40 Sports & Living
Dylan Cawker
imprint intern
Bojana Josipovic
Third year - sociology
Volleyball
courtesy Uw Athletics
T
he Waterloo warriors women’s
basketball team were on fire
after the first eight games, and
have a 8-0 record to prove it. One of
the players leading the way was Bojana
Josipovic, a 6’1 outside hitter from
Kitchener. The third year sociology
student got her start on the volleyball
court in eighth grade, “I started play-
ing just to stay active until basketball
season came around,” she said.
The Warrior team continued to
play well throughout the season, as
did Jospovic, who was named to the
OUA-West’s second team all-stars
after racking up 183 points this sea-
son. The team made it to the OUA’s
final four, and unfortunately, due to
some great play on the parts of the
University of Toronto and University
of Ottawa, the Warriors went home
with a forth place finish, just missing
out on a medal.
When asked about someone
Josipovic really looked up to grow-
ing up playing volleyball she said
“Vladimir Grbic, an outside hitter
for the Yugoslavian national team,”
because “he’s just a great all around
player.”
As for next year, look for the
Warrior women to build on their
current success that also included two
bronze medal finishes in pre-season
tournament action. Josipovic’s goals
for next season are also very team
oriented as she had this to say about
the future: “my main goal is to keep
improving and to contribute as much
to my team as I can and hopefully end
my last year with an OUA medal in
hand.”
Oleg Chernukhin
Third year - mechanical engineering
Swimming
Michael L. Davenport
L
eading the Waterloo swim
team to success this year was
Oleg Chernukhin. The third
year mechatronics engineering stu-
dent hailing from Fredericton, New
Brunswick, got his start in swimming
as just about everybody does, having
his mom sign him up for swimming
Imprint, Friday, March 28, 2008
lessons at the age of four, and just
like everyone else as well, he wasn’t
too keen on it. “I didn’t enjoy it at
first, but that eventually changed
and swimming has since become a
big part of my life”.
No kidding. Chernukhin posted
more than impressive times all sea-
son capping it all off with four gold
medals and “swimmer of the meet”
at the OUA championships as well
as a bronze medal at the CIS cham-
pionships. Not a bad year in terms of
bringing home the hardware, which
is the reason Chernukhin states this
year as the one he’s most proud of
in his career thus far, “When you set
a goal and work towards it for a year,
no matter what obstacles get in the
way, and then accomplish what you
wanted, you can’t help but feel pretty
good about it and that’s why I think
this year was very special.”
Chernukhin isn’t finished with
this year yet either. April 1-6 he’s
headed to Montreal to compete in
the Olympic trials for the first time.
Sports & Living
UW alumnus Bob Copeland returns to tackle top athletics role; Judy McCrae aims for new game
Dylan Cawker
intern
A
fter 14 years in the
position of Athletic
Director and an amaz-
ing 37 years at Waterloo, Judy
McCrae decided it was time for
a change of scenery.
“It was time for retirement
and a good time for the depart-
ment to make the change. I am
looking forward to another 20
years of a different lifestyle
for myself,” said McCrae, add-
ing that she “would like to do
some volunteering in another
field or two.”
Over the 14 years McCrae
has been head of the Athlet-
ics department she has tackled
many issues, but the accom-
plishment she is most proud
of is the service the athletic
department now provides to
all students. “We believe in
the students and their special
time at Waterloo. We work to
make sure that we do as much
as possible to have their needs
met as they are growing with
the Waterloo experience.”
There’s no doubt that dur-
ing McCrae’s tenure one of
her main goals was to reach
out more to the students of
“We need to increase our resources to
support one of the most diverse and
accessible programs in Canada, and to
remain competitive with our peers.”
— Bob Copeland, incoming athletics director
Waterloo and not just the var-
sity athletes. This is why she
feels that students’ awareness
of the Athletic Department
and daily physical activity is
the thing that has changed the
most since she started here.
“Students know that physi-
cal activity should be part of
their regime as a student. We
are plugged into the wider
campus life.”
Now say hello to Bob Co-
peland, a former University
of Waterloo student himself
and the first Athletic Director
in Waterloo’s history to have
attended this school. While
Copeland was a student at
Waterloo he earned himself
both a bachelor’s and master’s
degree in recreation and leisure
studies, all while playing on the
varsity football squad.
