UPDATE:
OTTAWA (CIS) – Fiona Doyle, a swimmer from the University of Calgary, and Brett Walsh, a volleyball player from the University of Alberta, are the ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS female and male athletes of the week for the period ending Feb. 22, 2015.
Doyle, a fifth-year kinesiology student from Limerick, Ireland, was named the CIS female swimmer of the year following the national championships held in Victoria. The 5-foot-9 senior swept all three breaststroke events at the meet with times of 31.11 seconds on 50 metres, 1:07.76 on 100m and 2:27.63 on 200m in the long-course finals, and also helped the Dinos to a bronze-medal finish in the final race of her university career, the medley relay. On Saturday morning, she set a championship short-course record in the 50m preliminaries when she touched the wall in 30.70.
Swimmers Meagan Bernier of Dalhousie and Katerine Savard of Montreal, as well as Toronto volleyball player Charlotte Sider were also nominated for the women’s award.
Walsh, a third-year business student from Calgary, was voted MVP of the conference Final Four after he helped the Golden Bears defend their Canada West title with wins over nationally-ranked UBC and Trinity Western on their home court in Edmonton. After leading the country during the regular season with 10.97 assists per set, the 6-foot-5 setter was even better over the weekend as he racked up 40 assists in four sets in a semifinal win over UBC and 53 more in four games in a gold-medal triumph against TWU, for an average of 11.63. Walsh, who also contributed 23 digs, five kills, 3.5 blocks and three service aces at the Final Four, now hopes to guide Alberta to a second straight national title this week in Saskatoon (Feb. 26-28).
UNB basketball player Will McFee, Laval volleyball player Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre Villalobos and Windsor hockey player Spencer Pommells were the other male nominees.
Female nominees:
AUS: Meagan Bernier, swimming, Dalhousie
RSEQ: Katerine Savard, swimming, Montreal
OUA: Charlotte Sider, volleyball, Toronto
CWUAA: Fiona Doyle, swimming, Calgary (recipient)
Male nominees:
AUS: Will McFee, basketball, UNB
RSEQ: Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre Villalobos, volleyball, Laval
OUA: Spencer Pommells, hockey, Windsor
CWUAA: Brett Walsh, volleyball, Alberta (recipient)
ORIGINAL RELEASE:
NEW WESTMINSTER, BC – Calgary Dinos swimmer Fiona Doyle and Alberta Golden Bears volleyball setter Brett Walsh were named Canada West First Stars of the Week, the conference announced today.
Doyle was named female Swimmer of the Year at the CIS Championships in Victoria, after sweeping the breaststroke events and setting a new CIS record in 50-metre breaststroke.
Walsh netted 93 assists, 23 digs, five kills, 3.5 total blocks and three aces to claim the Canada West Final Four Most Valuable Player honours as the Golden Bears defended their title as conference champions.
This is the second time in three weeks that Wash is being honoured as First Star.
Also honoured this week for women’s sports are Victoria’s Jenna Bugiardini (basketball) and UBC’s Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson (swimming). In men’s, UBC’s Coleman Allen (swimming) and Calgary’s Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson were selected for Second and Third Stars, respectively.
WOMEN.
First Star: Fiona Doyle, Calgary (Swimming)
Fiona Doyle finished her career as a Calgary Dino and CIS swimmer on Saturday when she competed at her final CIS Championships in Victoria, BC.
The fifth-year breaststroke specialist from Limerick, Ireland, set a CIS record in the preliminaries with her time of 30.70 in the 50-metre breaststroke Saturday morning, then swam a long-course time of 31.11 for the gold medal in the final. The 50-metre win gave Doyle a sweep of the three breaststroke events when she won the 200m on Friday and the 100m on the opening night of the championships and, thanks to the quality of her swims, earned her the CIS female Swimmer of the Year honour. Doyle added a bronze medal in the medley relay to complete her 2015 CIS collection.
Second Star: #13 Jenna Bugiardini, Victoria (Basketball)
The University of Victoria Vikes women’s basketball team kept their playoff dreams alive thanks to two double-digit scoring performances from third-year forward Jenna Bugiardini. With a weekend sweep of the Calgary Dinos, the Vikes advance to the Canada West quarter-finals and will play Thompson Rives in a best-of-three series this weekend, February 27-March 1, in Kamloops, B.C.
