Thunder Athletics: Winter 2022 Semester in Review
After a successful Fall 2021 Semester, the Thunder looked to keep the momentum going in the Winter 2022 Semester. Once again affected by the ongoing COVID pandemic, with starts and stops in their training, rescheduled games, and jam-packed schedules – the Thunder fought through to once again have an incredible semester: capturing six gold, seven silver, and five bronze medals at ACAC Championships, a CCAA bronze medal, and an ACAC Conference Championship. With the season now finished, lets have a look at what happened in the second half of the 2021-22 season for CUE Thunder Athletics.
Women’s Basketball
Entering the winter semester comfortably in a playoff spot, the Thunder fought through the remainder of their schedule to finish 6-10, and return to the postseason for the first time since 2017-18. The Thunder attack was lead by fourth year guard Kaelyn Bryks, who averaged 16.7 PPG and finished top five in the ACAC in scoring. Even through they were one of the youngest rosters in the ACAC with six rookies, Head Coach Robbie Valpreda had the Thunder with the 4th best scoring output in the ACAC averaging 69.1 PPG while shooting .378 from the field. The Thunder met up with their cross-town rival NAIT Ooks in the ACAC North Division Quarter-Finals. Holding a lead at one point and staying within striking distance for most of the game, the Thunder eventually fell short against the Ooks 80-60. Kaelyn Bryks also finished top 10 in the ACAC with a .762 free throw percentage, while third year guard Madison Murdoch finished second in the ACAC with a .394 three-point percentage and rookie forward Rachel Harvey finished second in blocks (33). Bryks would go on to be named to the ACAC’s All-Conference first team, while Harvey was named to the All-Conference second team.
Team Leaders –
#9 Kaelyn Bryks: 16.7 ppg, .389 FG%, .271 3P%, .762 FT%, 4.5 rpg, 1.4 apg
#11 Rachel Harvey: 10.1 ppg, .448 FG%, .381 3P%, .683 FT%, 6.9 rpg, 1.4 apg
#3 Brooke Froment: 11.0 ppg, .361 FG%, .274 3P%. .636 FT%, 2.8 rpg, 2.5 apg
ACAC All-Conference –
#9 Kaelyn Bryks
#11 Rachel Harvey
Men’s Basketball
Perhaps the hardest hit team in the second semester when it comes to COVID, the Thunder men’s basketball team entered the second semester in 4th place in the ACAC North with a 2-4 record. Fighting through adversity and a number of mid-season roster turnover moves, the Thunder playoff push went down to the final weekend – but they held off the TKU Eagles for the final playoff spot to make their 5th straight appearance in the ACAC post-season. Third year guard Nick Gibb lead the team in scoring, averaging 15.6 ppg. Meeting the Lakeland Rustlers in the ACAC North Division Quarter-Final, the Thunder lost a hard-fought game 78-64. Gibb would go on to be named to the ACAC All-Conference team.
Team Leaders –
#2 Nick Gibb: 15.6 ppg, .409 FG%, .353 3P%, .750 FT%, 3.3 rpg, 1.9 apg
#11 Carsten Ritter: 14.3 ppg, .403 FG%, .441 3P%, .923 FT%, 3.9 rpg, 0.6 apg
#14 Alex MacLean: 11.4 ppg, .493 FG%, .333 3P%, .759 FT%, 5.1 rpg, 1.9 apg
ACAC All-Conference –
#2 Nick Gibb
Women’s Volleyball
Taking over in January, Interim Head Coach Dione Lang navigated the Thunder through a tough and competitive North Division, including an upset of the nationally ranked King’s Eagles, enroute to the program’s first playoff appearance in history. Meeting the Keyano Huskies in the ACAC North Division’s Quarter-Finals, the Thunder took the first set and gave the Huskies a hard fight, but ultimately fell short 3-1. Fourth year setter Emma Derbyshire finished top ten in the ACAC in assists this season and became the program’s leader for career assists, team captain and fifth year libero Shae McDonald set a new program record in career sets played, second year outside hitter Kara McIntyre was third in the ACAC in digs at 212, and third year libero Renae Regal was 8th in the ACAC in digs (174).
