Rowing, Nordiq skiing claim top clubs awards in reader’s choice showdown
For the second consecutive week, the Fulcrum decided to put it to a vote to name who would receive accolades once again.
This time, it was the best of the less-recognized competitive and varsity clubs up for selection. Here are the top two competitive and varsity clubs respectively as voted by you, the readers.
UOttawa Rowing, Best Varsity Club
After graduating from competitive club to varsity club status little over a year ago, the rowing team has made some significant strides.
The women’s pair on the rowing team placed sixth at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships in October, hosted by the Brock Badgers in St. Catherine’s.
For Madeleine Soubry, upcoming chair with the rowing club, there were several highlights to their first season as a varsity club, rather than one overarching highlight — but she referred particularly to the fresh start at the dawn of the season.
“To see these women and these men come in and get in boats, it’s really exciting. From my perspective I was a novice, and to see the new generation come in — athletes that are so motivated, that are learning so quickly, it’s incredible to see them,” Soubry said.
After their strong performance this season, several female rowers from the team are going to get varsity status for the upcoming year, allowing them access to the High Performance Centre at the U of O for training.
“You know we have national-level athletes competing, and to have that opportunity to have them in those high-performance centres can only be an advantage,” Soubry said. “Being able to use those resources from the university and working with them is absolutely incredible, it’s a really great opportunity.”
Runner-up: Men’s Golf.
UOttawa Nordiq Skiing, Best Competitive Club
This time around, the best competitive club just happened to be the newest competitive club at the U of O: Nordiq skiing.
After graduating from student club to competitive club status themselves last year, Nordiq skiing was able to field a team at OUAs hosted by Nipissing University. The men’s team finished fourth while the women’s finished fifth, with a total of 11 individuals making it out to the tournament.
“We didn’t know how we would fall relative to the top three teams (Carleton, Lakehead, Nipissing). So it was an exciting event for us to finally be sending a team after so long,” Zeke Williams, skier with the U of O, told the Fulcrum back in early March. “With that in mind we went in with no major expectations, but it ended up being quite competitive.”
Following that, some of the skiers competed at the Canadian National Championships at their home club of Nakkertok in Gatineau.
Emily Heroux placed 26th in the individual aggregate category for skiers under 23, and Ben Milley fared well as an individual, scoring just behind Carleton’s Ezra Pierce in terms of points by Day Four of the competition. The men’s team finished ninth in their respective category.
Runner-up: Women’s ultimate frisbee.
— With files from Gustavo Silva.
