THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Women’s Basketball (U SPORTS Ranking: No. 2) – The Cougars swept Trinity Western last weekend in the conference quarterfinals, defeating the Spartans by scores of 82-59 and 57-41 to advance to the Canada West Final Four in Saskatoon. Regina will meet Winnipeg in the semifinals on Friday night, with the winner not only advancing to Saturday’s conference championship game but also earning an automatic berth to the U SPORTS Championship. Both of this weekend’s games will be webcast live at www.canadawest.tv.

Swimming – The Cougars finished off their most successful season in program history this past weekend at the U SPORTS Championships in Sherbrooke. The women’s team only had four swimmers but placed sixth in the overall standings, while the men’s team finished ninth despite having only five competitors. Noah Choboter (100-metre backstroke) and Eva Madar (200-metre butterfly) both secured bronze medals for the U of R, while the Cougars broke 19 out of a possible 38 school records during the three-day meet. All nine of Regina’s swimmers at the meet still have at least one season of U SPORTS eligibility remaining.

Wrestling – The Cougars had four podium finishes at the U SPORTS Championships last weekend in Winnipeg, including second-year wrestler Waylon Decoteau’s silver medal at 100 kg. Gaelan Malloy (82 kg) also had a bronze medal for the men’s team, while Inga Hammer (82 kg) and Amber Wiebe (51 kg) both collected bronze on the women’s side. The men’s team placed fifth in the team standings and the women’s team finished in seventh place overall.

Track & Field – The Cougars hosted the Canada West Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Regina Fieldhouse. Joy Becker led the women’s team with gold medals in both the triple jump and the long jump and also added a silver medal in the 60-metre dash as she finished second among all women’s athletes in team points scored. On the men’s side, both Tevaughn Campbell (60-metre dash) and Kahlen Branning (300-metre dash) won gold medals. Ben Rumpel’s silver in the long jump, Alex Eiswerth’s bronze in the 1000-metre run, and Branning’s bronze in the 60 were the men’s team’s other three medals, while Molly Yungmann (pentathlon) and Faith Ogundipe (weight throw) both won bronze medals for the women’s team. The Cougars will finish off the season next weekend at the U SPORTS Championships in Edmonton.

(Courtesy Braden Konschuh/Cougar Athletics)