Bugiardini was the second highest scorer for the Vikes on February 20. The Hamilton, Ont. native put up 21 points despite logging only 20 minutes of playing time due a second-quarter ankle injury. The former CIS All-Rookie returned to the floor in style in the second half helping the Vikes get into the driver’s seat to win Game 1 against the visiting Dinos, 97-73.
In Game 2, on February 21, it seemed that the series was sure to be a split as the Dinos held a 21-point lead midway through the third quarter. The Vikes managed to chip away at Calgary’s lead and momentum started to tilt for the home team. Bugiardini put up 20 points in 28 minutes played and, most importantly, hit the winning jumper to seal the 80-78 win and, ultimately, the weekend sweep.
Third Star: Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, UBC (Swimming)
Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson was instrumental in the UBC Thunderbirds’ fourth straight national title victory at the 2015 Speedo CIS Swimming Championships hosted by the University of Victoria at Saanich Commonwealth Place.
The second-year Arts student won two gold medals, two silvers and a bronze as the T-Birds beat the Montreal Carabins by a mere 37 points to claim the 20th CIS title school history.
Seltenreich-Hodgson won both individual medley events, finishing the 200 IM in 2:13.20 and the 400 IM in 4:44.41. She added a bronze in the 200 backstroke (2:14.85) and two second-place finishes in the relays.
The Ottawa native was part of UBC’s silver-medal 4x100 freestyle and 4x200 freestyle relay teams.
The university season is over but Seltenreich-Hodgson will take part in the upcoming Team Canada Trials April 1-4 in Toronto. Swimmers at the meet will try to qualify for major international competitions taking place this summer, including the Pan American Games, the FINA World Championships and the Summer Universiade.
MEN.
First Star: #3 Brett Walsh, Alberta (Volleyball)
Third-year University of Alberta Golden Bears volleyball setter Brett Walsh is the Canada West First Star of the Week, following his performance over the February 20-21 weekend.
Walsh netted 93 assists, 23 digs, five kills, 3.5 total blocks, and three aces to claim Canada West Final Four MVP honours as the Golden Bears defended their title as conference champions
The Business student-athlete scored 40 assists, eight digs, and
2.5 total blocks on the Friday night, also going a perfect 4-for-4
on the attack to help Alberta come back against the UBC
Thunderbirds and win in four sets to get a chance at Canada West
gold as well as clinch a berth to the national championship.
On Saturday, the team captain added 53 assists, 15 digs, and two
aces in the second-straight conference final between Alberta and
Trinity Western, the Bears taking a four-set victory to reclaim
Canada West gold as Walsh earned tournament MVP honours.
The 6’5” setter followed his CIS-leading regular season average of 10.97 assists/set with an average of 11.63 in six sets in two games for Alberta’s 14th Canada West championship title.
Alberta heads to Saskatoon this weekend for the national championships at the University of Saskatchewan. The third-ranked Bears face off against the Waterloo Warriors in quarter-final action on Thursday.
Second Star: Coleman Allen, UBC (Swimming)
Coleman Allen won five medals in leading the UBC Thunderbirds to the men’s team title at the 2015 Speedo CIS Swimming Championships hosted by the University of Victoria at Saanich Commonwealth Place.
The fourth-year Arts student swept the butterfly events at the meet, winning in the 50-, 100- and 200-metre distances. Allen also set CIS Championship short-course records in the preliminaries of all three races.
In the men’s 4x200-metre freestyle relay, Allen teamed with Keegan Zanatta, Stefan Milosevic and Yuri Kisil to win gold. He also added a silver medal in the men’s 4x100 medley relay.
Allen’s university season is done but he will be taking part in the Team Canada Trials April 1-4 in Toronto, which will help determine the Canadian rosters for the major swimming events taking place this summer, including the Pan American Games, the FINA World Championships and the Summer Universiade.
Third Star: #3 Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, Calgary (Basketball)
Fifth-year point guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson finished his career at home on the weekend when the Dinos swept the Manitoba Bisons in a Canada West play-in series to advance to the quarterfinals.
On the opening night of the series, the 5’10’’ point guard had 15 points and a team-high six rebounds in the 92-81 win over the Bisons. The following night, Ogungbemi-Jackson recorded another team-high six rebounds and a game-high 23 points.
The Dinos continue their postseason against the Fraser Valley Cascades in Abbotsford, BC in the Canada West quarterfinals.
Image Credit: Calgary Dinos/Alberta Golden Bears