Winnipeg’s Lasu one of five Canadians on LIU battling in March Madness

It is perhaps the closest thing Canada could have to a team in the NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball tournament and — of course — Winnipeg has a hand in it.

Most No. 16 seeds won’t garner much attention in the 68-team tournament, as many believe they are there for a good time, not a long time, but Long Island University has been an exception as five of its most important players hail from north of the border.

There are a pair of Ontario-born starting guards, Scarborough’s Malachi Davis and Toronto’s Jamal Fuller, who have played together since high school. Coming off the bench to play important minutes are freshman guard Max Ndlovu-Fraser and senior forward Caleb Johnson, who are rooted in opposite ends of the country, born in North Vancouver and North Preston, N.S., respectively.

And then there is Shadrak Lasu, the starting sophomore forward who is right in the middle of them all — Winnipeg.

Lancers’ McLean the engine behind Dakota’s near-perfect record this season

The athletic journey of Manitoba’s top high school varsity girls’ basketball player didn’t start on a field, a court or a track. It began on a stage, in the performing arts.

Emilie McLean didn’t choose Highland dancing; it chose her.

For about a decade, from the time she was five, McLean took to the competitive dance form — officially recognized as a sport in its native Scotland — with her family, proudly displaying her heritage at events around the city, including a yearly performance at Folklorama.

While McLean modestly stopped short of saying she used to dominate the stage like she’s currently dominating the paint, her talents took her to events in the U.S. and across Canada, where she was good enough to notch a couple of competitive wins in her belt.

Donning the Maple Leaf a childhood dream for Bisons’ Davis

Have a month, Tyrell Davis.

Three days after speeding to Canadian university gold on home turf in record-setting fashion, the 21-year-old Winnipeg sprinter received an invitation to trade his Manitoba Bisons singlet for one with the Maple Leaf.

Davis, who won the men’s 60-metre race at the U Sports track and field championship, was added to Team Canada’s roster for the World Athletics Indoor Championship, which begins Friday in Poland.

“Since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to represent Canada track,” said Davis, who will race in his first international event. “So now that I’m actually getting the opportunity, it feels very surreal still.”

Suffocating defence helps Vincent Massey serve up cold revenge on Oak Park

The Vincent Massey Trojans left no doubt that they are still the program to beat.

After snapping a 15-year drought last season, the Trojans remained on top of Manitoba’s high school hockey mountain with a 4-1 victory over the Oak Park Raiders to capture their second straight boys’ AAAA provincial championship, at Seven Oaks Arena on Monday.

It’s Massey’s third provincial banner, and this one came with a side of revenge after falling to the Raiders in the city championship series.

“Winning two of them (city’s and provincials) last year, I didn’t know if anything could feel better than that, but honestly, that revenge on Oak Park — I mean, they played a hell of a game but we came out stronger and I feel like we fought for that one,” said captain Trevor Johnstone, who received the Player’s Choice award and was named the finals’ most valuable player.

Vincent Massey’s Arnal lifts team to top of league in her comeback year

For some talents, hockey tryouts are a formality — a warm-up before the real action begins. For others, it’s a nerve-wracking grind to qualify for one of the last spots on a roster.

For Vincent Massey Trojans forward Ella Arnal, it was cathartic.

The 17-year-old was simply happy to be playing again after 18 months away from the ice to rehab a torn ACL and meniscus in her right knee. While there’s no good time to suffer a major injury, this one felt particularly cruel, as it came one month after Arnal had been selected to a AAA squad for the first time.

Now Arnal, who has been a standout at every level her entire hockey career, was staring at a long rehab for the first time with no guarantee that she’d return to that level.

Bisons bronzed at national men’s volleyball championship

The Manitoba Bisons captured bronze at the national men’s volleyball championship with a straight-set victory over the hosting Windsor Lancers on Sunday.

Second-year outside hitter Owen Weekes, who will play NCAA Division 1 for Long Beach State University next season, supplied a match-high 16 kills in his final outing as a Bison. Sammy Ludwig teed up 36 assists while Josh Jehle had eight digs.

Manitoba’s national championships began with a 3-0 victory over Laval before falling 3-1 to the University of British Columbia in Saturday’s semifinal.

The Bisons, who started the 2025-26 campaign 4-6, ended by winning 15 of their last 18 matches, including earning silver at the Canada West championships and bronze at the U Sports championships.

‘Get Greedy’: Oak Park eyes second hockey title of the season

A double dip is within reach for the Oak Park Raiders.

The Raiders, who won the Winnipeg School Hockey League championship earlier this month, earned a convincing 6-2 victory over the Steinbach Sabres in a spirited tilt at Seven Oaks Arena on Saturday to punch their ticket to the high school boys’ hockey provincial championship final for the second time in three years.

The Raiders will face the Vincent Massey Trojans in a rematch of the WHSHL championship for the title back at Seven Oaks on Monday at 6:15 p.m.

