Marauders are in seasoned form as swimming, wrestling and volleyball teams all place in U Sports top ten
On Jan. 31, the McMaster University Marauders announced that the men and women’s volleyball, wrestling and swimming teams all placed in the top ten of U Sports sports rankings.
On the women’s team, the Marauders went almost undefeated in the month before a recent sweep by the Gaels, who took both games against McMaster 1-3 on Jan. 26 and 27. The losses moved their Ontario University Athletics record to 13-3, as they stand third overall in the province behind the Badgers, who have only recorded one loss this year, and the Gaels.
The losses moved their Ontario University Athletics record to 13-3, as they stand third overall in the province behind the Badgers, who have only recorded one loss this year, and the Gaels.
The wrestling program also made waves in U Sports rankings, with the men and women climbing to the third and eighth best spots in the country.
Leading the charge for Marauders, standouts Serena Di Benedetto and Gregor McNeil picked up gold medals in their matches at the Guelph Open on Jan. 21.
Both athletes played key roles as rookies on last year’s rosters, with Di Benedetto winning the OUA Most Outstanding Wrestler and Rookie of the Year award and McNeil picking up the U Sports Wrestler of the Week award on Nov. 16, 2022. They will look to make a big impact at the OUA championships competition on Feb. 10 in Sault Ste. Marie.
Both athletes played key roles as rookies on last year’s rosters, with Di Benedetto winning the OUA Most Outstanding Wrestler and Rookie of the Year award and McNeil picking up the U Sports Wrestler of the Week award on Nov. 16, 2022.
Finally, the women and men’s swimming placed ninth and tenth to round out the rest of the Marauders’ rankings.
The swimming teams finished their final OUA invitational at the University of Toronto on Jan. 21. Rookies Hayden Yeung and Kalen Murray brought home four medals for the men, with Yeung winning the races for the 100 and 50 metre breaststroke races and Murray capturing the silver 200m and bronze 100m backstroke medals.
Mikaela Blake collected the 100 metre fly gold medal while Megan Deering, who picked up the McMaster Athlete of the Week award on Nov. 27, 2023 placed first in the 50m breaststroke race. Currently, Blake, Deering and Yeung are set to qualify for the national U Sports Swimming Championships taking place on Mar. 7 to 9 in Montreal.
McMaster sports teams, including field hockey, women's curling, men's baseball and fencing among others, fundraise to offset team travel costs and upgrade equipment
First announced on Nov. 23., the McMaster University Athletics and Recreation Department advertised an annual event called Giving Tuesday to fundraise for U Sports, Ontario University Athletics and club teams.
In order to raise funds for teams, the department has urged McMaster alumni, members of the community and university sports fans to pitch in and donate to teams.
Prior to the event, each of the Marauders sports teams identified a fundraising goal they hoped to earn through donors. Some teams had high aims, such as men's volleyball and football who aimed to fundraise $5,000, while others such as women's field hockey aimed to fundraise $300.
Participating teams also posted their reasons for fundraising and what they hoped to accomplish with their donations. Numerous OUA teams looked to offset travel costs, such as field hockey, women's curling and figure skating. Several teams also wanted funding for upgrades to equipment, including men's baseball, fencing and Nordic skiing.
Numerous OUA teams looked to offset travel costs, such as field hockey, women's curling and figure skating.
As Giving Tuesday kicked off on Nov. 28., many student athletes took to social media to garner support and awareness toward their cause. Many Marauders reposted an image by McMaster Sports on Instagram to urge the community to donate.
The event ended successfully with an overall fundraising total of $101,655.22 provided by 667 different donors. In addition to base funding, McMaster Athletics and Recreation awarded prizes for reaching certain donation amounts and donor goals.
The event ended successfully with an overall fundraising total of $101,655.22 provided by 667 different donors.
The department gave an extra $500 to teams that reached $1,000 in funding, the team that had the most donors and the team with the highest donation amount. The women's soccer team was able to capture the most donors while the men's water polo team was received the highest donation amount.
The hope is that this funding will help all teams involved in Giving Tuesday to achieve their set of goals and support athletes for the upcoming season.
McMaster men's curling kicked off their season this past November with many invitationals ahead as they look to win big
The McMaster University men's curling season officially started in Guelph on Nov. 11. The Marauders faced three teams in the University of Guelph invitational in their first competition of the season. In their first game they faced off against Wilfrid Laurier University, the 2022-2023 Ontario University Athletics champions.
This challenge at the start of the season was not the only hardship this team has had to endure so far, with many key players leaving the team in their last offseason.
The team's only two returning players this year are Scott McLellan and Daniel Van Veghel. The graduation of Troy Stoner and Thomas Szasz would leave major gaps in the team that the current roster would have to fill.
It's mostly a new team [this year]. A lot of turnover especially in the back end, so you got to just kind of rebuild the entire team. We had a lot of new players.
Benjamin Winchester, second-year player, Marauders men's curling team
With these changes in roster, the team was left to rebuild mostly from scratch, leading to many of the current challenges they're facing this year.
