2017 a banner year for Kodiak Athletics
Women’s basketball rolls to ACAC, national titles
It’s been a banner year for Lethbridge College Kodiaks athletics. As the program looks back on 2017, that term takes on a figurative and literal sense.
The Kodiaks women’s basketball team blazed through the 2016-17 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference season undefeated at 21-0, the second year in a row they posted such a record.
With that came two banners in the literal sense, an ACAC provincial banner — won on the Kodiaks home turf at the Val Matteotti Gym in March — and ultimately the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association title in Edmonton.
The same weekend of provincials, the Kodiaks men’s basketball team headed down the road to Medicine Hat, ultimately earning a silver medal that packed their bags to Prince Edward Island for the CCAA championship.
As the Kodiaks women hosted the province, the team’s indoor track and field team also played provincial host on the westside the same weekend, hosting the ACAC indoor track championships at the 1st Choice Savings Centre.
“That put Lethbridge College not only back on the community map, but into the conference map of ‘We’re a viable host, we’re a successful host and we’re going to continue to do it every year.’ Now we’re truly in the hosting business,” said Todd Caughlin, manager of Kodiaks Athletics. “Hosting both of those events that weekend opened up the eyes of the administration to say that Kodiaks Athletics is a very positive piece to the college. They’ve been supporting us and I can’t thank the administrative team enough. We had a lot of small wins that made big influences.”
Those hosted events kicked off what has been a memorable 2017 for Kodiaks Athletics, a calendar year that has included success — and more medals — on the crosscountry running team at the provincial at national level as well as a resurgence in both Kodiaks volleyball and soccer teams heading into the 2017-18 ACAC season and futsal also ready to make its mark in the coming year.
“The year started off great being able to host and get a national championship (with) a perfect season. It was such a great group of girls,” said Caughlin of the women’s basketball team’s double-gold season. “It’s an amazing feat and they way they did it is what probably makes me the most proud of them, they did it the right way. They won by showing sportsmanship and by showing their work ethic. We were not the most athletic team in both the ACAC and CCAA nationals. We were nowhere near the most athletic team. But they did it as a team.”
It’s what the women’s basketball team did away from the court that was also impressive.
“They won the Pillar Award for the Outstanding Kodiak team because academically they were the second-highest of the 10 sports,” said Caughlin. “They were so involved in the community and doing reading programs. We were always able to rely on them when we did promotions in the centre court. They won in every aspect of what it takes to be a Kodiak athlete, and that’s what makes me the most proud.”
Under the guidance of head coach Sean Carey, the men’s soccer team went 6-1-3 in the regular before getting handed a tough loss in their first game at provincials in Sherwood Park, losing 4-3 in a shootout to the Concordia Thunder. The women’s team was 2-7-1. “Hiring Sean to come in and coach the soccer teams, he did a good job and turned them around,” said Caughlin. “The women fell short, but he made a big impact on them. The men got to the ACAC championship. It was tough. But it happens.”
In volleyball, the Kodiaks women’s team — under secondyear coach Anna Schwark — has blazed out of the gate to an 8-4 start to the season and sits in third place in the ACAC South Division at the break.
The men’s team — also with a second-year coach in Greg Gibos — is a solid 7-5 to start the season in a tight race between second and fourth place in the ACAC South Division.
“I’m very proud of both coaching staffs,” said Caughlin. “The men’s team, for the last few years, has always been right on the cusp and have gotten there. I tell all my coaches this because I was told this: You can’t grow a garden you didn’t plant. We have Anna and Greg new and Sean new. This isn’t a negative to previous coaches, but it’s your program and you have to put in the work to get your athletes. Anna has made the turn and they’re going to compete and be there at the end, but I think Greg will be as well. You can see it. Both of them are already signing athletes for next year.”
There was a changing of the guard in the Kodiaks’s women’s basketball ranks following their double gold 2016-17 season as longtime head coach Brad Karren stepped down, making way for former player Deanna Dotts to take the helm.
The team ended the first half of the season with a 51-50 win over the Red Deer College Queens Nov. 18 and a 78-58 decision over the Ambrose Lions Nov. 25 to finish the first half of the season at 3-4.
“That’s what I’m excited about for Deanna for the women’s basketball as well,” said Caughlin. “She got hired late and with Brad retiring in that time frame, it’s going to be tough to get athletes. So she’s doing a heck of a job. She’s playing the hand she was dealt and she’s playing it well.”
The men’s team, under head coach Ryan Heggie, is 4-3 to start the season and tied for third place in the ACAC South Division.
“Ryan is a great coach and he’s getting a lot of out these guys,” said Caughlin. “The ACAC men’s basketball, especially in the south, is so tough. Between Red Deer, Olds, SAIT and Medicine Hat, it’s a tough division. That’s the way it is in every sport for us. The ACAC South in volleyball, both men’s and women’s.”
In November, it was the Kodiaks cross-country running team’s turn to take the spotlight as they headed east to the CCAA national championship in Blainville, Que.
Running in cold conditions, Kodiaks rookie Sophia Nowicki posted a season-best time of 22:01, finishing nine seconds ahead of fellow ACAC competitor Jordanna Cota of Red Deer College — who had gone undefeated in conference races during the season — on her way to a national bronze medal.
That helped the Kodiaks women's team finish sixth overall, improving on their seventh-place national ranking heading into the championships.
Nowicki was also named a CCAA all-Canadian, wrapping up a season that included an ACAC bronze medal, an ACAC allconference team berth and an ACAC rookie of the year award.
On the men's side, the Kodiaks finished 16th in the team standings, but moved ahead of Red Deer College, who beat them out for the ACAC bronze medal.
“Cross country, as usual, came through,” said Caughlin. “Sophia, it was unbelieveable, getting Rookie of the Year and getting a bronze at Nationals. To run the race that she did, to upset the runner from Red Deer, Sophia had been third to her all year long and she’s a great runner. So for her to run that race the way she did and come in with a national bronze, we’re very proud of her.”
As 2017 wound down, the Kodiaks launched the program’s Hall of Fame in mid-October.
“That was another big piece of Kodiaks athletics, to finally launch that,” said Caughlin. “To have the history this program and athletics department has had since 1964 and to not have an avenue to properly acknowledge some of the successes of some of the people, we brought in 12 in this first class. But we’re so excited about what we’re going to be able to do from here on out. We’ve had a ton of sports that are going to get represented. So that was a big positive to be able to launch that Hall of Fame.”