Another athletic season is complete, and nine out of 16 varsity teams won the AUS championship. Here is a brief explanation of how the winter teams did.
Basketball
Men
A more in-depth look of the men’s basketball team is in the Learning Curve story in this issue. The basketball team started with six wins and six losses at Jan. 20. Then they won 12 straight games including winning the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championships and the first game at nationals. They lost to Ryerson in the national bronze medal game.
Their future is bright. Most of the players on this team are below their fourth year and with another year of growth Dal will be a national championship contender.
Women
After two years of missing the playoffs, Dal’s veteran team made it back in with eight wins and 12 losses.
Leading them for the third straight season was graduating forward Robertha Charles who led the team with 14 points per game. Veterans Sophie Gaube and Diedre Alexander provided support as guards while German centre Lia Kentzler had an excellent first season averaging 7.4 points per game.
Dal played the eventual champion Acadia Axewomen in the playoffs and lost by a score of 74-54.
With Charles, Alexander and Gaube all leaving, Dal will be a young team next year.
Curling
Women
The women’s curling team had Kaitlyn Jones, Kristin Clarke, Lauren Lenentine and Karlee Burgess who all won the world junior curling championships in 2018 and they were dominant in the AUS championships; going undefeated.
At the U Sports championships, Dal won six out of seven games before the playoff rounds. They lost to the eventual champions Laurentian University in the semi-finals but beat Queen’s University for the bronze medal.
Clarke and Burgess were named U Sports First Team All-Stars while Lenentine and Jones were named Second Team All-Stars.
Men
The men’s team also went undefeated in the AUS championships.
At nationals, Dal won six out of seven games, only losing to the eventual champion Carleton University. However, they didn’t play well in the playoffs. They lost to Memorial University in the semi-finals, a team they beat two times previously by five points. Dal went to the bronze medal game to play the University of Alberta who they already beat 8-0. However, they lost 7-3.
Jeffrey Meagher was named a First Team All-Star.
Hockey
Women
They had a young team this season with 15 out of 24 players being below their third year and it showed, they had 10 wins, 16 losses, and two overtime losses and finished second last. They scored the fifth most goals, but everything else was not good as they were near the bottom of the league in most team stats.
Goaltender Fabiana Petricca was a bright spot; She finished fifth in league with a .927 save percentage. She is the backbone of the team.
With a young team, Dal should be better next season as their young players grow.
Men
After making the playoffs last season, the men’s hockey team once again fell out of the playoffs this year with 7 wins and 23 losses. They finished near the bottom in every statistical category except for power play percentage (fifth) and save percentage (first).
The bright spot was the two first-year goaltenders in Reilly Pickard and Connor Hicks who were the best goaltending duo in the league.
Most of the team can return next year at every position except for centre. This team should grow together and be better next year.
Swimming
The women’s swim team once again won the AUS championship. They went to the University of British Columbia for nationals and finished 12th.
Isabel Sarty was their top swimmer. She set an AUS record in the 50 metre and the 100-metre freestyle and also won three gold medals at the AUS championships. At nationals, she finished in the range of 13th to 17th in four individual events.
Other strong performers were AUS Rookie of the Year Reagan Crowell, Lise Cinq-Mars, Olivia Feschuk, and Claire Yurkovich.
Going into next season, everyone on the above list besides Feschuk is eligible to return so they should be just as good.
Men
The men’s swim team also won the AUS championship and finished 13th at nationals.
Rookie Christian Payne was Dal’s most impressive swimmer. During the championships he won the 50 and 100-metre backstroke, he also placed fifth in the 50-metre backstroke at nationals. Alec Karlsen, Tyler Immel-Herron and Geraint Berger were also strong swimmers for Dal.
Dal is losing Berger and Immel-Herron, so they’re going to need to recruit other swimmers or have others step up to help Payne and Karlsen next year.
Track and Field
Men
The men’s track and field team had a good season. They won the AUS championships and finished tenth nationally.
Sprinter Matthew Coolen was fantastic. He won gold in the 60-metre sprint and hurdles at the AUS championships. He followed up by winning gold at the 60-metre dash for the second straight year at nationals and winning silver in the 60-metre hurdles.
Outside of Coolen, Mike van der Poel, Hudson Grimshaw-Surette, Josh Lunda, Andre Hendricks, and Anthony Cormier all either won a gold or silver at the AUS championships.
Every one of those athletes is eligible to return next year so Dalhousie should have a great program in 2019-2020.
Women
The women’s team also won the AUS championships but finished 18th at nationals.
Sprinter Maya Reynolds was their best athlete as she the bronze medal at nationals in the 60-metre sprint.
Outside of Reynolds, Lorena Heubach (pentathlon) and Savanna Jordan (1500 metre) both finished in the top 10 at nationals, and both won gold medals at the AUS championships. Other top athletes include Temi Toba-Oluboka, Brooklynn Rutherford, Sophie Watts, and Olivia Ross.
Outside of Watts, all of those athletes are eligible to return, so like the men’s team, next year’s team should be great as well.
Volleyball
Women
They were dominant again this year. They didn’t lose a game until February and won the AUS championships. They came close to winning their first national medal by losing to the University of Alberta in a fifth-set.
Dal was lead by two All-Canadians, setter Courtney Baker and outside hitter Julie Moore. Baker was the AUS MVP for the second straight year, and Moore finished second in the conference in points per set.
Dal should be the favourites to win their eight straight AUS championship next year as Baker and Moore are returning. Other players will have to step up as Mieke DuMont, Alyssa Harding and Lauren Koskowich are leaving.
Men
The men’s team played their first season the Quebec student sport network (RSEQ) and finished with five wins and 11 losses placing them second last in the five-team league. They lost to the eventual national bronze medalists Université Laval in the playoffs.
The team was lead by Graham Schmuland. He lead the team with 3.6 points per set, 43 blocks, 102 digs, and 20 service aces. Jeffrey Walton, Kobe Shannon, Malachy Shannon, and Quinton Dowling were all good as well.
Mostly everyone is coming back so the team should grow next year. They recruited Michael Donovan from London, Ont. who is one of the top recruits in Canada.
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