Basketball standout, volleyball star take Wesmen honours

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This article was published 13/11/2013 (4717 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE University of Winnipeg Wesmen put a spotlight on two of their standouts on Tuesday, naming basketball forward Steven Wesley and volleyball player Ozana Nikolic as the Garbonzo’s players of the week.

Wesley, now in his fifth year, helped lead his team to a weekend sweep over the Calgary Dinos, racking up 54 points and nine rebounds in two games. The best of these was a nailbiter 79-75 victory on Saturday, where the current Canada West scoring leader scored 30 points and hauled in seven rebounds.

On the volleyball side, Nikolic earned the player of the week honour for the second week in a row after she boosted the Wesmen to a weekend split against Mount Royal. The third-year outside hitter put up 32 kills, 26 defensive digs, five blocks and three service aces across the two games, and had match highs on Sunday with 19 kills and 14 digs.

Wheat Kings sniper claims reward

A huge 12-point week lifted Brandon Wheat Kings forward Tanner Kaspick, 15, to the honour of Chicken Chef player of the week in the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League. Kaspick’s offensive explosion was split between six goals and six assists in three Wheat Kings wins last week. The scoring outburst launched him into third place in the league scoring race.

Stingy Terriers goalie player of week

IN Manitoba Junior Hockey League action, Portage Terriers goalie Talor Joseph was named the Recycle Everywhere MJHL player of the week after he backstopped his team to three straight wins while only allowing a 1.33 GAA and putting up a robust save percentage of 0.957. Thanks to that kind of play, the Terriers lead the Addison Division with 16 wins and 34 points.

McLennan in lacrosse Hall of Fame

THE Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame formally inducted its first Manitoban last weekend, honouring Keith (Mac) McLennan at an induction ceremony in Burnaby, B.C.

McLennan was just eight years old when he started playing box lacrosse with the Kelvin Terriers peewee team. That early experienced kicked off a lifelong love of the game that saw him represent Manitoba 23 times at the Canadian championships, between box and field lacrosse. Between 1983 and 1999, he helped carry Team Manitoba to three gold medals, four silvers and a bronze.

An attackman, McLennan was named to the all-Canadian all-star team 13 times in national field lacrosse tournaments, and was honoured as the division MVP in 1985, 1986 and again in 1995. He also racked up a pile of scoring awards, and was twice given the Order of Sport Excellence Achivement Award for his efforts on the field and in the box. McLennan continues to be an active coach, and has been since he was just 16 years old.

Bisons runners earn weekly award

BISONS runner Rebekah Sass turned plenty of heads at the CIS championship meet in Ontario last week, and now the rookie is getting a brighter spotlight.

Sass, who was named the Univercity of Manitoba Bisons’ female athlete of the week, was also honoured as the Canada West women’s third star of the week after her performance. In just her first season of university cross-country running, Sass finished 14th overall in the six-kilometre race with a time of 22:19. She was named the Canada West rookie of the year and CIS second team all-Canadian — the first Bison female all-Canadian since 2006 — and conference all star.

Second-year runner Abduselam Yussuf was named the male athlete of the week, after he helped push the men’s cross-country team into ninth place an the CIS championship. That’s nine spots up from where the Bisons finished last year. Yussuf was the top Bisons men’s finisher. He completed the 10-kilometre race in 33rd place — sixth in Canada West — and was named a conference all-star for his time of 32:54.

Both athletes will now transition into the track and field season, which kicks off next week.

— Melissa Martin