A year in review
Bison wrap-up
Vuthana Suon Staff
With the year winding down, Bison sports teams can now reflect on the season that was. Whether they enjoyed success or endured disappointment, many Bisons are ending the season with memories and experiences they will fondly remember.
Hockey
The Bison men’s hockey team has a ritual that involves gathering in a circle and having somewhat of a sing-a-long after wins. There must have been quite a few of those near the end of their season, as they rode a hot streak before falling in the Canada West semi-finals.
The squad started off slow, due in large part to a relatively young team and to injuries sustained by some key players, like fourth-year forward Paul Deniset. The Bisons made up for the slow start by peaking at the end of the season, as they notched two victories against the Regina Cougars to finish off the regular season, and followed those with a rousing 2-1 series win over the Cougars in the Canada West divisional semi-finals. The Bisons moved on to face off against a very tough Saskatchewan Huskies club in the Canada West semi-finals and were unable to continue their hot streak, succumbing two games to none in the series.
With the graduation of Deniset and linemate Kevin Saurette, who led the team in scoring this year, coach Mike Sirant will have to fill the holes left by the scoring duo, who have garnered numerous awards throughout their CIS careers. It will be a key loss to the club and one that will have an enormous impact for next season.
After last year’s surprising bronze medal at the CIS nationals, the Bison women’s hockey team was faced with a pretty daunting challenge at the beginning of the season.
Due to the loss of several players and some recruits that didn’t pan out, the coaching staff scrambled to form a team that would be cohesive. With the squad still feeling each other out for much of the season, inconsistent play seemed to be the norm. The team finished the regular season 9-10-4, but once the Canada West playoffs arrived, the squad came together to play their best hockey of the season.
The Bisons won the semi-finals against the Regina Cougars two games to one, the last of which was a double-OT thriller. The season came to an end, however, against the powerhouse Alberta Pandas in the Canada West finals — the herd lost two games to none and the final game was decided by an OT goal.
In a season that was so up and down, some comic relief for second-year defenseman Brenna Leary occurred on the ice:
“The funniest thing I saw was when Stacy Parkman lost her blade on the ice, kept playing, and somehow got a penalty out of that.”
Volleyball
Coming into the season, the men’s team was looking to improve on a bronze-medal showing from the year before. This was a very real possibility, as a core group of veterans was returning, including Toon van Lankvelt, Matt Balchin, Jeff Zylstra, Josh Klassen, Trevor Froese and Kyle Joslin.
Expectations were high for the Bisons, which may have contributed to their rather uneven play early on in the year; the team was 5-5 in conference play heading into the Christmas break. However, after some encouraging results in the CIS South Tournament in Florida and the York Tournament in Toronto on the break, the Bisons started their march towards the playoffs in the second half. In the 10 games after the break, the herd went 8-2.
This momentum carried into the playoffs and the national championships, as the Bisons rode the strong play of van Lankvelt into a semi-final match against the Trinity Western Spartans. Unfortunately, the Spartans were even hotter, as they would go on to beat the herd and claim the gold medal. The Bisons would have to settle for their second-straight bronze.
There were some lighter moments in the season as well. As the “pregame warmup” during their stay in Florida, the team would participate in another tall man’s sport:
“It’d be an hour before game time and we’d just be throwing down some dunks with this giant inflatable hoop,” said Zylstra. “It was just addictive.”
Things took a bit of a different turn for the women.
With an 11-9 record, the young team was just two points shy of a playoff berth. Indeed, it was very much a transition year for the upstart Bisons, as captain Lindsay Poggemiller was the sole fifth-year veteran, with the rest of the team consisting mainly of second-year players. They were able to string together a number of strong performances during the middle part of the season, culminating in an 11-1 run against the likes of Winnipeg and Regina. However, this was tempered by the fact that they were unable to consistently win against formidable foes such as UBC and Calgary.
The emergence of Sabrina Barnes, Amy Matthews, Erin Nieuwenberg, and setter Katie Davidson bodes well for the future of the program.
Poggemiller, whose university playing career ended this season, looks back at all the fun the team has had at both her own and others’ expense.
