaster’s Burridge Gym. Western clinched the title with a combined 73 points, only five points ahead of silver medallist McMaster. McMaster tied Brock with a score of 68 points but took second place by having more individual gold medallists with four compared to Brock’s two.

The Brock women won their twelfth title in program history finishing with a combined score of 68 points. Lakehead and Western fought it out for silver with the Thunderwolves edging the Mustangs by a lone point 51 to 50.

(Source: McMaster Athletics)

Men’s Most Valuable Player:.................................................................................. Ilya Abelev Men’s Rookie of the Year: ............................................................... Jason Buckle (McMaster) Men’s Coach of the Year:.................................................................Ray Takahashi (Western) Women’s Most Valuable Player: ....................................................... Brianne Barry (Western) Women’s Rookie of the Year:............................................................ Madison Parks (Guelph) Women’s Coach of the Year: ................................................................. Marty Calder (Brock)

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Photos by: Michael P Hall

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OUA OUTDOOR CLASSIC Four teams battled the winter elements in the first ever OUA Outdoor Classic at Hamilton’s Ivor Wynne Stadium. The atmosphere was buzzing and the teams shared the excitement of playing in the great outdoors. As each team took the ice, it was impossible to miss the smiles on the coaching staff and players faces who were simply thrilled with the opportunity to play in such a momentous event.

Men The Waterloo Warrior’s men’s hockey team scored three unanswered goals in the final period to win the first OUA Outdoor Classic game against the Brock Badgers with a final score of 3-1.

The Badgers took advantage of the crowd’s excitement with the first quality chance three minutes into the game. Josh Schram (Paris, Ont.) walked in alone on goaltender Keaton Hartigan (Kitchener, Ont), but the fourth year goalie managed to stick his blocker out, and keep the game scoreless. Hartigan would continue to stand tall for the first half of the opening frame. The period would end with Brock holding a slight edge in shots at 7-5, and the game locked at zeros.

The second period opened in similar fashion as the first, this time with Brock forward Derek Brochu (Welland, Ont) finding himself one-on-one with Hartigan, but again the Warrior netminder would turn aside the early period chance. Brock would continue their attack but could not solve Haritgan and the Warriors’ defence.

Following a Badger penalty to Kevin Christmas (Hamilton, Ont.), the Warriors would get their best opportunity of the second period off the stick of leading scorer Kirt Hill (Winnipeg, Man.). Hill picked up the puck in the slot but fired it high glove, just missing the top corner.

Shortly after successfully killing their penalty, the visiting Brock Badgers were the first to find the scoreboard when Thomas Stajan (Mississauga, Ont.) made no mistake from the slot, firing home his tenth goal of the season.

The Warriors found the equalizer at 6:39 in the third period as Jeff Einhorn’s (Calgary, Alta.) point shot made its way through a slew of bodies and past Jory. Andy Smith picked up the lone helper on the Einhorn goal. Two minutes later, Waterloo notched what would be the eventual game winner as Chris Ray (Kelowna, B.C.) tipped home a Ryan Molle (Calgary, Alta.) point shot.

The goal was generated off a determined effort by Tyler Moir (Calgary, Alta.) who picked up his own rebound and circled the net before sliding a perfect pass out to Molle.

With Waterloo leading the Badgers 2-1 late in the third, the game took on a whole new momentum. Brock defenceman Jake LaPlante (Mississauga, Ont.) took exception to an exchange of words by the Warriors and ended up serving a total of 19 minutes in penalties, giving Waterloo a seven minute power play.

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The Warriors were not intent on killing the clock on their lengthy power play, and proceeded to dive into trouble of their own by taking three straight minor penalties to send Brock to a late 5-on-3 situation.

Hartigan and the Warrior penalty kill, led by Ray and Joe Underwood (Canton, MI), remained poised and killed off the two-man Brock advantage. With only a minute remaining in an exciting outdoor contest the Warriors sealed the victory as Hill pinched the boards on a keep-in attempt by the Badgers and slid the puck into the empty net.

Waterloo netminder Hartigan was named the Harrow Sports Canada player of the game for his consistently stellar play between the pipes for the Warriors. Hartigan stopped 29 of 30 shots, ultimately keeping Waterloo in the game, while Badgers starting goalie Kurt Jory (Brandon, Man.) allowed two goals on 23 shots, as Waterloo’s third marker was an empty net goal.

Despite the loss, Brock Head Coach Murray Nystrom was thrilled with the experience. “We certainly enjoyed the whole setting, and I think the game lived up to the high expectations. We are grateful to the Hamilton Bulldogs for the opportunity to be a part of the festival, and we’re very thankful to them for showcasing OUA hockey. The atmosphere was great, and the weather was spectacular. Though we would have preferred a different result, we’ll look back years from now and reflect positively on the experience.”

