THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Cross Country – The men’s and women’s teams finish off their season at the CIS Championships this weekend at the Thames Valley Golf Course in London, Ont. The men’s team will consist of Matt Johnson, Wyatt Baiton, Adam Strueby, Michael Middlemiss, and Alex Eiswerth, while Avery Westberg, Jesse Van Eaton, Lindsay Fish, Erin Strueby, and Anneliese Davis will make up the women’s squad. The 6K women’s race will start at 12:00 p.m. (EST) and the men’s race is scheduled for 1:00.

Men’s Hockey – The Cougars (4-4-0) return to action after a break from the Canada West schedule this weekend as they host Manitoba this weekend at The Co-operators Centre. The Cougars and the Bisons (2-5-1) face off at 7:00 p.m. on Friday before finishing off the two-game set with a rare afternoon game on Saturday (2:30).

Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars (0-4) suffered a pair of setbacks over the weekend at Winnipeg, losing in five sets to the Wesmen on Saturday afternoon and falling in three sets on Sunday. The team will now prepare for its Canada West home openers this weekend, as the Cougars host Calgary on Friday night (6:00) and Saturday night (5:00) at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Men’s Volleyball – The Cougars (0-4) dropped two afternoon matches to the University of Winnipeg, losing 25-21, 25-19, 25-21 to the Wesmen on Saturday and 26-24, 25-23, 25-21 on Sunday. Calgary (2-2) is in town this weekend for the U of R’s home openers, as the Cougars and the Dinos will meet on Friday and Saturday following the conclusion of the women’s match on both nights.

Women’s Basketball (CIS Ranking: No. 6) – The Cougars (2-0) opened their Canada West schedule at home last weekend with a pair of wins over Pacific Division opponents, beating UBC 80-59 on Friday night and following that up with an 85-64 win over Victoria on Saturday. The Cougars visit No. 4-ranked Alberta on Friday and Saturday nights in a pair of games that feature two of the top teams in the conference.

Men’s Basketball – The Cougars are 1-1 after lifting the lid on the conference schedule last weekend with a 78-72 win over No. 8-ranked UBC on Friday night in a game that gave first-year bench boss Steve Burrows a win in his debut as head coach. The Cougars, who fell back down to .500 on the year the following night after a 78-54 loss to a strong Victoria squad, will continue their string of ranked opponents to start the year this weekend with a pair of road games against No. 2 Alberta.

Women’s Wrestling – Kristine Longeau paced the University of Regina’s women’s wrestling team with a third-place finish out of eight entries in the 72 kg class at the SFU International Open on Saturday. The Cougars will return to the mats this weekend at the University of Winnipeg Open.

Women’s Hockey (CIS Ranking: No. 10) – The Cougars (7-3-0) had a two-game split for the third consecutive weekend, defeating Manitoba 1-0 on Saturday but losing 5-3 to the Bisons on Sunday afternoon. Tied for third place in the Canada West standings with Alberta, the Cougars will have this weekend off before returning to action on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 in what will be a key pair of contests against the Pandas.

(Courtesy U of R Athletics)