Copeland will be making
his debut as athletic director
on Canada Day, where his
duties will include watching
over 600 student athletes on
31 teams. Noting how much
of a large role sports plays
in Copeland’s everyday life,
it’s not surprising at all that
it has always been a goal of
his to someday return to UW
Athletics. “…The opportunity
Imprint, Friday, May 2, 2008
sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Here comes a Warrior
to lead the department of ath-
letics and recreational services
has been an aspiration.
“It’s a once-in-a-career op-
portunity, as evidenced by the
fact that UW has had only three
athletic directors in the past 50
years,” said Copeland.
When asked why Copeland
made such an excellent candidate
for the position, McCrae said:
“Bob is committed to Waterloo.
He is committed to the ‘whole
person’ concept of athletic
development. He knows what
support the teams need, and he
also understands the marketing
part of sport.”
As a former UW student
and athlete, Copeland does
acknowledge that this experi-
ence will definitely help him
in the position; however, he
does not feel this gives him
any sort of an advantage over
past directors.
“I don’t think this provides
me with any ‘edge’ over past
athletic directors,” he said,
“each of whom had long and
distinguished track records
with UW through coaching,
teaching, as well as their own
experience as elite athletes
from other schools and con-
texts.”
He also couldn’t say enough
good things about McCrae:
“Waterloo has been fortunate
to have had exceptional leader-
ship from Judy McCrae.”
When Copeland steps into
his new position July 1 there
are a few issues he already has
in mind that he would like to
dive right into.
“We are facing a turning
point in athletics in Ontario
with the primary issues involv-
ing athletic awards (scholar-
ships) and a renaissance of
facility development to im-
prove outdated infrastructure
and meet growing activity
demands. We need to increase
our resources to support one
of the most diverse and acces-
sible programs in Canada, and
to remain competitive with our
peers. This means being com-
petitive in recruiting the most
accomplished student athletes
consistent with our educa-
tional mission, and providing
the facilities and leadership to
meet the activity needs of our
diverse student population, dylan cawker
which is anticipated to grow
to 31,000 by 2017.” UW alumnus and incoming athletics director Bob Copeland in his South Campus Hall office, favouring a
photo of UW President David Johnston (right) holding up a hockey jersey with then-outgoing UW Presi-
dcawker@imprint.uwaterloo.ca dent James Downey, in recognition of Johnston’s Harvard hockey years. “There’s a lot of athletic spirit
at this university,” said Copeland. “It just shows itself in a lot of unexpected ways.”
20 Sports & Living Imprint, Friday, May 2, 2008

A Medley of record-setting
UW student and swimmer Keith Beavers part of team headed to Beijing Summer Olympics
Dylan Cawker record in the process. That record part of the race you can do any stroke Lenny Krayzelburg right in front of The newly crowned Male Athlete

I
intern
t’s not very often in life that we
get the chance to meet world class
athletes, let alone anyone who is
one of the best in the world at what
they do. Well, there is at least one
more of those select few here at the
University of Waterloo. His name is
Keith Beavers and he has qualified
for the 2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing.
Born in London, Ontario, Beavers
began taking swimming lessons at the
age of six after being encouraged by
his parents to do so. Seems like it was
a good decision now on his parents’
part and an even better decision on his
part to follow through with it.
Beavers emerged as one of
Canada’s bright young stars at the
age of 19 in 2002 after taking home
a bronze medal at the Pan Pacific
Championships in Yokohama, Japan
in the 200-metre backstroke event.
Not only did he earn third place in the
race but he also set a new Canadian
didn’t stand too long, though, because
Beavers broke it again in 2003 at the
U.S. Nationals. Then, in 2006 at the
Pan Pacific Trials in Montreal Keith
reset the record for a third time clock-
ing in at a time of 1:58.97, a time that
earned him a spot on the 2006 Pan
Pacific Team. A year later at the Pan
His performances at the trials were inspiring and I am looking
forward to seeing him do even better in Beijing.
American Games, Beavers received
a bronze medal for his efforts in the
400-metre individual medley (IM) and
posted a personal best time in the
200-metre IM. A medley is a race in
which there are four different types
of strokes involved: the butterfly,
backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
Each stroke is used for a quarter of
the race in that order. For the freestyle
other than the three used before; the
majority of swimmers choose to use
front crawl.