Team Leaders –
#8 Mykayla Ebel: 115 K, 5 A, 5 SA, 84 DIGS, 10 BS
#13 Kara McIntyre: 103 K, 9 A, 12 SA, 212 DIGS, 3 BS
#4 Emma Derbyshire: 31 K, 351 A, 9 SA, 106 DIGS, 3 BS
Men’s Volleyball
Wrapping up his first season as Thunder men’s volleyball head coach, Ken McLaughlin had an extremely young team with 12 of the 17 players on the roster in their first season. Fighting until the end, the Thunder missed the playoffs by only two points. Third year outside hitter Wyatt Turnbull finished in the top 15 in the ACAC in total kills (139) and service aces (20), and the top ten in kills per set (2.90). Rookie setter Hunter Ashburn finished top 15 in the ACAC in assists (289), rookie libero Nathan Lane finished top 10 in digs (113), and third year outside hitter Carson Hilburn finished top 10 in blocks (28).
Team Leaders –
#5 Wyatt Turnbull: 139 K, 4 A, 20 SA, 75 DIGS, 15 BS
#7 Hunter Ashburn: 16 K, 289 A, 13 SA, 83 DIGS, 6 BS
#2 Nathan Lane: 0 K, 28 A, 0 SA, 113 DIGS, 0 BS
Hockey
In Head Coach Joey Bouchard’s third season in charge of the program, the Thunder men’s hockey team had their most successful season in program history, finishing in 2nd place in the ACAC with a .688-win percentage. This also put the team in position to earn just the second first round playoff bye in program history and the first since the 2007-08 season. During the regular season, the Thunder boasted dominant special teams: finishing with the ACAC’s best penalty kill (88.3%), second best power play (23.9%), and led the league in short handed goals for. Individually, fourth year forward Tyler Benko was tied for the conference lead in assists (13) and was top ten in points (17), second year forward Keegan Tiringer lead the ACAC in powerplay goals (6) while fifth year forward Rory Davidson finished with the league lead in shorthanded goals. Rookie defenceman Xavier Parenteau finished second in goals from the blueline (5), fourth year defencemen Scott Allan and rookie defencemen Seth Summers finished tied for the league lead in assists from the defencemen (10), and Allan and Summers finished tied with fourth year defenceman Matt Benko for second in points from the blueline (11). If those stats weren’t enough, rookie goalie Griffin Bowerman finished second in the ACAC in GAA (2.30), SVP (.927), and wins (6).
After a first round bye, the Thunder met the Augustana Vikings in the best-of-three ACAC Semi-Finals. After a heartbreaking game one loss in OT, the Thunder bounced back in game two to even the series 1-1. The deciding game three also went to overtime, where Scott Allan picked up a rebound on the rush to bury the golden goal to send the Thunder to the ACAC Finals against NAIT. In the best-of-five final, the Thunder fought hard and kept things close, but ultimately fell in three straight to claim the ACAC Silver Medal. Matt Benko, Tyler Benko, and Griffin Bowerman were named to the ACAC All-Conference team, while Joey Bouchard was named the ACAC Men’s Hockey Coach of the Year.
Team Leaders –
#7 Keegan Tiringer: 11 G, 4 A, 15 P, 6 PPG
#21 Tyler Benko: 4 G, 13 A, 17 P, 1 PPG
#30 Griffin Bowerman: 6-2-1, 2.30 GAA, .927 SVP, 267 SV
ACAC All-Conference –
#9 Matt Benko
#21 Tyler Benko
#30 Griffin Bowerman
Indoor Track
After an extremely successful Cross-Country season, the Thunder Cross-Country and Indoor Track teams turned their attention to the track in the 2022 Winter Semester. In the first meet hosted by Concordia, The Thunder captured 13 medals: six golds, five silver, and two bronze highlighted by Taylor Chamberlin finishing first in the women’s 1500m and 3000m events and Brandon Toal claiming first in the men’s 3000m and silver in the men’s 1500m. In the second meet hosted by Red Deer Polytechnic, the Thudner claimed nine medals: three golds, five silver, and one bronze.