She was the victim of a good, old-fashioned public “pantsing” while on a morning power walk with the team, yet Poggemiller has also been involved in a few pranks of her own.
“On one of the road trips, we concocted this plan to shave the eyebrows of the rookies,” said Poggemiller.
“We blindfolded them, put Rub-A535 on their eyebrows and said it was Nair, and just watched as the rookies started to squirm when they thought their eyebrows were coming off. It was just so funny.”
Basketball
It was another disappointing year for the men’s basketball team, as they fell far short of a playoff spot. Finishing the season with a 4-16 record, only one better than the year before, the team has nowhere to go but up and is now trying to find some semblance of continuity in the rotation. The team has undergone various changes throughout the last few seasons, with several key players, like star guard Chris Dyck, opting not to return, and with rookie associate head coach Minich Nowrang taking the reins this past season from coach Rick Suffield, who was on an indefinite leave, but looks to be back next year.
There were some flashes of potential for the team — notably, a win over the Brandon Bobcats in conference play and several good games in the Wesmen Classic. As well, the continuing development of second-year players Tarik Tokar, Myron Dean and Vyron Phillips has been a bright spot. However, these flashes seemed to be few and far between. Who knows what the next season will bring, and whether the roster will even remain intact?
Things were much better for the women’s team, as they were able to reach the Canada West division finals against the University of Winnipeg before losing in two close games.
The team was able to bond early on with the initiation of the eight new rookies.
“Every year, we always have a first-year welcoming by dressing them up in funny-looking outfits and making them do various activities,” said fifth-year guard Sopear Chhin. “It was definitely good times.”
This early bonding experience allowed the team to gel and pushed them to improve on last year’s record by finishing the year off 13-9. They were able to string together a 7-1 run to close out the regular season.
Led by the play of veterans Sarah Holder, Chhin and Rachel Hart, the Bisons were strong throughout the season and this carried into the first round of the playoffs. The Bisons knocked out Regina in two games before facing off and losing to the Wesmen in the finals.
The future holds a lot of promise for the team, as the only departing player is Chhin, with the rest of the core group of players returning.
Swimming
It was a banner year for rookie swimmer Landice Yestrau. On top of setting five new Bison records in events such as the 50m backstroke and the 800m free relay, she also had a strong finish at the CIS championships, placing third in the 50m backstroke and fifth in both the 100m and 200m backstroke. Other notable performances included first place in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke at the Western championships and gold in the 50m backstroke at the Canada West championships.
Rookie Julianne Toogood finished with a silver medal at the 100m freestyle at the Canada West championships, and her sister and team captain, Jennifer Toogood, helped propel the 400m free relay team to set a Bison record.
The women’s team finished the year with a seventh-place showing in the CIS, which was the fourth straight year in which they have finished in the top 10. The men’s team didn’t fare so well, remaining unranked, although rookie Braeden Taylor showed promise for the program after placing fifth in the 200m breaststroke at the nationals.
Track and Field
When a team can put their coach’s face on a shirt and accompany it with a quote like, “Claude Berube Shot Bon Jovi In the Heart For Giving Love A Bad Name,” you know that the team is full of a bunch of jokers. Apart from taking shots at their coach, however, both the men’s and women’s team are serious on the track.
On the women’s side, there was a bit of a slide this season due to the loss of some key veterans from last year, as the team went from second in the nation last season to an eighth-place showing this year at the nationals.
This year’s edition of the team featured rookie Caley Miskimmin, who also plays Bison soccer, as well as runner Kja Isaacson and high jumper and pentathlete Amber Anseeuw.
Big runs were put in at the 2006 CIS championships by fifth-year runner Sharon Drake, who put in a bronze medal-winning performance in the 300m and then anchored the 4x200m relay team to a bronze medal, in spite of pulling her hamstring during the race.
Coming into the season, the men’s team looked to improve on a seventh-place finish at the CIS championships the year before. Unfortunately, there was some disappointment as they finished ninth overall.
It was the victory lap for several veterans on the team — most notably fifth-year captain Sam Jerema. However, with contributions from younger runners like Andrew Schellenberg (600m) and Kris Geyson, who was ranked first in the 300m event for most of the season, the Bisons are poised for some great things in the years to come.