Beavers’s first crack at the Olympics
came in 2004 in Athens, Greece as he
raced in the 200-metre backstroke with
a time of 1:59.98, placing him 12th,
and also competed in the 400-metre
— Oleg Chernukhin, Male Athlete of the Year
IM with a time of 4:21.47, placing him
16th. Not horrible considering he was
going up against the best in the world
— but this year Beavers is back as he
hopes to build on the experience from
Athens. There is no question that the
fourth year kinesiology student is ca-
pable of pulling off some major upsets;
at the U.S. open Beavers defeated two-
time Olympic backstroke champion
Krayzelburg’s home crowd, a career-
changing milestone for sure.
Oleg Chernukhin, the University
of Waterloo’s swimming star, repre-
sents the Region of Waterloo Swim
Team with Beavers and also had the
chance to take part in the Olympic
qualifiers this year alongside him.
Unfortunately Oleg didn’t qualify for
the Olympic team but he couldn’t say
enough good things about Beavers
and his never-give-up work ethic.
“Keith is an exceptionally talented
and hard-working athlete and he truly
deserved his place on the team. His
performances at the trials were inspir-
ing and I am looking forward to seeing
him do even better in Beijing.”
of the Year went on to say: “I think
we should all take pride in the fact
that there is an Olympian walking
among us on campus, especially
since there has been quite a bit of
negative publicity about UW and
athletics.”
Coming into Olympic qualifiers
this year, the pressure was on. Unlike
in 2004 when Beavers had already
pre-qualified for the Olympics, this
year he had to go big or go home.
And he went big, finishing the 400-
metre individual medley in the top
spot with a time of four minutes
and 16.98 seconds — a personal
best, in fact.
Beavers, who resides in Or-
angeville when not attending the
University of Waterloo, now enters
a rigorous training program so he
can be as prepared as possible for
the race of a lifetime in Beijing at
the 2008 Summer Olympics.
dcawker@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Top Athletes’ Awards banquet

Dylan Cawker were two of Waterloo’s finest athletes, Athlete of the Year and was awarded
intern Gaby Lesniak of Women’s volleyball 2008 Totzke Trophy for his efforts in

I
t was a big night for athletes, coach-
es and administrators on March 28
as the Department of Athletics
hosted the 48th annual Athletic Awards
Banquet. Awards were handed out to
those that especially stood out during
another successful year in University
of Waterloo Athletics.
Some of the award winners in-
cluded Dorothy Lui of the Waterloo
badminton team who was awarded
the Federation of Students Female
Rookie of the Year while Athar
Zia of the men’s rugby team was
awarded the Federation of Students
Male Rookie of the Year. Zia also
had the honour of being named
OUA Rugby Rookie of the Year
in a very impressive and successful
first season on the pitch for the
Warrior squad.
Adrian Lui of men’s rugby, Dave
Steiner of men’s volleyball, women’s
golf coach Carla Munch-Miranda, Di-
ane Kelly of Warrior women’s rugby
and Laura Sardone of Warrior track
and field/cross country were also win-
ners of their respective awards.
The biggest winners of the night
and Oleg Chernukhin of the Warrior
swim team.
Lesniak, a fourth year kinesiol-
This award was probably the greatest ac-
complishment I have ever had in my life.
— Gaby Lesniak, Female Athlete of the Year
ogy student hailing from Hamilton,
Ontario, received the 2008 Marsden
Trophy, the trophy awarded to the
Female Athlete of the Year. “This
award was probably the greatest ac-
complishment I have ever had in my
life. It’s really nice to be recognized
for all your hard work throughout
my four years here,” she said after
winning the award. Lesniak got her
start in the sport at the age of 12 after
giving a hand at tennis; she made the
switch after she grew tired of her
brother beating her in it. The award
capped off a very successful year for
Lesniak and her Warrior teammates
after making it to the final four in the
OUA playdowns.
