THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS
Women’s Basketball (U SPORTS Ranking: No. 3) – The Cougars collected a nice road sweep over Alberta, defeating the Pandas by scores of 74-55 and 65-46 in Edmonton to improve to 13-1 on the season. The Cougars remain tied with Saskatchewan for top spot in the Canada West standings and are in a virtual tie for first in conference RPI, checking in with a .6483 RPI compared to .6488 for the Huskies. The Cougars are back at home this weekend for games against Brandon on Friday and Saturday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport. Start time is set for 6:00 both nights.
Women’s Hockey – The Cougars (6-10-1-3) will take to home ice for the first time in 2018 this weekend, as the third-place Alberta Pandas are in town for a pair of games. Regina is coming off a pair of losses against the first-place UBC Thunderbirds, stretching the team’s losing streak to five straight Canada West contests. The Cougars will look to bounce back as they fight for playoff positioning on Friday (7:00 PM) and Saturday (3:00 PM) at The Co-operators Centre.
Men’s Basketball – Though Regina made a strong bid on Friday to become just the second team to defeat Alberta in a conference game this season, the Cougars fell just short and are now 8-6 after a pair of road losses to the Golden Bears. The Cougars (8-6) are now at home for four consecutive games, starting this Friday and Saturday against Brandon. Game time is scheduled for 8:00 at the CKHS on both nights.
Wrestling (Women’s U SPORTS Ranking: No. 2 / Men’s U SPORTS Ranking: No. 7) – The women’s team took top spot in the team standings at the Golden Bear Invitational hosted by the University of Alberta last weekend, as Amber Wiebe and Inga Hammer won their divisions. The men’s team finished fifth overall, and will take this weekend off before returning to action in the Cascades Classic at the end of January. The women’s squad will travel to Guelph this weekend for the Guelph Open.
Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars (8-8) earned a critical weekend sweep at the CKHS over Thompson Rivers, defeating the WolfPack in five sets on Friday and following that up with a four-set victory on Saturday. Regina and TRU entered the weekend tied in the Canada West standings, but the two wins vaulted the Cougars up into a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference with three other teams also with .500 records on the season. The Cougars will hit the road this weekend for two matches against a Trinity Western team that’s currently ranked No. 9 in the country.
Men’s Hockey – The Cougars will head to Edmonton this weekend for a pair of Canada West matchups against the first-place Alberta Golden Bears. Regina (3-15-2) has lost six consecutive games after 3-1 and 6-1 defeats against UBC at home last weekend. Regina took on the Golden Bears at home at the end of October, losing 4-3 and 4-1.
Men’s Volleyball – The Cougars were swept at home by Thompson Rivers last weekend, losing in straight sets on Friday and in four sets on Saturday to fall to 1-15 on the season. Regina will travel to the West Coast this weekend for matches against Trinity Western, which currently holds the No. 1 ranking in the nation.
Track & Field – Greg Hetterley led the Cougars at the Downtown Lions Sled Dog Meet in Saskatoon over the weekend with first-place finishes in both the 1000-metre run and the 1500-metre run at the meet. Hetterley put up a time of 2:29.43 to win the 1000 on Friday night, then followed that up on Saturday afternoon with a winning time of 3:57.71 in the 1500. Reagan Fedak had a first-place finish for the women’s team, winning the weight throw with a top toss of 15.60 metres. The Cougars will be back in action this weekend at the Golden Bear Open in Edmonton.
Swimming (Women’s U SPORTS Ranking: No. 7 / Men’s U SPORTS Ranking: No. 8) – Brian Palaschuk had the top result for the Cougars as five members of the men’s team competed at the TYR Pro Swim Series event held in Austin, Texas over the weekend. Palaschuk finished second in the B final in the 400-metre individual medley, registering a time of 4:29.46 on the long course to place 10th overall in the event. The Cougars will return to the pool at the Mountain edition of the Colleges Cup on Feb. 2 and Feb. 3 in Calgary.
(Braden Konschuh/Cougar Athletics)