“It brings back a lot of memories to provincials, being here,” said Raiders captain David Sudoski, one of 13 seniors who are looking for a second title in three years. “Just got to come out strong one more and hopefully repeat that.”

Spaniards in town for curling documentary, brush up on the game

Joan Baucells looks out onto the ice at the Fort Rouge Curling Club and pauses for a moment, searching for the right words to describe it.

“This is like a cathedral,” he says.

His home country of Spain is world-renowned for its stunning architecture, but none of those buildings have what this one has to offer: pebbled ice, granite rocks and carbon-fiber brooms.

Oh, and don’t forget an in-house restaurant serving fat boy burgers and poutine.

Bisons’ men cruise into final four at v-ball nationals

The Manitoba Bisons spiked their heartbreak from the Canada West final and served up a dominant showing to begin their quest for a national title.

Less than a week after falling to Trinity Western in the conference championship, the sixth-seeded Bisons cruised to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-17) triumph over No. 3 Laval at the U Sports men’s volleyball championships in Windsor, Ont., on Friday.

Playing in the program’s first national championship since 2017, the emphatic rebound secured the Bisons’ place in the semifinals for the first time in 14 years, where they will face the Canada West bronze medallists, No. 7 UBC Thunderbirds, on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT.

“We’re pretty proud of what we did at the Can West Final Four, pretty proud of us for beating UBC (in the semifinals),” said Owen Weekes.

Oak Park forward looks for storybook ending to career-best senior season

Karsten Ross knew he had more to give.

The Oak Park Raiders winger had built up this season in his head last summer after experiencing a playoff run that was below his standard.

He was determined to do more, and the situation lined up perfectly for Ross to do so in his Grade 12 year.

“I think this year, I knew I was going to have a bigger role, and I wanted to try and fulfill that role to the best I could,” Ross said. “And I knew I was going to have a good shot at getting a good amount of points and being a big factor in helping our team win.”

Olympiens embracing underdog status

For Cole Baker, a .500 record would’ve sufficed. Playing on the final weekend of the season was nothing less than a pipe dream.

Beginning Friday, the Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens will take part in the sprint for the AAAA high school provincial boys’ hockey championships for just the third time in the program’s history, and that is owed to an inspiring season that has exceeded everyone’s expectations.

“As a team, we have a lot to be proud of, and I think we deserve it, and I think we have a lot to show still,” said captain Baker.

You see, Les Olympiens had designs on remaining in the second tier of the Winnipeg High School Hockey League, where they’ve played since 2019.

Canada West women’s hockey silver a boost of confidence as Bisons prepare for nationals

A piece of Emily Shippam wanted to be upset when the Manitoba Bisons returned home from Vancouver with a silver medal on Monday. She and the rest of her teammates flew west for the weekend with golden aspirations and hopes of writing the perfect ending to what has been a season for the books.

Then again, there was too much to be proud of to hang their heads, and potentially a happier ending yet to come.

So while the Bisons were swept by the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds in the best-of-three Canada West women’s hockey championship finals, there were more positive takeaways than negative.

They had nearly pulled off a season-long comeback and punched their ticket to the program’s first national championship tournament since 2019, which will go in Waterloo, Ont., March 19-22.

Bisons make program history as drama reigns at track and field nationals

A photo finish doesn’t begin to describe what happened as the U Sports Track and Field Championships concluded Saturday at the James Daly Fieldhouse.

After three days of fast-paced action at the University of Manitoba, things came to a halt. One afternoon race was under review as officials spent more than three hours deliberating on a result that would determine the men’s national champion.

Hosting nationals for the second time in three years, the Herd’s program is growing at the right time. Fifteen Bisons competed for a medal Saturday, led by two veteran athletes who’ve been instrumental in the program’s success.

Fifth-year athlete Daxx Turner, the only triple jumper in Bisons history to win five Canada West Championships, aimed to close out his decorated collegiate career with a second national gold.

Five examples of representation in recognition of International Women’s Day

To mark International Women’s Day on Sunday, the Free Press is spotlighting five Manitobans doing impactful work in sports.

Alyssa White — para hockey athleteWhite was 14 when she made the Canadian women’s para hockey squad.

“It’s kind of wild still to me to think about because I had only started playing hockey a year prior to that,” said the now 20-year-old.

Kemp and Elizarov set sights on 2030 Olympic Games

Winnipeg duo Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov have enjoyed remarkable success since they burst onto the international figure skating scene four years ago with only a year of pair skating experience on their resumé.

In short order, the rookies became known as podium threats at home and abroad, even as their ambitions were repeatedly stalled for months at a time — first by her ankle injury, then his collapsed lung and subsequent surgery and, finally, the injury to her back that kept them out of competition much of last season.

Through it all, Kemp, 17, and Elizarov, 22, refused to give up, each time coming up with a plan to methodically hurdle every roadblock.

On Thursday in Tallinn, Estonia, in their fourth appearance at the ISU World Junior Championships, that determination, their hard work and innate talent lifted them to the top of the podium.