Chernukhin was named Male
the pool. The third year mechatronics
engineer student who calls Fredericton,
New Brunswick home had this to
say about winning the award. “Win-
ning Athlete of the yYar award was
a great honour. UW Athletics has a
great history and I feel proud to be
a part of it. With Chernukhin taking
home four gold medals from the OUA
championships and a bronze from the
CIS championships; he also competed
in the Olympics trials last month in
Montreal. Oleg failed to crack the final
squad but still enjoyed the experience,
“I think I placed somewhat lower than
I expected. But, I would say I’m still
happy to have participated at Olympic
trials, since you only get this opportu-
nity so many times in your life.”
dcawker@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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 Sports & Living
Rec workouts underway
dinh nguyen
From top to bottom: UW Campus Rec trains new basketball
referees while other campus rec clubs, intramural badminton
and karate are in action at the CIF on May 14. While there is
a student fee for joining these clubs, the first “sample” class
is always free. For club registration and general Campus Rec
information visit: www.campusrec.uwaterloo.ca
Slam dunk for UW
Waterloo names Tyler Slipp new women’s
basketball team head coach
Dylan Cawker
imprint intern
T yler Slipp was born into basketball; there
is no question about that. His mother,
Joyce Slipp, was not only the captain of
the Women’s National Team but also the starting
point guard for the team during the 1976 Summer
Olympics in Montreal. Later in her career she was
also named the University of New Brunswick’s
(UNB) Women’s Basketball team head coach. His
father also has an impressive track record in the
sport, suiting up for the UNB Varsity Reds and
later on becoming an assistant to Mrs. Slipp for
the women’s team.
Starting June 3, 2008, Slipp continues his
family’s coaching tradition as he becomes head
coach of the Waterloo Women’s Basketball team.
Slipp comes to Waterloo after being an assistant
coach in the last season for Simon Fraser Uni-
versity women’s team — a team that was ranked
number one team in the country for a majority of
the season. Prior to his gig at Simon Fraser, Slipp
worked as an apprentice coach at the National Elite
Development Academy, a program that works
with the best high school basketball players in the
country. Slipp’s resumé also includes three years
coaching experience with the University of New
Brunswick, five years coaching for the New Bruns-
wick under — 15 provincial squad and two more
years coaching with the Centre for Performance
— Atlantic through Basketball Canada.
“I have spent several years as an assistant
trying to learn from some of the best coaches in
the country always with the hopes of getting to
try things out on my own. There comes a point
when you feel like you’ve learned enough things
from enough people to be able to branch out and
I feel ready for that challenge. I can’t describe
how excited I am to start performing every detail
associated with being the head coach at the Uni-
versity of Waterloo. It’s a great feeling and I hope
this excitement lasts forever,” said Slipp
Born in Fredricton, Slipp also attended
the University of New Brunswick earning
a Bachelors degree in computer science. He
has also earned a level three coaching card
from the International Basketball Federation
Talking to Beavers, Olympic-bound
Dylan Cawker
imprint intern
If you still haven’t heard the news yet, keep
your eyes open because you may just be walking
beside an Olympian, maybe even a gold medal
winner on campus. His name is Keith Beavers,
an individual medley (IM) and backstroke swim-
mer, and he has qualified for this year’s Summer
Olympics in Beijing.
Beavers was one of the Olympic qualifiers
last month in Montreal. However, unlike in
2004 when he headed into the Olympics Trials
already pre qualified for the Athens Games,
this year he had to lay it all on the line. He
began the qualifiers sporting a moustache
but after shaving the moustache off he also
shaved off seconds from his time, winning
him the 400 IM and the 200 backstroke events,
and scoring him a plane ticket to Beijing in
August.
The whole Olympic experience won’t be new to
Beavers though, as he did participate as a swimmer
in the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece
“I definitely think it’s an advantage. In Athens I
thought I knew what to expect, but when I got there
I never felt comfortable and didn’t end up swim-
ming very well. So now that I’ve been swimming a
bit longer and I’ve gone to a few more international
meets, I think I’m better prepared mentally to swim
at the Olympics,” said Beavers.
If you think swimming is an easy sport to
master, you’d be wrong according to Beavers.
While working towards his degree in kinesiol-
Imprint, Friday, May 16, 2008
sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
(FIBA) as well as another level three card
from the National Coaching Certification
Program (NCCP).
When asked what goals he has set for
the women’s team next season in terms of
performance Slipp said, “I am a big believer
in worrying about the things you control. As
much as it may sometimes seem otherwise,
winning and losing games depends on a lot
more factors than you can control as a team.
For that reason, I don’t think it makes sense to
set outcome goals like ‘winning X number of
games’ because there are so many things you
have nothing to do with (i.e. injuries, referees,
the other teams, luck) that affect the outcome
of a game.” He then continued with, “The
goals I set for my team are to improve in and
be as consistent as possible in the areas of
focus, intelligence and effort.”