Warriors’ captain Chris Ray shared Nystrom’s sentiment. “I think when you’re part of CIS hockey, you don’t expect to be able to come to a venue like this, and I know everyone on Brock and our team feel very honoured. Only two teams in our league got the chance to play, and it feels special to be a part of the first OUA Outdoor Classic.”

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OUA OUTDOOR CLASSIC Women On a day where the city of Hamilton experienced snow squalls and heavy winds, the Brock Badgers skated away with a 3-2 victory over the UOIT Ridgebacks.

The challenge began for players as soon as they stepped off the bus as they were greeted with heavy, blowing snow. The ice crew at Ivor Wynne Stadium worked diligently to clear the snow prior to warm-ups, and after a slight delay, sunshine finally greeted the teams as they skated to centre ice for the opening face-off.

Both teams took the first period to find their legs and acclimatize to the conditions. After twenty minutes, the Ridgebacks held an 8-5 advantage in shots, but it wasn’t until eight minutes into the second period that Brock’s leading scorer Jessica Fickel (Fort Erie, Ont.) opened the scoring with Rachel Piotrowski (Waterloo, Ont.) and Leigh Vanderveen (Niagara-onthe-Lake, Ont.) drawing assists. Four minutes later, Vanessa Johnstone (Niagara Falls, Ont.) found the back of the net for the Ridgebacks and the teams headed back to the locker rooms tied at 1-1.

The Ridgebacks began the final frame on a power play and Melissa Berney (Bowmanville, Ont.) sprung Johnstone for a breakaway, potting her second of the game and putting her team up 2-1 just 1:37 into the third.

With strong winds still playing a factor, Brock camped out in front of UOIT goaltender Jessica Larabie (Pickering, Ont.) and Fickel pounced on a bouncing puck, slapping it past Larabie to draw the Badgers even with 12 minutes remaining.

As UOIT applied pressure looking for the go-ahead goal on a power play, Brock’s Sara Brady (Thunder Bay, Ont.) was able to slip past the defence and capitalized for a shorthanded goal at 10:12. Brady’s goal stood as the game-winner as the Ridgebacks could not find an equalizer.

Fickel was named the Harrow Sports Player of the Game with her two goals. When asked about the experience after the game she couldn’t hide her excitement. “It was a great experience. The team was getting pumped about it the entire week. It’s an honour to be here and be the first two teams to play in this event.”

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Vanessa Johnstone finished the game with two goals and joked about the conditions, saying, “Well, it was a little cold. The first two periods weren’t too bad, but when we came out in the third we felt it a little more. We came prepared though and we got used to it”. The experience of playing in the OUA Outdoor Classic was something Johnstone will always hold with her, saying “It’s something you’re never going to forget and hopefully there are more so more girls get the opportunity that we did.”

After the game, the Badgers and Ridgebacks took the ice for a second time to take part in the Hamilton Bulldogs’ Skate the Dream program. The initiative was designed to break the barriers that prevent local children from learning to skate and playing hockey. OUA student-athletes were on hand to tie skates and to provide on-ice instruction.

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WOI LUNCHEON

Ontario University Athletics (OUA) recognized nineteen female scholar-athletes from across the province at a luncheon held on May 8 at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont. The event honoured female student-athletes who have excelled in their chosen sports and fields of study. Dual-sport national athlete, Olympic gold medalist, and OUA alumnus Heather Moyse spoke at the event. Moyse told those in attendance about her personal Olympic journey. She recognized the passion, determination, and time it takes to be an outstanding athlete, but also emphasized the importance of balance and perspective. As a former OUA student-athlete and an elite performer, Heather knows what it takes to achieve great things, and applauded the young women for their academic, athletic and community accomplishments.

“It was great to meet them, and hear about everything they’ve accomplished up to date,” said Moyse. “To be amongst peers was wonderful, and I think everyone had a great time. It’s awesome to see women making a mark doing something that they love, and positively influencing others while they do it.”

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Carli Yim, Ryerson’s 2012 Woman of Influence, served as valedictorian for the award winners, and was equally pleased about the day’s events.

“I think the importance of this event is self-evident, celebrating women in sport is so necessary. It helps all of us celebrate our goals, and gives us the push to set new ones and achieve them,” said Yim. “Heather was so inspiring, particularly as a former OUA athlete. Hearing her journey and her thoughts along her path to success was so insightful.”

OUA recognizes and thanks the following sponsors for their support of this event; belairdirect, Centaur Products, Pioneer Energy, Wilson Sports Equipment of Canada and Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS).

