Sports

Carleton may have beaten the Université du Québec a Montréal (UQAM) Citadins in the quarterfinals, but there was a bigger story on the sideline. 

The story of Citadin head coach Olga Hrycak, who is the only female coach for a men’s basketball team in North America. 

What’s outstanding about Hrycak is not the fact that she’s a female coach,  but that she is the coach of a team that started from scratch and has evolved into one of the top-ten teams in the country.

Saskatchewan and basketball don’t go together like salt and pepper, but the Saskatchewan Huskies made headlines March 21 when they became this year’s Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) National basketball champions.

A team composed primarily of Saskatchewan natives allowed the Huskies to come away with a 91-81 win over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. 

Saskatchewan previously beat UBC in the Ontario University Athletics West semifinals, and they did it again in a game that had even more at stake.

In their first year without the likes of Aaron Doornekamp and Stu Turnbull, the Carleton Ravens are Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champions once again after they defeated the University of Windsor Lancers 71-52 March 13. 

A defensive performance with gritty rebounding and hustle led the Ravens to the dominating and well-deserved victory.

Both teams had defence in mind from the opening tipoff.  After the teams struggled early offensively, the Ravens went on a tear, taking a 22-11 lead heading into the second quarter. 

The Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East final March 6 saw a University of Ottawa Gee-Gee sprint down the court all alone, with a quick glance behind him he dribbled in for the easy lay-up.

But all of a sudden, in flew Cole Hobin, smacking the ball away from the hoop and shoving it back down the throat of the Gee-Gee player, sending the crowd into an eruption of cheers.

Whenever the Carleton men’s varsity basketball team is mentioned, people usually think of players such Kevin McCleery or Mike Kenny.

With all of Canada behind her, Maëlle Ricker jostled and carved her way down the mountain to a gold medal in Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics in snowboard cross.

But what Canada didn’t know was that Maëlle had another support system, a top secret one.

“The project started in January 2006,” said National Research Council of Canada (NRC) scientist Dr. Guy Larose.

“We proposed the project to Own the Podium,” he said. “We were helping the athletes to reach their maximum potential.”