VikingsNationIssue 1.16 • March 13th 2013

Hockey Takes on SAIT!

Curling Teams Medal at Conference Championship!

Men’s and Women’s

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Hockey wraps up their Season at home

The Vikings Ski Team is going Strong

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Hockey vs. SAIT in the Semi-Finals

The Vikings men's hockey team ended their year this past weekend in a heartbreaking series with the rivaled Sait Trojans. The team went down to Sait on Friday with one loss over the weekend meaning an end to the Vikes season. On Friday in Sait the men jumped out to a quick start landing a 3-0 lead in the first period. However after the second period of play the Trojans battled back making the score 3-2 with one period left to play. With roughly ten minutes left in the game Adam Johnson netted his second goal of the game securing the 4-2 win.

On Saturday there would be no Cinderella story for the men as they played there hearts out but ended up losing the game 6-3. The Vikes outplayed and out-shot the Trojans 3 out of the 4 games but just couldn't seem to get the job done. Regardless the men should be very proud of their year earning a bronze medal which is the teams third medal in many years. On a personal note team captain Dan Hope ends his ACAC career as the Vikings all time leading scorer and the ACAC's fifth leading scorer. Best of luck to all graduate players and be proud of your careers while dawning the "V" on your chest.

Much thanks to all the fans who made it out to the rink and supported the men throughout the year. As well congrat-ulations to all sports teams with their very successful years and best luck to all graduates of all teams. It is well known throughout the ACAC now that Augustana may not be the biggest campus in the conference but its indeed one of the hardest places to play for any sport. Hope everyone has a great summer and we look forward to seeing you in the rink again next year.

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Photos of the Week by Pro Sports PhotographyFind More Photos Online at augustanavikingsgallery.com

Saying Goodbye to Shayne Bruney, David Shantz, Michael Swampy, Logan Gray, and Simon Irving at their final league game at home.

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The Vikings ski team hit the road again last weekend to a compete in Alberta Cups in Canmore, dubbed the “Sharkfest”. The weekend featured beautifully sunny and warm weather, which meant smiles, sunburns, and Coach Les and his new volunteer assistant Greg Hoar working long hours to prepare fast skis for the changing and warm conditions-- many thanks!

Saturday was a classic sprint race. The results from the morning qualification round included a spectacular 5th place by Kieran Baird and 9th by Andrew Brisbin. Notably, both chose to double pole the entire course, including uphills (no kick wax = less friction). Impressive! Maja Zimmermann, Kalli Green, and Lauren Brookes were 7th, 8th, and 9th respectively, Emma Norris 11th and Ilona Gyapay 13th.

Everyone raced in 2 or 3 heats in the afternoon, providing valuable sprint practice. “It’s like doing intervals with the coolest skiers in Alberta!” Maja commented, happily enjoying the weather and competition opportunity. After a spec-tacular day where he made it to the A final and even led for the first part, Kieran said, "It was good to see how I stacked up against the big guns." (For context, those big guns included National team members who raced at World Cups.)

Andrew charging up the last hill. (Photo credit Daniel Patterson)

Kalli starting a strong sprint. (Photo credit Daniel Patterson)

“Sharkfest”Alberta Cups #7 and #8

By Maja Zimmermann

Taya Hoar and Brianna Schultz duked it out over a 3.5km classic distance in the Sport women category. They claimed 1st and 2nd with Taya just 2 seconds ahead.

Sunday was a skate race, 5km for the women and 10km for men. An interesting feature of the course was that it was half on artificial snow and half on natural snow. Maja was 8th, Kall 12th, Lauren 14th, Emma 17th, Ilona 20th. Taya and Brianna also tackled 5km today and both made the podium in the Sport category again, congrat-ulations! On the men’s side Kieran was 11th and Andrew was 16th.

The weekend with its springtime feeling and lower-key atmosphere led to a variety of reflections. "I was con-vinced I hated klister wax up until this weekend. Now I'm converted,” Lauren reported. Philosophically, Emma stated, “Well, you either have a great race, or a bad race, or a mediocre race. And then we all die.”

As a team, the Vikings’ strong results this weekend bode well for Nationals, the next and last set of races on their schedule. It was also refreshing to have our two newer teammates around to participate in the Alberta Cup this weekend.

Brianna with nice technique in her second ever ski race! (Photo credit Daniel Patterson)

Taya looking as epic as the scenery. (Photo credit Daniel Patterson)

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The Vikings Cross country ski team traveled to Grande Prairie over Reading Week to compete in the Western Canadian Championships. The three consecutive races, part of the national NorAm circuit, drew about 40 competitors in the Open Men category and 27 for the Open Women, mainly from national devel-opment centers and club teams in western Canada.

The temperatures hovered just below zero all weekend. This was pleasant for the racers and spectators, but made for difficult kick waxing conditions. Coach Les’ multitasking abilities shone as he prepared excellent skis for us as the sole waxer for ten athletes. Many thanks to Davis, Cori and North Alton for providing us with accommodation, about a year’s worth of their Costco food supplies, and a life-size Ron Weasly cut-out. Our gratitude to the Altons, Rachel Burkinshaw-Zelko, and Justine Gyapay for providing transporta-tion.