Congratulations to this year’s OUA Women of Influence: Brock Badgers: ......................................Jessica Del Signore, Physical Education, Basketball Carleton Ravens: ............................................ Evelyn Marshall, Political Science, Water Polo Guelph Gryphons: ....................................... Kylen Van Osch, Biomedical Science, Volleyball Lakehead Thunderwolves: .........................................Emma Brightwell, Sociology, Wrestling Laurentian Lady Vees: ............................. Emily Jones, Sport/Physical Education, Swimming McMaster Marauders:................................. Natasha Turner, Honours Arts & Science, Rugby Nipissing Lakers: .................................................... TaraLynn Ray, Education, Cross Country UOIT Ridgebacks: .......................................................Christie Attwood, Kinesiology, Rowing Ottawa Gee-Gees: ................................................Elise Desjardins, Human Kinetics, Soccer Queen’s Gaels: .................................................Katie Matthews, Honours Science, Volleyball RMC Paladins:............................................... Chantal Boucher, Honours Chemistry, Fencing Ryerson Rams: .....................................................Carli Yim, Radio/Television Arts, Volleyball Toronto Varsity Blues: ........................... Katherine McNeill, Physical Education, Field Hockey Trent Excaliber:............................................................... Daniela Sheinin, History, Swimming Waterloo Warriors: ................................. Jessica Lawson, Science & Business, Field Hockey Western Mustangs: ...........................................................Jennifer Martins, Dentistry, Rowing Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks: ......................................... Laura Crocker, Psychology, Curling Windsor Lancers: .................................................. Erika Reiser, Kinesiology, Track and Field York Lions: .................................. Kathryn Pistor, Kinesiology, Track and Field/Cross Country

2011-2012 CIS Championships The 2011-2012 season was a successful one for OUA athletes at the CIS Championships, with twelve Ontario teams coming home with the national title. Here’s a recap of the action that took place at each of these gold medal matches, courtesy of CIS.

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Women’s Basketball

It was a second-straight Bronze Baby Trophy for the fourth-seeded Windsor Lancers as they beat out the No. 2 ranked UBC Thunderbirds by a score of 69-53. Windsor led 20-12 after the opening quarter, 35-26 at halftime and 51-47 after 30 minutes, and sealed the victory with a dominating 18-6 fourth quarter. Miah-Marie Langlois’, a third-year guard, was honoured with the title of CIS Tournament MVP after putting up 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists – all of which were game highs. Jessica Clémençon, a first-team all-Canadian forward from France, chipped in with 16 points and 5 boards, and was chosen MVP of the championship game for Windsor for the second year in a row. “We just stuck to our game plan all we had to do was tighten the screws,” said Langlois. “At the beginning of the tournament they ranked us at number four, but it just shows that no matter what you’re ranked you can still end up at the top.”

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Men’s Basketball

The top-seeded Carleton Ravens claimed the W.P. McGee Trophy with a dominating 86-67 win over the No. 2 Alberta Golden Bear at the 50th CIS men’s basketball championship. It was the second straight national title for the Ravens, who have captured their eight banners in a span of only 10 years. Carleton led the 50th CIS gold medal game from start to finish and was up 31-17 after one quarter, 52-32 at halftime and 76-50 after 30 minutes. The Ravens finished with a significant advantage in every statistical category: they out-rebounded their rivals 38-29, dominated 44-20 in points in the paint, and shot 57.4 per cent from the field, compared to 34.4 for Alberta. Sophomore guard Phil Scrubb received the Jack Donohue Trophy as the tournament MVP, and led the Ravens in scoring for the third straight day with a 26-point output in the title match.

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Cross Country

The University of Guelph Gryphons resumed their domination at the CIS cross country championships in Quebec City as they once again claimed both the women’s and men’s team banners for a record-breaking 19th time. It marked the seventh consecutive national title for the Guelph women and the sixth straight for their male teammates - both of which are also CIS records. Geneviéve Lalonde and Andrew Nixon both won individual gold medals with Lalonde finishing the women’s 5km event with a time of 18:00:04 and Nixon winning the 10km CIS race in 31:42:8.

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Women’s Curling

The Laurier Golden Hawks women’s curling team, led by senior skip Laura Crocker, captured their fourth national title in the past five years defeating the host Brock Badgers by the score of 9-2. “I am very grateful to have the opportunity to end my university career on top,” said Laurier skip Laura Crocker. “It is amazing how much support we get from our university and it has shown through our team’s performance on the ice.” Laurier’s Crocker (Skip), Sarah Wilkes (Vice), Jen Gates (Second) and Cheryl Kreviazuk (Lead) all earned CIS First Team All-Canadian honours.

