Men’s Golf
Men’s golf achieved their second NCAA tournament victory last Monday and Tuesday at the California Baptist Invitational in Corona, CA. John Mlikotic led the team with a total score of 214 (-2) in four rounds of golf, despite opening the tournament with the highest Clan score in the first round. He shot 70 (-2) and 68 (-4) in the final two rounds, and placed second individually at the tournament. Mlikotic’s effort won him the GNAC Golfer of the Week award. “We are not firing on all cylinders right now so to come away with a win in this tournament against many of our rivals tells me the team is starting to believe in itself,” head coach John Buchanan told SFU Athletics.
Track and field
Track and field were honoured with Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) awards on Tuesday. Senior Lindsey Butterworth, who achieved the women’s 800-metre title at the national championship, was named the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Freshman Paige Nock was voted the conference’s top female freshman, while graduate student Jennifer Johnson was named the GNAC Female Newcomer of the Year.
Women’s Basketball
Last Monday, Clan basketball star Erin Chambers was named an honourable mention for both the 2015 Daktronics/Division II Conference Commissioners Association Women’s Basketball All-American team and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America Team. This marks Chambers’ second straight appearance as an honourable mention on the WBCA All-America Team.
Whitecaps
Jovan Blagojevic and Alan Koch returned to Terry Fox Field for one last preseason game for the Whitecaps FC2 on Saturday, March 21. Despite Oregon notching the first goal, the former SFU men’s soccer midfielder and coach guided the FC2 to a 3–2 victory over Oregon State University. Blagojevic scored the game-winner in the 84th minute. The FC2 began their regular season against the Seattle Sounders FC2 on Sunday.
Wrestling
SFU wrestler Oscar Balaqui was crowned the 50 kg Canadian National Junior champion for the second year in a row. Balaqui has spent the season as a redshirt, having won last year in his senior year of high school. 2015 Clan signee Nolan Badovinac achieved second place in the 84 kg category. At the senior nationals, sophomore Josh Kim placed fifth. On the women’s side at the juniors, freshmen Tiffany Hibbert and Payten Smith earned silver medals, and Ashley Osachuk and Abby Lloyd earned bronze.
Softball
Clan softball went one for four in Montana, playing the Montana State University-Billings (MSUB) Yellowjackets in two doubleheaders over Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22. The Yellowjackets outscored SFU 32–13 over the four games, with the only victory coming in the second game on Saturday in a 10–9 result — the other games the Clan were held to two or fewer runs in the rest of the games. “[MSUB] came out with energy, scored runs early and shut down our offence. The games were all but done early from an emotional point for us,” head coach Mike Renney told SFU Athletics.
With files from SFU Athletics, GNAC Sports, @SFUWrestling, and the Vancouver Whitecaps