Friday’s race was a 1.4 km skate sprint on a course that featured a long, winding downhill. All racers got to compete in at least one six-person heat following the qualification round. Kieran Baird finished 25th and Andrew Brisbin 30th. Maja Zimmermann skied through to the B-Final and ended in 11th, Lauren Brookes in 16th, Kalli Green 18th, Emma Norris 21st, Ilona Gyapay 24th and Johanna Ferrie 26th.

On Saturday there was a classic individual start race, 15km for the men and 10km for women. The 5km laps which made up the course were unusual in that there were next to no flat sections. One was always either climbing or descending around technical twists. Andrew Brisbin gave an impressive performance (with even pacing to within 0.3sec on laps 2 and 3!) and finished 22nd, and Kieran Baird was 39th. Also well-paced, Maja Zimmermann was 11th with Kalli Green only 7 seconds behind her in 13th. Lauren Brookes was 19th. Ilona Gyapay held off Emma Norris by 18 seconds and they claimed 22nd and 23rd respectively, followed by Johanna Ferrie in 24th.Emma Norris (50) pursued by leading Kalli Green (57) in the 10km classic race. Photo credit Grant Bour-ree and Yoland Girouard

In the final race the athletes switched to skate technique to do a long 30km for the men and 15km for the women, on the same hilly course. It was a handicap start, meaning that a racer’s previous finishing times carried over to determine today’s start order. So many skiers doing laps wore any snow on the downhill bends revealing slick ice. Kieran Baird managed to move up 10 places compared to his starting rank and finish 29th. Andrew Brisbin was 22 seconds behind him in 30th. Maja Zimmermann completed a third solid race and was 10th. Lauren Brookes was 14th, and followed 25 seconds later by Kalli Green in 16th.

Vikings Skiers Show Strength at Western Canadian Championships

By Maja Zimmermann

Emma Norris (50) pursued by leading Kalli Green (57) in the 10km classic race. Photo credit Grant Bourree and Yoland Girouard

Ilona Gyapay was 23rd and showed skillful, intelligent pacing as her two final laps were only 2 seconds apart. Emma Norris did not finish due to injury, but she’ll be back in action soon.

After the three fatiguing consecutive days of competition, athletes’ times in all of the three “mini-tour” events were combined for an overall ranking. Andrew Brisbin was 28th and Kieran Baird was 30th. On the women’s side Maja Zimmermann was 11th, Kalli Green 13th, Lauren Brookes 17th, and Ilona Gyap-ay 21st. Note that the men’s field is typically deeper than the women’s in all cross country ski events, and that the top contenders for both categories are vying to be competitive at an international level.

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The Final Word Behind the Scenes and a Few Other Thoughts

By Josh Ryan

As the 2013 athletics campaign starting to wind down, there is a lot to reflect on. Athletes, coaches, trainers and fans all deserve acknowledgment for the work they have put into the year. Some folks that have not received much recognition, and will likely not receive enough unfortunately, are our very own Vikes crew. For each and every league game, there is the advertising done online and through posters, the creation of tickets and game programs, running a concession and handling in game stats. Of course there is also setting chairs, tables, microphones, camera’s and many other things, which then all have to be taken down or cleaned up. This year was a particularly taxing year because of the issues of hiring in the Athletics Department. But despite the strife involved, the crew managed to set up a great show for fans, es-pecially at the women’s basketball championship, which received praise all around. So thanks Jadene and the rest of the gang, while you may not always get the recognition you deserve, we appreciate all the hard work you put into making Augustana a special place to be a student athlete and to witness athletic spectacle

• I have a correction to make. Last week I stated that the silver medal the women’s basketball team took at the Con-ference Championship was the first Augustana women’s basketball medal. While there was no official mention in the ACAC archives, turns out we literally have an ACAC Bronze banner from 1992 hanging up in the gym. My apologies; second time I have made an error regarding historical fact and Augustana basketball.

• The past two weekends featured the CIS and CCAA volleyball championships. While there was certainly success in all four events, the expected level of dominance, particularly on the men’s side, did not happen. While a number of people were disappointed, it may end up being a good thing. This means there is increased parity across the country and that teams out west will be highly motivated going into next year’s championships.

• Tough luck for our hockey team in their loss against S.A.I.T. They had a number of bad breaks in that fourth game.

• Farewell to Dan Hope, Quinn Amiel and the rest of the boys on the hockey team who graduate this year. Had fun watching you these past few years and wish you the best going forward.

• I found myself reading up on professionalizing in college sports in the United States. A very contrasting world compared to the college scene in Canada. While I would say the interest in college sport in Canada is growing in many aspects, down south it is a whole different world, where a number of schools make millions of dollars off of their athletic teams. Here are a couple articles that I checked out. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commen-taries/188428811.html?refer=y http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/07/the-olympics-show-why-college-sports-should-give-up-on-amateurism/260275/ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/magazine/reply-all-paying-college-athletes.html

• NHL fans are funny. After there were discussions about how many people were going to boycott the NHL, reports have come in stating that despite the lockout and higher ticket process, attendance has increased for the third year in a row. While the league will undoubtedly take financial losses, people seem quick to forgive in order to catch a game. http://business.time.com/2013/02/27/post-lockout-nhl-higher-ticket-prices-better-attendance/

• With our hockey guys being eliminated this weekend, the last standing indoor team is men’s curling, who head off to Nationals in two weeks. Go get em gents!