U of R Sports Roundup – Feb. 10, 2011

Cougars women’s volleyball team prepares to battle for their playoff lives

Jonathan Hamelin
Sports Editor

Track and Field

The Cougars were golden last weekend.

Five Regina athletes came away with first place finishes at the Bison Classic in Winnipeg. Connor MacDonald (men’s high jump), David Walford (men’s triple jump), Chris Pickering (shot put), Nicole Breker (women’s triple jump) and Shalane Haselhan (women’s high jump) all took home gold.

The Cougars also broke three school records at the meet.

Merissa Margetts posted a 39.14 second time in the 300-metre dash, breaking her own school record, putting up the second fastest time in the CIS this season, and automatically qualifying for nationals. The women’s 4X200m relay team also broke their own record. The team – comprised of Margetts, Kelsey Bohachewski, Amanda Ruller, and Chelsea Valois – finished in 1:40.64. The men’s 4X800m relay team had a time of eight minutes, .5 seconds.

The Cougars are in action at the Queen City Kinsmen Indoor Classic this Friday at the Regina Fieldhouse. The time of the event was unavailable at press time.

Women’s Volleyball

It all comes down to this weekend for the Cougars if they hope to make the playoffs.

Currently tied for the seventh and final playoff spot in Canada West with the Winnipeg Wesmen at 6-10, the Cougars will need to better their rival’s performance this weekend to advance.

While the Wesmen currently hold the tiebreaker over Regina, it appears the Cougars have the advantage based on the schedule. They host the Saskatchewan Huskies (2-14) this weekend, Friday at 6:15 p.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m., both at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport, while Winnipeg welcomes the Brandon Bobcats (9-7) to town.

Regina did its playoff chances no favours last weekend, dropping a pair of road games to the UBC Thunderbirds in straight sets. On Friday, they fell 25-18, 25-15, 25-16. Meagan Onstad had eight kills and 11 digs for the Cougars, which got six kills and seven blocks from Michelle Sweeting. The next day Winnipeg triumphed 25-20, 25-14, 25-21. Onstad tallied 10 kills for Regina, while Roxanne Olynyk recorded nine digs and four blocks.
   
Women’s Curling

Brooklyn Lemon’s U of R curling squad settled for sixth at the 24th annual Winter World University Games, held from Jan. 28 – Feb. 5, in Erzurum, Turkey.

The team – also comprised of third Chelsey Peterson, second Ashley Green, lead Nicole Lang, and alternate Sarah Watamanuk – finished the round-robin with a respectable record of 4-5, but it was not enough to advance. After winning the CIS Curling Championships last March in Edmonton, Lemon’s rink had earned the right to represent Canada at the event.

Men’s Hockey

On thin ice heading into last week’s Canada West action, the Cougars fell through.

Regina dropped a pair of road games to the Alberta Golden Bears (15-5-2) to fall out of playoff contention.

On Friday, Regina fell by a 5-3 count. Dillon Johnstone, with two goals, and Cody Zubko scored for the Cougars, while Adam Ward turned aside 43 shots. The Cougars fell 4-1 on Saturday. Terrance DeLaronde scored for Regina, which got 47 saves from Ward.

Regina plays its final home games on the season this weekend against the Calgary Dinos (13-8-2) on Friday and Saturday. Each game is at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre.

Men’s Volleyball

Another disappointing season for Regina is coming to an end.

After dropping a pair of Canada West road games to UBC (7-9) last weekend, the Cougars will play their final two games of the season on Friday and Saturday against Saskatchewan (1-15), at 8 p.m. the first night and 6:15 p.m. the second night, at the CKHS.

In last Friday’s 11-25, 27-25, 23-25, 19-25 loss to UBC, Jamie Wilkins had 16 kills for the Cougars, which got 35 assists and 10 digs from Caleb Eschbach, six blocks from Drew Smith, and three blocks from Joel Colter. The next day, in a 22-25, 15-25, 26-24, 20-25 loss, Taylor Anderson had 12 kills and 10 digs for the Cougars, who also got nine kills from Brody Waddell and Jamie Wilkins.

Men’s and Women’s Wrestling

The Cougars are competing at the Canada West Championships in Saskatoon this weekend.

The men are in action on Friday and the women take to the mats on Saturday.