What to Expect as the Marauders Gear Up for the 2025–2026 Season
September: Honour McMaster Legend at Tribute Basketball Game
McMaster will host its annual Homecoming football game on Sept. 20, 2025 against the Guelph Gryphons. The Marauders football team are heading into the year coming off a 4-4 season. They are looking to take the next step under head coach Stefan Ptaszek.
With older talent gone such as DeEmetrius Masuka, a younger core is expected to step up. “Most of our starters coming in are first, second and third-year players who need to step into their roles as starters and leaders,” said Ptaszek.
Most of our starters coming in are first, second and third-year players who need to step into their roles as starters and leaders.
Stefan Ptaszek,Head Coach ,
McMaster Marauders Football Team
According to Ptaszek, the quarterback position is up for grabs this season. Luke Thalman, a third-year from Winnipeg, and Lucas Barresi, are both coming off a promising freshman season and are eyeing the role.
Later in the month, McMaster will celebrate the career of the legendary Theresa Burns. The retired women’s basketball head coach will be honoured on Sept. 27 with a special tribute game on campus. Here, the Marauders will face the University of Saskatchewan Huskies with both teams led by Burns’ former players: Isabel Ormond, now the Marauders' new head coach, and Lisa Thomaidis, head coach of the Huskies.
Eric Bourque, interim associate director of athletics, sat down to discuss this event and others coming this year.
“It’s a really amazing dynamic to have two incredible McMaster alumni coaching, paying tribute to the years of commitment and success Theresa has brought to the women’s basketball program,” said Bourque.
It’s a really amazing dynamic to have two incredible McMaster alumni coaching, paying tribute to the years of commitment and success Theresa has brought to the women’s basketball program.
Eric Bourque, Interim Associate Director,
McMaster University Athletics
October: Basketball Season Begins
The men's and women's basketball teams will kickoff their season around October.
The women's team, heading into a season with new coach Isabel Ormond and OUA all-star Amy Stinson, are coming off their previous season with a
The men's team, led by head coach Patrick Tatham, is hoping to bounce back from last season where they placed
November: National Stage Comes to Hamilton
In November 2025, McMaster will host the women’s soccer U Sports championships, bringing some of the country’s best university athletes to Hamilton. The 2025 U Sports Women’s Soccer Championship will kick off at the Ron Joyce Stadium on McMaster's main campus from Nov. 6 to 9, 2025.
The Varsity Women’s Soccer Team will head into the championship after an 8-2-2 season last year, including a dominant 6-1 record at the Ron Joyce Stadium. Led by head coach Garrett Peters now in his third full season, the team looks to build on its home-field success.
We’re really excited about the opportunity with Women’s Soccer... the launch of the Northern Super League, gives us a chance to showcase incredible talent on a big platform
Eric Bourque, Interim Associate Director,
McMaster University Athletics
The Marauders' Cross Country/Distance Track teams will
January and February: Curling and Fencing
January marks the start of the Marauders' curling and fencing teams' competitive seasons.
The curling team is coming off a successful previous season, with the women's team earning
The fencing team also impressed the athletics community last season, with the men's team earning bronze in the team epee event at the OUA Championship and the women's team earning silver at the team foil event. Standout Oscar Hand earned silver for the Marauders in the OUA individual epee tournament.
March and April: Volleyball and Swimming
The McMaster Women’s Volleyball Team had a standout 2024–25 season, finishing 19–7 and capturing their first OUA title since 2017. They placed fifth at the U Sports Championship. Meanwhile, the men’s volleyball team wrapped up the season 8–12. With the women's team losing key player Sullie Sandara and the men's team losing Maxime Gratton, each will look to up and coming players to lead the way this season.
The McMaster Swimming team will head into the season after finishing 10th and 13th at the OUA Championship last year. Last season, both the men's and women's teams earned bronze, with standout Michelle Wang taking gold in the 50 metre butterfly.
With major matchups, national championship hosting duties and new talent emerging, the 2025–26 Marauders' athletics season will mark an eventful year for the McMaster athletics community.
Marauders swim team travels to Markham, Ont., for the OUA championships, women’s swimmer Michelle Wang earns individual gold in the women’s 50-metre butterfly
From Feb. 7 to 9, 2025, the Marauders swim team hosted the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships in Markham, Ont. The women’s and men’s teams raced in the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, individual medley and relay events of various distances.
Overall, the Marauders swam well, with both the men’s and women’s teams finishing third and earning a total of nine individual and relay medals. Seventeen Marauders swimmers also qualified for the U Sports championship, which the University of Toronto will host from March 4 to 8, 2025.