Out-going athletics director Judy McCrae
only had good things to say about Slipp and
his enthusiasim for the game. “We are really
excited to have Tyler come into the Warrior
family. Tyler brings youthful energy and a
wealth of knowledge. He brings to experiences
of five years as an assistant coach under three
outstanding mentors. He is dedicated to the
development of the whole student athlete
and is keen to get started.”
Growing up in New Brunswick and living
the past year in Vancouver, Slipp has lived on
two very different ends of our great country
and is about to make the move to another area
quite different from the two he has previously
resided in, but is it?:
“Being in Kitchener-Waterloo for the
few times I have been has reminded me of
my hometown, Fredericton in a few ways. I
am looking forward to enjoying what I feel
like is a small town feel for a bigger city, and
finally putting some roots down for a while.”
He went on to poke fun at the Vancouver
weather by saying, “After spending a year in
the Vancouver area, it will be nice to see the
sun again during the months from September
to May!”
dcawker@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
ogy, he underwent a grueling training schedule
that’s very similar to one he has now, preparing
for the Olympics.
“I do nine or ten two-hour practices in
the pool and three weights sessions per week.
However, my preparation for the Olympics
will be the same as any other year, just with
more attention to the little details. There’s
no need to do anything different, but I’ll do
everything a little bit better every day.” said
Beaver
In the 2004 games Beavers finished in 12th
and 16th place in his two races. Now with
four more years of experience, he is gunning
for a higher finish, aiming towards top eight
this time around. To reach this goal, Beavers
is looking towards and embracing the spirit of
the competition as it is partly why he enjoys
swimming so much.
“It’s never any one person that I like com-
peting against, I just like swimming against
the world’s best and feeling like I belong there
with them. That’s just my nature and why I love
swimming; the high level of competition gets
me fired up,” said Beavers.
Beavers will be leaving for Winnipeg in
the middle of July for the summer national
swimming competition. From there he will
travelling to Singapore on July 21st, staging
up a training camp. On August 5th Beaver
will arrive in Beijing to prepare and partake
in the long awaited event.
dcawker@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Sports & Living Imprint, Friday, May 30, 2008
sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Students in the
homefield

Dinh Nguyen

Top: Second year therapeutic recreation student, Faith-Anne Wagler, recreates Top: Just a regular game of regular free hand frisbee between regular math
a scene from The Matrix to avoid multiple speeding balls from the opposing students on B1 Green before the future Nanotech building arrives. (From
team during a “friendly” game of dodge ball. left to right: Michael Dumphy and Chris Subich)

Bottom: Mechanical engineering grad student Brock Watson watches in awe as Bottom: The fight between good and evil begins. Pratik Mehta (black shirt) rises
goalie Bahman Hadji and mathematics Master student Peter Willamson fight to block Raj Shanghavi’s (white shirt) jump shot in a game of world dominat-
over the invisible ball during an intramural soccer practice. ing basketball between two accounting financial management students.

Warrior coach walks hall of fame

Achievements made by Women’s Varsity Hockey head coach Geraldine Heaney during her early years
as a hockey player earns her a spot in the International Ice Hockey Association Hall of Fame.
Dylan Cawker football and even the crazy Irish sport of as a solid defenceman but only started to draw 1992 and 1994 World Championships, and
imprint intern hurling— which is a contact sport that in- comparisons to the great Boston Bruins offen- again at the 1999 and 2001 Esso National

I
t’s no coincidence that a lot of today’s
sports superstars started out in their
respective sport at a very young age. Sid-
ney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins sniper,
began his hockey career at the age of three,
meanwhile Tiger Woods, arguably the most
dominant athlete ever, took his first golf
swings at the age of two. These are two very
extreme cases, but still, it isn’t very common to
see an athlete start a sport in their teens and go
on to dominate it internationally — which is
just what Women’s Varsity Hockey head coach
Geraldine Heaney did. Earlier this month, she
got admitted into the International Ice Hockey
Association Hall of Fame (IIHF).
