Summer is just around the corner, with bright sunshine and warm weather to break us out of the cold and into four sweet months of summer vacation. As the year inevitably draws to a close, here’s a look back at UTM’s year in athletics.
UTM’s basketball teams had a rocky year with the men’s varsity team achieving 4 wins and 16 losses, whereas the women’s varsity team managed to do a bit better at 5 wins and 15 losses. As for the Tri-Campus Developmental Leagues, the women’s basketball team unfortunately couldn’t get any wins for the whole year and sustained 9 losses against St. George and Scarborough. Compared to last year, the men’s varsity team actually doubled their wins, whereas the women’s teams for both varsity and developmental have remained at about the same level of performance. The Eagles definitely could use more practice on their basketball skills, but with another year looming close, they’ve no place to go but up.
UTM hosted this year’s 2019 Badminton Championships on behalf of the OCAA and among the top badminton athletes from across Ontario, UTM’s own badminton team had also crushed the regionals to have 7 of their more talented players qualify for provincial play. Second year all-star, Rachel Wong, won OCAA Women’s Badminton Player of the Year, OCAA All-Star and won the silver medal at the Women’s Single Provincial Tournament. Wong went on to finish fourth overall at Nationals held at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The Cross Country team had quite an interesting year as well. At the 2018 OCAA XC Championships on October 27, UTM’s prized runner, Sophie Glanz finished sixth overall, clocking in at 24 minutes and 13.7 seconds. Moreover, we also had four other runners in the women’s race with Talyn Tait coming in at 26th place and the rest obtaining the 62nd, 64th and 65th spots, out of an overall 82 runners.
As for the men’s 8k run, Kale Heino landed the 17th spot at 28 minutes and 26.4 seconds, while Haseeb Malik managed to come in at a close 23rd place with 29 minutes and 5.4 seconds.
At the OCAA nationals, Sophie Glanz attained the 14th place and Kale Heino and Haseed Malik received the 30th and 88th place respectively. This was quite a year for the team and they definitely left a mark with all their sheer talent.
The women’s varsity soccer team had an interesting season with 1 win, 6 losses and 3 ties. They’ve definitely improved vastly from their previous year when they only had 1 win out of 10 games. At this rate, they’re looking to be even better next year. The men’s team achieved better results with 6 losses, 3 wins and 2 ties. This team did however qualify for the OCAA Provincials at George Brown College and ranked an overall sixth place in the outdoor season and placed third at OCAA Provincials for indoor soccer.
The d-league men’s ice hockey team had a fantastic year where they defeated UTSC in the championship game, bringing home the gold for UTM. The men’s volleyball team finished their year with 5 wins and 5 losses. The women’s team, however, suffered worse luck with 1 win out of a total of 9 games. On the other hand, the d-league men’s soccer team achieved similarly dismal results with 1 win out of 6 games and the women’s team losing all of theirs.
The HCC did however host some of their annual spectacular events. Their gigantic Be Well UTM Fair was a showstopper, followed by the YOLO pub night, Meet-a-Friend Café, Let’s Talk UTM and the crowd-pleaser; MoveU Skate. Not to mention, all the other endeavours were also very appreciated, including Flu Clinic, Exam Jams, the Health Survey and various educational tabling events.
UTM has had quite a busy year with athletics. With all of the UTM sports teams having success in some way, it is relatively accurate to say that the 2018/2019 athletic year was a good one. Bringing this year to a close, the Eagles can be seen to definitely have come a long way. They’ve endured crushing losses, remarkable triumphs and are looking towards the future for profound change.