However, out of all the medalists, one stood out. Michelle Wang, a third-year swimmer, broke the McMaster record for the women’s 50-metre butterfly and came within three-hundredths of a second of setting a new OUA record.
Wang told The Silhouette that before her big success, she was feeling nervous going into the race.
“Since the tournament was hosted by McMaster, a bunch of our alumni were in the stands. I was also seeded first in my heat, which made it more nerve-racking,” said Wang.
Being nervous wasn’t all bad, though, as Wang explained that nerves normally help her swim faster. This was evident as she beat the McMaster record in the women’s 50-metre butterfly with a time of 26.8 seconds.
She also credited her performance to the support of her team, not just at the OUA championships but throughout the year.
“A way in which our team is different from other schools is that when we’re tired from our own races, we cheer for our teammates. We’re the loudest team at every meet,” said Wang.
A way in which our team is different from other schools is that when we’re tired from our own races, we cheer for our teammates. We’re the loudest team at every meet.
Michelle Wang, Third-Year Swimmer
Marauders Women's Swim Team
Wang has been swimming with the team since her first year at McMaster and medalled in an individual event for the first time this year. When asked about what factors contributed to her development, she attributed her improvement to gaining more experience and training at the university level.
While putting in countless hours at swim practices, Wang is also one of the co-captains of the team this year. She touched on how she has taken on this leadership role.
“The chance to give speeches before matches and hype up our teammates is really fun—I enjoy it a lot. Another big part is leading by example, such as demonstrating the work ethic required and showing up to practice,” said Wang.
Looking ahead to the U Sports competition, Wang reiterated that she just wants to enjoy the experience with her teammates and race the best she can.
“With U Sports so close, most of the work is already done. Now I just want to clean up my technique and be cognizant of the little things that may impact the race,” said Wang.
With U Sports so close, most of the work is already done. Now I just want to clean up my technique and be cognizant of the little things that may impact the race.
Michelle Wang, Third-Year Swimmer
Marauders Women's Swim Team
Following their success at the OUA championships, the Marauders will travel to Toronto to compete at the U Sports championships from March 4 to 8, 2025.
Men's and women's swim teams take home several medals, finish with the most points out of all teams
On Saturday, Jan. 17, 2025 the Marauders swim team participated in back-to-back meets at their home invitational. The Marauders came out on top, getting the most points out of all the other schools.
The day was split into two competitions. The first half was a tri-meet against the Guelph Gryphons and the Waterloo Warriors. The second was a dual meet against the Brock Badgers.
The Marauders made strong performances across the board, with a particularly notable one from first-year swimmer Brian Dietz. He competed in three races: the 200-metre men’s freestyle, 100-metre backstroke and the 400-metre individual medley, coming first, second and first, respectively. All together, Dietz took home three medals.
It was also a great start to the day for the women’s team. Much like the men's team, younger swimmers made their mark. First-year Nicole Carter came first in the 200-metre individual medley, second in the 100-metre breaststroke and third in the 50-metre breaststroke.
It was also a great start to the day for the women’s team. Much like the men's team, younger swimmers made their mark. First-year Nicole Carter came first in the 200-metre individual medley, second in the 100-metre breaststroke and third in the 50-metre breaststroke.
Her teammate, second-year student Mikaela Blake, also performed well, capturing gold and silver in the 50-metre and 100-metre backstroke, respectively.
Third-year student Michelle Wang won two golds in the women’s 50-metre butterfly and the 100-metre backstroke.
As the first half of the day came to a close, McMaster finished first overall with a combined sum of 1843 points.
As the first half of the day came to a close, McMaster finished first overall with a combined sum of 1843 points.
But it did not stop there for the Marauders. In their dual meet against the Brock Badgers, McMaster scored 2,015 points. The men contributed 989 of those points and the women contributed 1,026 points. Sara Gray, a first-year swimmer, took home three golds in the 100-metre breaststroke, 50-metre breaststroke and the 200-metre Individual Medley.
Wang also tallied up a few more medals, winning gold in the 100-metre butterfly and 50-metre freestyle and silver in the 50-metre backstroke.
This successful event was the last invitational for the Marauders swim team. Next, they will compete in the OUA championships in Markham, ON, from Feb. 7 - Feb. 9, 2025.
Podium placements at the Dean Boles Divisional for the men's and women's swim team leads to Sam Chisholm and Megan Deering receiving Marauder award
On Nov. 27, Sam Chisholm and Megan Deering from the men's and women’s swim team respectively won the Marauder Athletes of the Week awards. The honours were awarded to the two following outstanding first place performances at the Dean Boles Divisional Championships in St. Catherines, Ont. on Nov. 25 and 26.