Unlike Sidney Crosby and Tiger Wodds,
Heaney didn’t begin her player her all-star
sport at a young toddler age — she had to
wait until her teen years. This is partly because,
being born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, He-
aney didn’t did not live in a hockey hot spot
and therefore was not exposed to hockey in
her childhood. She did however participate
in games such as soccer, basketball, Gaelic
volves teams running around a soccer field sive defenceman after scoring a very big goal Championships , a gold medal with team On-
with wooden clubs smacking a ball that is in the 1990 inaugural Women’s World Hockey tario at the 2000 Esso Nationals, being named
harder than a baseball in mid air. Playing so Championship, when she made a tie-breaking OWHA’s Most Valuable Defenceman in 1987
many sports at such a young age must have shot between Canada and the United States. 1988,1991-1992 and 1992-1993. In 1992 and
improved Heaney’s athletic ability. Mix that Heaney also competed in two Olympic 1994 she also took the blades off her skates
athleticism with a fiery Irish competitiveness Games. In 1998 her team earned a silver medal and replaced them with wheels, competing
in the World Roller Hockey Championships
Heaney also competed in two Olympic Games. In — winning gold in 1992 and silver in 1994.
After looking over Heaney’s international
1998 her team earned a silver medal in Nagano, stats there was no question that she should have
Japan, losing to the United States in the Gold Medal been included in the IIHF group with American
Women’s superstar Cammi Granato, Russian
match. But in 2002 the Canadian team got their Men’s team sniper Igor Larionov, and one of
the games greatest players, if not the best, Mario
revenge Lemieux. Playing in 125 games internationally for
Team Canada, Heaney scored 27 goals, and adding
and you have someone who is all set to be a in Nagano, Japan, losing to the United States in 66 assists for a total of 93 career points; this puts
hockey player. the Gold Medal match. But in 2002 the Cana- her on top all time for points by a defenceman
Heaney got her start in hockey at the age of dian team got their revenge on the Americans and fifth overall for Team Canada.
13 playing for the Toronto Aeros and winning after defeating the U.S.A. 3-2 on American soil Heaney continues next year as the head
six provincial championships. Known to the in Salt Lake City, Utah. This earned Heaney coach of the University of Waterloo women’s
many as “the Bobby Orr of women’s hockey,” her first Olympic Gold Medal and marking the hockey team where she hopes she can lead them
she was the only woman to be featured on the end of her career as a hockey player. to a CIS title.
Hockey Night In Canada’s top ten goals of the Some of Heaney’s other accomplishments
1989- 1990 season. Heaney was always known include being named Top Defenceman at the dcawker@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Sports & Living
Dylan Cawker
imprint intern
Gillian Maxwell
Fifth year – human resources
Basketball
G
Rocky Choi
illian Maxwell didn’t even
start playing basketball until
her first year of high school.
She said while laughing, “I got started
in Grade 9. I went to watch the try-
outs and the coach asked me to try
Cam McIntyre
First year – rec and leisure
Basketball
G
Rocky Choi
etting national recognition
at any time in your univer-
sity career is tough to do,
but it is especially tough when you
are in your rookie season, but that
is just what basketball star Cam Mc-
Intyre managed to do this year. The
local boy, who credits his parents as
the people who have helped him the
most to get him where he is today,
had an outstanding rookie season
averaging 13.9 points per game, a
stat that led the Warriors. The 6’4
guard also gives a lot of credit to
Waterloo assistant coach Brad John-
ston for helping him develop into
the player he is today. “He taught me
out when she saw how tall I was and
how long my arms were. She wanted
to use me to stand in the middle of the
zone and to rebound; I didn’t shoot
the ball much.”
Oh, how she has progressed since
then…When Gillian Maxwell first
came to the University of Waterloo
she wasn’t quite sure if she was going
to continue with basketball, which is
why, when asked who she gives a lot of
credit to for helping her get this far, she
stated, “I give a lot of credit to my first
year coaches (Tom O’Brien and Craig
Nichol) who convinced me to continue
playing basketball and who welcomed
me into Waterloo’s program.”
Also getting a lot of credit were
Maxwell’s parents and Waterloo coach
Mano Watsa, who also, she said, was
a hell of a lot about the game over
the 6 to 7 years that he coached me
[when McIntyre played on the K-W
Vipers Rep team, the team Johnston
coach prior to becoming an assistant
at Waterloo] and therefore a lot of
my knowledge for the game I credit
him for.”
A phenomenal game against the
York Lions in which he racked up 37
points earned McIntyre OUA and
CIS athlete of the week honours.
Those two awards, in addition to
being named to the OUA West All
Rookie Team, capped off an incred-
ible rookie season for McIntyre.
