The spring semester may have ended, but there was no such break in the world of SFU sports. Here are the highlights from between exams and the first day of classes:
Men’s basketball names new head coach
SFU Athletics announced on April 15 that Clan alumnus Virgil Hill will be the men’s basketball team’s seventh head coach.
Hill, who played forward for the Clan from the 1989–90 to 1992–93 seasons — nicknamed “Air Virgil” in a 1989 issue of The Peak — and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology, replaces former head coach James Blake who resigned after going 38–90 over five seasons.
Hill is the first SFU alumnus to take the job in 20 years, since former Toronto Raptors head coach and current Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Jay Triano coached the team from 1989 to 1995. It was under Triano that Hill started his coaching career as an assistant coach, a position he held for six years.
The Sarnia, ON native was previously the head coach of Laurentian University, a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) school, from 2000 to 2007, and most recently served as the head coach at Collingwood School, a private high school where he taught math as well as strength and conditioning.
“What I want to bring to the team is a sense of togetherness and community. When I [played] there, that was the overarching message from the coaches [that] we were part of a bigger family,” he told The Peak. “The first part of that is having an eye on local recruiting.
“When you have kids from the area — or close to the area — that gets people supporting you, because people want to support the local kids.”
Hill indicated that he will not bring back the full throttle offence that Blake had adopted for the team last season. The style gave the Clan an exciting game, with the team leading the NCAA Division II in scoring offence with 104.2 points per game and a record of never shooting below 75 points (the previous season’s lowest scoring game resulted in only 49 points for the Clan). But it only resulted in three more Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) wins than the season before, and a 6–12 record in the conference.
“I’m just not sure that was the right way to go,” Hill said. “That type of offence just puts too much pressure on your offence because you’re forced to score a lot of points, and it’s tough to score 100 points a game. So I think that playing a little bit slower, a little bit more deliberate [. . .] makes more sense.”
Football coaching staff set
SFU Athletics announced the hiring of Jaime Hill on April 10 as the new defensive coordinator of the Clan.
Hill previously spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Portland State University, an NCAA Division I team. He was also the defensive coordinator at Brigham Young University (2006–2010), another Division I team, Humboldt State University (2002–2003), and the University of Chicago.
He also coached alongside current Clan offensive coordinator Joe Paopao in a stint with the XFL’s San Francisco Demons, and as a co-defensive coordinator with the Ottawa Renegades in the CFL, where Paopao was head coach.
Hill is replacing Abe Elimimian, who was brought on by former Clan head coach Jacques Chapdelaine as defensive coordinator, but left after a year for a job with the University of Hawaii.
“Jaime [Hill] understands how to create defensive schemes that enable players to excel and succeed,” head coach Kelly Bates told SFU Athletics. “His knowledge and experience is going to be extremely beneficial for us.”
SFU Athletics also announced the hirings of Tom Kudaba and Dennis Kelly as defensive line coach and associate offensive coordinator, respectively. Kudaba and Kelly are both Clan alumni and were long time high school football coaches.
From the 2014 coaching staff, Travis Hayes, defensive backs coach and equipment manager; Bryan Wyllie, linebackers coach and recruiting co-coordinator; Michael Lionello, director of football operations and recruiting co-coordinator,; and Jon Klyne, receivers coach, will all be returning.
Keenan North, a senior defensive lineman for the 2014 season, was also named a graduate assistant.
Lemar Durant: movin’ on up
After going undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft, former Clan wide receiver Lemar Durant accepted an invitation to the New York Giants mini camp on May 8 and 9, where he competed to make an impression on the team, and vied for a spot at the main camp.
“Getting drafted would have been nice, but I didn’t think about it too much,” Durant told Monarch of the Clan. “The main goal is to make an active roster spot and invite to the main camp. I’m really just going there to have some fun and not put too much pressure on myself.”
Durant led the 2014 Clan in receiving yards with 685 yards in eight games played.
While he tries to find a job in the NFL, Durant is also a hot name in the CFL — he was ranked eighth in the CFL Scouting Bureau’s final prospect ranking released on April 24. The 2015 CFL Draft will be held on Tuesday, May 12.
Softball improves upon 2014 season
Despite a promising start to last season, with the SFU softball team winning four of its first six games, it missed the GNAC playoffs for the second year in a row. The team ended the season with four straight losses and only one win in the last 13 games. Three out of those four losses to cap the season were shutouts.
However, the team did improve from their 2014 campaign in which they had only four wins in the entire season, achieving a 17–29 overall record.
“Looking back, we made significant strides over last year but still have a ways to go to return to the standard our program has been known for,” head coach Mike Renney told SFU Athletics.
The team particularly struggled against their GNAC rivals, only posting five wins in the conference.
One bright spot for the Clan was their 2–1 series victory over the UBC Thunderbirds. SFU notched the season series after 9–2 rout of the Thunderbirds in the Clan’s last home game on April 19. The Clan lost the first game of the series 9–4, but won the second game 6–3.
In the previous season, SFU lost its only game to UBC 4–0, while in 2013, SFU lost the season series 2–1.
Three seniors — shortstop Danielle Raison, pitcher Kelsie Hawkins, and catcher Kaitlyn Cameron — played their last game for the Clan this season. Junior Rachel Proctor held the team’s best batting average at .354, while freshman Taylor Lundrigan led the team in hits and runs with 48 and 28, respectively. Proctor was named to the GNAC all-conference first team, while Raison and Hawkins made the second team, and Lundrigan was an honourable mention.
Men’s golf headed to national championship amidst first conference title win
The SFU men’s golf team have made the cut for the NCAA Division II National Championship for the second year year in a row — their second-ever appearance. The Clan tied for third at the NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional at Hiddenbrooke Golf Club in Vallejo, CA, held from May 4 to 6 with the top five teams earning a spot at the national championship.
Coming into the tournament, the team was ranked ninth in NCAA Division II competition. The Clan played their best golf on the first day, shooting a combined 296, good enough for second place — only six strokes behind the lead. On days two and three, SFU shot 309 and 303, respectively. Sophomore Alan Tolusso missed the second game due to illness, and although only four of the five golfer’s scores count towards the final score, having one golfer missing meant that the team had to use everyone’s scores — not just the four best.
“It is not unusual to shoot a higher team score after a decent opening round,” head coach John Buchanan told SFU Athletics after the second round. “With Alan [Tolusso] out, I think having to play with just four counters [. . .] spooked them. It is like having no safety net to cover you if you shoot a bad round, and you start thinking about it.”
Freshman Chris Crisologo led the Clan with a +4 performance, and ended the tournament tied in sixth place individually.
Leading into regionals, SFU also won the GNAC Championship — their first-ever NCAA conference title — held in Coeur d’Alene, ID on April 20 and 21. SFU broke the tournament records for lowest score and widest margin of victory — shooting a total of 837 (-15) over three rounds and beat second place by 37 strokes. The Clan were also the only team to shoot under par.
The Clan also had the top four golfers of the tournament: Brett Thompson (205 strokes, -8), Crisologo (206, -7), John Mlikotic (212, -1), and Kevin Vigna (214, +1). Thompson and Crisologo soundly beat the previous record for the lowest score at the tournament — 212 strokes — which Mlikotic tied.
The Clan will travel to Conover, NC to compete in the NCAA Division II National Championship from Monday, May 18 to Friday, May 22.
With files from SFU Athletics and Monarch of the Clan
