While football, soccer, and rugby players power through their final days of training camps, Gee-Gee swimmers and track & cross country athletes prepare for theirs to start soon.
Late summer is a period of time in flux for many teams, but some are already making waves with various news and notes.
Men’s basketball: Gees take on NCAA competition in Costa Rica
After a disappointing performance at nationals last year and parting with three top players in Mike L’Africain, Vikas Gill, and Mehdi Tihani, the Gee-Gees men’s basketball team has to reload and prepare for a fast-approaching new season. A preseason trip to Costa Rica, where they faced some significant American competition, proved that the team should still be a top force come November.
Caleb Agada is coming into form early as he helped propel the Gees to wins over Liberty, Boise State, and Norfolk. Offseason additions to the roster seem to be paying dividends early, and there should be a lot to look forward to as the regular season approaches.
Women’s basketball: Early identity crisis causes struggles in Costa Rica and home loss to Seton Hall
Without the services of recent grads Kellie Ring and Catherine Traer, the Gee-Gees women’s basketball team found some early struggles in preseason exhibition competition against American opponents.
In Costa Rica, the team went winless with their closest effort being a 57-46 loss to Middle Tennessee State. The team then returned to Ottawa for a game against the Seton Hall Pirates where they looked improved. However, they still lost 75-61. Although it may not be an indicator of what’s to come for the Gees, they will have to find an solid identity in the coming months if they want to be as competitive as they were last year.
Men’s hockey: Team announces exhibition schedule, builds excitement for return
Before their return to the ice for the first time since 2014, the Gee-Gees men’s hockey team will take on some stiff competition to see if they are as good as their recruiting class might indicate.
The Gees will start things off with a trip to Montreal on Sept. 14 to meet with McGill. Following that matchup, they will take the ice at Minto Sports Complex to do battle with Université du Québec à Trois Rivières, a national powerhouse.
Following their games against Quebec teams, the Gees will shift the focus to Ontario schools, squaring up against Windsor and the Royal Military College of Canada on Sept. 23 and 24.
The team will then turn around and prepare for their home opener against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology on Oct. 7.
Women’s volleyball: Team adds veteran recruit, preps for intro to RSEQ
New masters student and former collegiate volleyball star Kaiva Mateus is joining the Gee-Gees for her final year of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) eligibility after last suiting up for the McGill Martlets in 2012. Since then she has played professionally in Europe, but a drive to further her education has led her back to CIS volleyball.
This year is also a fresh start for the team as they say goodbye to playing Ontario opponents and enter the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ). The Gee-Gees will adjust to a much more repetitive schedule than they are used to, as they will only face McGill, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Laval, and Université du Québec à Montréal on a loop. The change may be welcome for the Gees after they struggled against Ontario teams last year.
Women’s hockey: Upstart Gee-Gees gears up for Ontario exhibition games
Coming off of a solid year where the Gee-Gees broke the CIS Top 10 at multiple points, the young, up-and-coming team is preparing for a new season with some different competition. The monotonous RSEQ schedule of games that require travel between Ottawa and Montreal every weekend can be tiring, so the team is scheduled to face some Ontario University Athletics (OUA) competition before getting in the routine of a new season.
Starting on Sept. 16 and extending to Oct. 2, the Gees will go head to head with OUA squads Nipissing, York, Waterloo, Queen’s, Guelph, with the outlier being Alberta of the Canada West conference.