These two meets set up the ACAC Conference Championships, where the Thunder came away with 16 medals and an ACAC conference title. On the men’s side, Leonard Chesoo finished championship weekend with four gold medals in the men’s 600m, 1000m, 1500m, and 3000m events while Brandon Toal won three medals: silver in the men’s 600m and bronze in the men’s 1500m and 3000m events. The Men’s team finished second overall for the weekend. On the women’s side, Taylor Chamberlin won gold in the women’s 1500m and 3000m events and silver in the women’s 1000m event. Emma Derbyshire won silver medals in the women’s 300m and 600m events and a bronze in the 1000m event, while Anna Peacocke won a bronze medal in the women’s 1500m event. The women’s relay teams also picked up two medals, winning silver in the 4x400m event and bronze in the 4x200m event. The women’s team finished first overall to in the weekend to claim the ACAC Conference Championship on the women’s side. Additionally, Leonard Chesoo was named the 2022 ACAC Men’s Indoor Track Runner of the Year while Taylor Chamberlin took home the 2022 ACAC Women’s Indoor Track Runner of the Year Award.
Curling
A shortened season due to COVID, head coach Taina Smiley was able to field teams in both the men’s and women’s competitions. In bonspiel number one hosted by NAIT, the men finished 0-2, losing two close games 4-2 SAIT and 5-4 to Augustana, while the women also finished the weekend 0-2. In bonspiel number two hosted by Red Deer, both the men and women had hard fought games but fell short, again posting 0-2 weekends. In the ACAC Conference Championship in Camrose, the Thunder men’s team again was in tough and fought hard, but put up an 0-4 round robin. On the women’s side, the Thunder suffered three tight and hard fought loses before picking up their first win to finish championship weekend 1-3. Both teams went on to finish 5th at the ACAC Curling Championships.
Badminton
After the 2020-21 season was lost to COVID, Head Coach Rachel Smilie made her debut during the 2021-22 season as the Thunder Badminton head coach. At the first tournament hosted by King’s, Salvador Robles-Gonzales and Brandon Morris finished in the top ten in the men’s singles event, Johnna Rymes and Jasleen Kaur finished first and second in the women’s singles event, Brandon Morris and Johnathan Su finished in the top ten in the men’s doubles event, Jasleen Kaur and Johnna Rymes ran the table to take first place in the women’s doubles event, while Salvador Robles-Gonzales and Shaye Wiese as well as Johnathan Su and Ellis Connelly finished in the top ten in the mixed doubles event.
At the second event hosted by NAIT, Salvador Robles-Gonzales and Johnathan Su finished in the top ten in the men’s singles event, Johnna Rymes and Jasleen Kaur once again finished first and second in the women’s singles event, Brandon Morris and Salvador Robles-Gonzales finished 5th in the men’s doubles event, Jasleen Kaur and Johnna Rymes won the women’s doubles event, and Johnathan Su and Ellis Connelly and Jacob Williston and Shaye Wiese finished in the top ten of the mixed doubles event.
During the ACAC Championships at Olds, Salvador Robles-Gonzales claimed 5th in the men’s singles, Jasleen Kaur and Johnna Rymes finished first and second in the women’s singles event, Brandon Morris and Salvador Robles-Gonzales claimed the bronze medal in the men’s doubles event, and Salvador Robles-Gonzales and Johnna Rymes won the silver medal in the mixed doubles event. At the awards, Jasleen Kaur and Johnna Rymes were named to the ACAC All-Conference team and Rymes claimed the ACAC Women’s Player of the Year. At nationals, Johnna Rymes and Jasleen Kaur competed in the women’s singles event, with Rymes going on to win the bronze medal. She was also named a CCAA All-Canadian and the CCAA Women’s Player of the Year.
ACAC All-Conference –
Jasleen Kaur
Johnna Rymes