“We didn’t have the greatest start, score wise, but it's been a steady improvement,” said Winchester.
Coming into this season, the team also welcomed in a new head coach. The team's previous head coach was Lori Eddey, an experienced curler who spent time at the national level as a player.
Eddey was replaced this season by Byron Scott, who spent the last seven years coaching at the University of Guelph before leaving to coach the current McMaster team.
Thus far, Scott has proven to be a great fit for the current Marauders' curling team. He consistently emphasizes mindful habits for the current players, who seem to resonate with them quite well.
“[Scott] is big into sports psychology, so he’ll mention a lot of the time pre-game what to be thinking and he’s tried to instill good habits in us. Instead of getting down if we miss a shot, [Scott says to] think "clean slate and just stay steady,"” said Winchester.
Despite some changes to the team dynamic this season, the Marauders have been able to learn and adapt to both each other and their new head coach. They've learned to play off of one another and have been able to see better results.
“We’ve gotten our communication down now. That was one of the big things with a new team; you don’t know how everyone communicates, with hand signals or other little things," said Winchester.
We’ve gotten our communication down now. That was one of the big things with a new team, you don’t know how everyone communicates, with hand signals or other little things.
Benjamin Winchester, second-year player, Marauders men's curling team
This season, the Marauders will hope to capture an OUA title after just falling short of the finals last year. Their loss to Queen's University ended in a 9-2 score.
“Personally, I’d like us to win [an OUA] quarterfinal game. That’s always been the goal... Always a bit more than that, but a quarterfinal game win would be nice,” said Winchester.
Scott and the team's newcomers will hope to make a big name for themselves as the season comes its peak.
After winning the OUA title last year, the men's volleyball team kicks off the season with a close win at home
Last year, the McMaster University men’s volleyball team finished the regular season with a near perfect 18-2 record. The Marauders went on to win the 2023 Ontario University Athletics provincial championship and place third at the U Sports national championship.
Amidst the success, the men’s volleyball team gained itself a considerable fanbase, documentary series and some big expectations for this year.
On Sept. 4, the Marauders played their first regular season game at home against the University of Toronto with a close win in the fifth set.
The game opened with a 19-25 first set loss against the Varsity Blues. McMaster fought back to win the second set 25-21 and the third set 25-19 with notable efforts from Maxime Gratton, Robbie Fujisawa, and Tyler Pavelic.
The Marauders lost some momentum and began to stumble in the fourth set, losing 15-25. However, McMaster quickly cleaned up their offense to win the fifth set 15-12 following an electrifying final point from Brendan Mills.
However, McMaster quickly cleaned up their offense to win the fifth set 15-12 following an electrifying final point from Brendan Mills.
Despite the graduation of several veterans players from the roster, including Wojciech Kraj, Mateusz Wlodarski and Sam Cooper, the win showcased some of McMaster’s promising new talent.
Despite the graduation of several veterans players from the roster, including Wojciech Kraj, Mateusz Wlodarski and Sam Cooper, the win showcased some of McMaster’s promising new talent.
Brady Paterson, a first-year outside hitter, was introduced into the starting lineup and finished the game with six kills. Another rookie, Jared Kuiken, also made an appearance in the home opener. Third-year player Haben Yohannes earned more minutes and finished with six kills and three blocks.
This was the first regular season game coached by Hamilton local Brad Douwes, who served as the former assistant coach for the Marauders in the 2021-2022 season. This May, Douwes was named head coach following the retirement of three-time National Coach of the Year, Dave Preston.
Despite all these changes, the first game back shows that there is lots more to look forward to for the men’s volleyball team. The Marauders face off against the University of Waterloo Warriors next on Nov. 10, before heading on the road for a game on Nov. 11 against the York University Lions and games on Nov. 17 and 18 against the University of Windsor Lancers.
Marauders cap off a huge weekend at provincial rowing championship in St. Catharines with five medals, including two varsity bronze medals
On Oct. 27 and 28, the McMaster University varsity rowing team competed along with 13 other participating schools in the Ontario University Athletics rowing championship at the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines. The Marauders secured two bronze medals in the varsity women’s single and men’s lightweight pairs.
President of the rowing team, Nathalie Hilbert placed second in her women’s single heat on Oct. 27 with a time of 8:26.100 to advance to the event’s finals.
For the men’s team, Jonny Diakopoulos and Trevor Tung competed in the men’s lightweight pair and lightweight double. In the pair event, they placed second with a time of 7:25.000 in order to compete in the next-day A finals. For the doubles race, Diakopoulos and Tung finished in second in their heat to move onto the B finals.
The next day on Oct. 28, Hilbert returned to take on the A finals for the women’s single race, grabbing a spot on the podium with her bronze medal time of 8:53.270. Competing with Sarah Cushnie, Hilbert also placed fifth in the varsity women’s pair A finals.
To round out the Marauders’ wins that weekend, Diakopoulos and Tung picked up the team’s second bronze medal after finishing in third in the varsity men’s lightweight pairs. Their time of 7:37.780 just missed the silver medal spot by a few seconds, with the rowers from Western University narrowly beating out the duo by completing the race in 7:34.030.