The recreation and leisure studies
student is no stranger to bringing
home the big awards either. In high
school he was awarded the Mike
Moser Award, an award named after
the former University of Waterloo
basketball star which, is presented
to the most valuable player in the
Waterloo Region High School
basketball league. After doing so
much already in only his first season,
McIntyre still has plenty of goals for
himself during the remainder of his
university career, and possibly after
“My goal would have to be becom-
ing an All Canadian for at least one
of my years here at Waterloo, and
perhaps play overseas upon comple-
tion of university.”
the person Maxwell looked up to the
most growing up while attending his
camps.
The 5’11 forward’s stellar stats
— including an average of almost
14 points per game and almost nine
rebounds per game — easily earned
her a spot on the OUA West First
All-Star team. During the season
Maxwell became the OUA West’s
all-time leader in rebounds, which
puts her second all-time in the entire
OUA for rebounds accumulated. Back
for a fifth year finishing her option in
resource management, Maxwell is still
undecided on whether she would like
to persue a career overseas after this
year, but as for after sports? “I would
love to travel a little bit and then get
out into that working world.”
Nellie Dow
Second year – health studies
Cross-Country Skiing
courtesy Nellie Dow
Ryan Sayer
Fourth year – kinesiology
Curling
I
courtesy steve brooks
f you absolutely hated the
amount of snow we received
this year in K-W, you might not
want to make Northern Ontario
your permanent residence; you may
however want to if you’re planning
on taking up curling any time soon,
as the northern area of our province
has produced some greats.
The great Russ Howard, Cana-
dian Olympic gold medalist, comes
from Northern Ontario, as does
Waterloo skip Ryan Sayer. While
Sayer didn’t quite win an Olympic
gold medal, he did put up quite an
impressive season throwing the
rocks for Waterloo. Coming from
New Liskeard, a place a bit more
than two hours north of North Bay,
Sayer was first introduced to curl-
ing along with his brother, by their
father, who was also a competitive
curler in Northern Ontario. Sayer
and his brother didn’t look back
after that, “falling in love with the
game,” and even getting the chance
to compete in the Northern Ontario
provincials on the same team, “hav-
H
ailing from Smithers,
Ontario, Nellie Dow got
an early start in the sport,
strapping the skis on at a really
young age. “When I was about four
I started skiing in the fields behind
my house and in elementary school
we had a Jackrabbit program.”
A Jackrabbit program is some-
thing for skiers who have just began
skiing and would now like to learn
the basics such as technique, motor
skills and, of course, safety skills.
At the age of 13, Dow began
training all year round for ski sea-
son and had this to say when asked
who she credits for helping her get
to where she is now “the coaches
I had at that time taught me a lot
of what I know about dryland
Imprint, Friday, March 28, 2008
sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
ing the opportunity to share the
experience alongside my brother is
something I’ll never forget,” Sayer
said of the experience.
The fourth year kinesiology co-
op student lists entertaining Cincin-
nati Reds centerfielder Ken Griffey
Jr. as the athlete he most enjoyed to
look up to as a kid growing up and
had this to say when asked what his
favourite memory from the past
season was, “my favourite memory
from this past season was winning
the OUA First Team All-Star Skip
Award. It was an incredible honour
to be recognized with such a pres-
tigious award.”
On top of the All-Star selec-
tion, Sayer also got the chance to
compete in the inaugural CIS curl-
ing championship. After a big 10-1
beatdown on Lethbridge the hosts
dropped two tough ones to Regina
and Memorial to finish off their
tournament. “…our team played
great. We were real close to qualify-
ing for the medal round of the event,
which gives us an attainable goal to
strive for next season,” commented
Sayer on the performance put on
by the team.
As for the future, Sayer hopes he
can take his game to the next level
and compete internationally, “for
as long as I can remember, I have
always dreamed of representing
Canada at the Olympic games. I was
probably one of the most excited
people in the world when curling
became an official Olympic sport
a few years ago.”
training. They were very dedicated
and helped me progress in my sport
throughout high school.”
Naming Becky Scott and Chan-
dra Crawford as the athletes she
looked up to growing up, Dow
took right after them and had
a fantastic season being named
an OUA all-star as the Waterloo
women’s team finished with a well
earned fifth place finish in the
OUA championships. The second
year health studies student has
some big plans for next year, too.
“Next year I hope to continue to
build the strength of the women’s
ski team at Waterloo. After that,
I hope to do some coaching and
help others achieve their goals in
cross country skiing.”
Graphic by Sonia Lee