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Football

The McMaster Marauders won the first Vanier Cup in school history in dramatic fashion, as Ottawa’s Tyler Crapigna booted a 20-yard field goal in overtime to lift his team to a 41-38 win over the Laval Rouge et Or at B.C. Place Stadium. Quarterback Kyle Quinlan was named the Ted Morris Memorial trophy winner as offensive MVP, going 36-for-55 for 482 yards and two touchdowns in the air and adding 106 yards on 14 rushes on the ground. Freshman linebacker Aram Eisho of Hamilton, Ont., was named the defensive MVP and recipient of the Bruce Coulter Award, leading the Marauders with 11.5 tackles and one forced fumble. Crapigna had a chance to win it for McMaster earlier in the game on a 25-yard attempt with three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, he missed wide to the left. On his redemption opportunity in the second overtime period, he split the uprights for the winning points. McMaster becomes the first OUA team to win the Vanier Cup since Queen’s won over Calgary 33-31 in 2009.

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Men’s Hockey

Team captain Evan Vossen scored six minutes into overtime to lead the McGill Redmen to a 4-3 win against the Western Mustangs and the first CIS men’s hockey title in program history. With an assist on Vossen’s game-winner, Picard-Hooper, a fourth-year centre, set a team record with his 268th career overall point. The helper also gave last year’s CIS player of the year the tournament scoring title with six points (1-5-6). Picard-Hooper was selected to the all-tournament team along with teammates forward Francis Verreault-Paul and defenceman Marc-André Dorion. Verreault-Paul, who was named the McGill player of the game, finished the tournament with a 3-2-5 mark and received the Major W.J. ‘Danny’ McLeod Award as the most valuable player of the championship.

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Women’s Rugby

The Guelph Gryphons captured the second Monilex trophy in program history thanks to a convincing 28-0 win over defending champion St. Francis Xavier in the gold-medal final of the CIS women’s rugby tournament. “This win is a result of 365 days of hard work and I’m very proud of everything this team did to get to this point. After losing to X and not having a chance at gold last year there was no way we were going down without a fight,” said Guelph head coach Collette McAuley.The Gyphons completed a remarkable 2011 campaign that saw them outscore their OUA opponents 598-20 in eight regular season and playoff games, before defeating McMaster 53-19 and Laval 38-3 in the preliminary round of the CIS tourney. “Everything we did this season lead to this win,” added McAuley. “We had several players come back for their final year to play for gold and I know this means so much to those veterans and everyone else involved with this team.” Mackenzie Higgs of Aurora, Ont., Samantha Eyles of Goderich, Ont., Brittany Sammut of Port Colbourne, Ont., and Britt Benn of Napanee, Ont., each scored a try for Guelph in the gold-medal win, with Stephanie Tibelius of Ottawa converting all four scores. As time wound down, the excitement could be seen on the faces of the Guelph players, coaches and fans alike. It was when the Gryphon’s Tibelius kicked the ball in to touch and the official blew the whistle signalling the end of the game that the celebration on the field erupted.

(Source: CIS Communications)

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Women’s Soccer

The Queen’s Gaels women’s soccer team became the first women’s varsity team in school history to successfully defend their national title as they beat the Montreal Carabins 3-1. With both teams playing a sound and strong defensive game, the match needed penalty kicks to determine the winner. The Gaels converted their first three attempts (Filion, Kay and Chamberlain) and keeper Chantel Marson made two saves and surrendered only one goal on the Carabins first three kickers. With a goal needed, Valérie Labelle of Montreal stepped up but her shot was denied by Marson and the Gaels won their second CIS National Championship title. Marson, Tessier, Filion and Shaw were all named to the CIS Championship All-Star team, and Marson also took home the MVP honours.

(Source: Gaels Athletics)

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Men’s and Women’s Track & Field

The team standings were decided on the final event with the Western Mustangs earning their first-ever CIS men’s title and the Windsor Lancers women winning their fourth consecutive title at the CIS Track and Field Championship. Western started adding up the points when Scott Leitch captured the 600m in 1:18.57. Western also received points from triple jump with fourth (Jose Belfast-Kum) and fifth (Carl Shen) place. On the women’s side, Lancer Jaideene Lowe received third place in triple jump, and women’s 4X400 team of Nicole Sassine, Emilie Halle, Andrina Slegers, and Heather Kurpe placed third with a time of 3:46:29. Western finished with 90 points, and the Lancer women gained 87 points.

2011-2012 CIS Championships

Women’s Wrestling

Brock finished atop the women’s standings with 63 points to capture the 2012 CIS Wrestling Championship in Thunder Bay. Out of a full contingent of eight female athletes, Brock won four gold medals, including Jade Parsons (48kg), Diana Ford (55kg), Natasha Chang (59kg) and Michelle Fazzari (63kg). Jasmine Mian (51kg) took silver, while Deborah Jehu (67kg), Rebecca Levitt (72kg) and Olivia Dibacco (82kg) all finished fourth. Fazzari, a national team member, returned to university wrestling this season after a two-year hiatus, and became the first female in school history to win five OUA individual titles over her career. She finishes with three gold (2007, 2008, 2011), one silver (2006) and one bronze (2009) in five CIS championship appearances. Brock coach Marty Calder was named women’s coach of the year.