To round out the Marauders’ wins that weekend, Diakopoulos and Tung picked up the team’s second bronze medal after finishing in third in the varsity men’s lightweight pairs.
Along with the varsity medalists, McMaster teams also secured three more medals from their junior varsity crews.
Along with the varsity medalists, McMaster teams also secured three more medals from their junior varsity crews.
The maroon and grey team dominated the junior varsity women’s doubles race, with the pair of Brooke McCoy and Olivia Richardson winning the gold medal while Sienna Munro and Hayden Taylor took the silver.
Ben Milone, Eshaan Maneyapanda, Rahul Patel, Matthew Glenn and Shuruthi Sivadas won the bronze medal for McMaster in the men’s coxed fours.
With success from both their varsity and junior varsity rowers, the Marauders finished their season in grand fashion.
Photo C/O Noah Hoffman
The night of April 2 was the 95th Annual McMaster Athletic Awards Ceremony to celebrate Marauder excellence. The ceremony celebrated McMaster athletes and staff contributions on and off the court over the past year.
The highest honour, the McMaster Athletes of the Year, was awarded to Max Turek (Ivor Wynne Award) of the cross country team, and Linnaea Harper (Therese Quigley Award) of the women’s basketball team. Both led their team to Ontario University Athletics titles, and Harper went one step further, helping bring home the U Sports title for her team.
Graduating seniors Hilary Hanaka, starting guard of the women’s basketball team, and Andrew Richards, men's volleyball’s starting left side, took home the outstanding graduating student-athlete awards, the Dr. Edna Guest and Dr. Ray Johnson Awards, respectively.
Both athletes have displayed outstanding on- and off-court excellence. Richards and Hanaka had already been recognized by U Sports for their community work this season, so it was only fitting that they took home this honour as well.
McMaster's Rookies of the Year award the Mel and Marilyn Hawkrigg Award, was given to lacrosse player Mitch Pellarin and wrestler Ligaya Stinellis. Stinellis captured a silver medal in the 48kg weight class in her first trip to the OUA Championships, and made McMaster history by becoming the first Marauder woman to win the conference’s Rookie of the Year award.
Pellarin ended the season as McMaster’s leading scorer with 19 goals and 11 assists, which was the highest scoring total among rookies in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association.
Claudia Continenza, of the women’s soccer team, took home the Les Prince Award for her community service work, and women's hockey president and student therapist Laura Gelowitz won the Bruce Cochrane award for her service to the Athletics Department.
The Joyce Wignall Award, given to a team in recognition of their charitable contributions as a group, was given to the McMaster men’s rugby team for their various charitable efforts throughout the year.
Last night #MarauderNation gathered to celebrate a fantastic year full of great accomplishments by our student-athletes, both on and off the field. Here’s a recap of how the night went down! Thanks to all that attended! 🎉 . . .#GoMacGopic.twitter.com/z8JfEMFShd
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) April 3, 2019
The night of celebrating excellence was capped off by awarding 51 team MVPs from McMaster's sport teams at the varsity and club level, student-athletes who have competed for four seasons while maintaining good academic standing and coaches who have reached benchmarks in their years of service.
All in all, whether athletes had their their season cut short, or managed to come out on top as provincial or national champions, the annual Awards Ceremony once again rightfully honoured the hard work put in by all the various members of the Marauders athletic community over the past year.
The McMaster swimming team will be heading to the University of British Columbia for the U Sports Swimming Championships on Thursday, Feb. 21 through Saturday, Feb. 23. After competing at the Ontario University Athletic Championships this past weekend, the women’s team finished with 545 points as a group, beating out Western University for second place for the first time since 2007. A large part of the team’s success is thanks to Isabelle Lei’s silver medal in the 200m individual medley and bronze in the 400m freestyle. Lei also helped win three medals in team relays. On the men’s side, Mitch Muizelaar took home the team’s only gold medal, repeating as OUA champion in the 1500m freestyle. The qualified Marauders will be competing during nationals this weekend.
The McMaster wrestling team will be heading to Calgary for the U Sports Wrestling Championships, hosted by the University of Calgary on Feb. 22-23, 2019. The Marauders, who medaled during the OUA championships, will be attending the national competition. On the men’s side, Ameen Aghamirian, who was previously named U Sports Athlete of the Week, was named the OUA's Most Outstanding Male Wrestler, and first-year Trystan Kato took home the men's Rookie of the Year award. While for the women, Ligaya Stinellis and Joelle Vanderslagt each took home a silver medal.
OUA Track and Field Championships
The cross-country team will take their talents indoors this reading week for the OUA Track and Field Championships, which will take place at the Toronto Track & Field Centre on Feb. 22-23. The team completed their outdoor season with great success, and have been competing in indoor meets ever since in preparation for these championships. The medalists of the meet will move on to compete at the national level for the U Sports Championships at the University of Manitoba on March 7-9.