For the men's team, Chisholm picked up two individual gold medals in the meet, winning both the 400 and 1500 metre freestyle races. His silver medal finishes in the men’s 200 and 400 metre individual medley also helped in propelling the Marauders to the top of the podium with 1111 points.
On the women’s team, Deering logged individual gold medals in women’s 50 and 100 metre breaststroke as well as the 50 and 100 metre butterfly. Along with recording first and fourth place results in the 200 metre medley and freestyle relays respectively, Deering recorded the most points for the women’s team on the way to a team gold for the meet.
Along with recording first and fourth place results in the 200 metre medley and freestyle relays respectively, Deering recorded the most points for the women’s team on the way to a team gold for the meet.
The women earned an outstanding 1209 points at the championship, besting the Brock University Badgers and the Queen’s University Gaels who earned 713.5 and 694.5 points as the silver and bronze medallists.
Overall, McMaster University secured 66 podium place finishes across the meet with phenomenal all-around efforts by both the men and women’s team.
Overall, McMaster secured 66 podium place finishes across the meet with phenomenal all-around efforts by both the men and women’s team.
Looking ahead to Jan. 2024, the Marauders set their sights on a tri-meet with the University of Waterloo and University of Guelph at the Ivor Wynne Centre on Jan. 20. They will take on a winter invitational meet at the University of Toronto on Jan. 21 as their last regular season event before the Ontario University Athletics championships from Feb. 15 to Feb. 18.
Banner season is in full effect with the second weekend in a row of Ontario University Athletics championships. While wrestling had their chance last week, this week was the McMaster Swimming program’s turn to bring home some medals. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues having dominated the year prior, leaving the Championships with multiple banners. This year, the question remained, have they still got it? The marauders looked to challenge the reigning title holders and compete for the number one position. Coming off a strong divisional sweep of the OUA Debray division in the divisional championships, the maroon and grey had good reason to be positive and were hungry to win the OUA championship.
In late November during the Debray division championship, the marauders had a tremendous showing, gaining 49 individual medals and ten spots on top of the podium. This led them to win both the men’s and women’s banners for the OUA Debray division and stack the rafters. Having such strong showings in the last major OUA tournament gave the swim team a lot of confidence going into the OUA championship.
By the end of day one on Feb. 6, it seemed like the Varsity blues were going to defend their champion status with both their men’s and women’s teams on top of the standings. Even with UofT’s day one dominance, McMaster was no slouch. Not only did they come away with medal performances on day one, but our women’s team placed second and the men’s placed third in overall standings.
After a strong showing on day one, day two was marked by a women’s takeover with the marauders earning hardware in a total of five events. They received four bronze medals and a silver to cap off day two action. Unfortunately, this hot streak was not enough to hold onto second place. They fell to third as the University of Toronto stayed red hot and increased their lead by 238 points. We then saw the Western Mustangs propel over McMaster to second place. This left McMaster and Western in an arms race for second overall at the tournament as there is no chance at catching the defending champions on day two, Feb. 7.
Mac has a fighting chance at beating Western because the men's team was only three points behind and the women's team 24 points. However the marauders did pull away with quite a few grabs at the podium on day one with a total of three medals. Cameron Johnsen received a silver for his efforts in the 100m breaststroke, Mike Dereviankin, James Potma, Louis Sharland and Kevin Bagnell received a bronze for 200m freestyle relay and Ian Mackinnon placed with a bronze in the 200m freestyle.
The men’s team collected two total medals on day two, a bronze and a silver which ultimately lead them to remain in third overall. They were three points behind the second place Waterloo Warriors.
What was said for the women’s division is also true for the men’s, as the University of Toronto is a tidal wave in the pool. They are blowing out the competition in men’s as well, as they held their lead of 314.5 points in first place. The powerhouse that is the Varsity Blues leaves teams fighting for a shot at second and third place as first is out of the question.
At the end of the tournament McMaster was unable to bring a banner home. The University of Toronto swept both banners for the seventh time in a row leaving McMaster without the title. However, McMaster came back to Hamilton with several individual awards with Grey Fairley earning the award of coach of the year for leading the team through a strong season and just falling shy of the podium at provincials. Another notable award was Mitchell Muizelaar being acknowledged for his strong efforts all year with an OUA award of distinction.
It was another strong year for McMaster swimming but unfortunately your marauders fell short of the banner for another year.
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