Dinos duo heads local U Sports all-star selections
A dozen local student-athletes were named Tuesday to the U Sports Canada West men’s and women’s all-star and all-rookie teams.
The list was led by Calgary Dinos Kate Pexman, a third-year outside hitter from Calgary, and Beth Vinnell, a third-year middle from Cochrane.
Calgarian Hilary Howe, a secondyear outside hitter with the Trinity Western Spartans, got a nod on the women’s second all-star squad, as did Sylvan Lake’s Alex Donaghy, an outside hitter with the Mount Royal Cougars.
And Calgary’s Julia Zonneveld, an outside hitter with the Alberta Pandas, was selected to the conference’s all-rookie crew.
Among men, Calgary’s Alex Bader led the all-star way, being chosen to the first team as a fifthyear outside hitter with the Dinos.
The men’s second all-star squad features Bragg Creek’s Logan Brennan, a fifth-year libero with the Winnipeg Wesmen, and Calgarian Tyler Schmidt, a fourthyear outside hitter with Mount Royal.
Four area stars made the men’s all-rookie crew: Calgary’s Jesse Elser, an outside hitter with Trinity Western; Calgary’s Jackson Howe, a middle with Trinity Western; Strathmore’s Caleb Funk, a middle with the UBCO Heat; and Airdrie’s Ryan Zachary, an outside hitter with the MacEwan Griffins. ALSO ...
Calgarian Yuri Kisil of the UBC Thunderbirds swim team is the U Sports male first star of the week. In a spectacular U Sports national championship appearance, Kisil won five gold medals and a silver in claiming his second straight swimmer-of-the-year award.
The third-year swimmer started the meet with a bang, winning gold with the 4x100-metre freestyle relay team, while also taking silver in the 200-metre free.
On Friday, he was part of the winning 4x200-metre freestyle relay team while also taking the 50-metre freestyle in a U Sports record time of 21.50.
Saturday was a second straight double gold day for Kisil, a member of UBC’s winning 4x100-metre medley team as well as the 100-metre freestyle champ. He secured him his second straight Sprinter’s Cup title and his performance helped the T-Birds claim their second straight national banner and third in the last four years.