By: Kaja Antic, Sports Writer
1 – Women’s wrestling
Record: 6–1
Trajectory: national champions; top-three finish
The women’s team has started their season in the driver’s seat, breezing by competition with a handful of heavy-handed victories. Among their six wins, SFU has outscored their opponents by 175 points. The women’s team only suffered their first loss, by a single point, less than a month ago to the No. 1-ranked team in all of Div. II wrestling, Iowa. Despite the loss, with the next best team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) two conference wins short of SFU, with only one conference match remaining — the women’s wrestling team was named the regular season champions in their first year since moving from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) to the RMAC. If SFU is only losing to the toughest collegiate team by one point, not only do their odds of winning a national title look promising, they look near guaranteed.
2 – Men’s golf
Results: 1st, 1st, 6th, 8th
Trajectory: GNAC Champions; top-five NCAA championship finish
The men’s golf team made program history to start the season, winning two consecutive invitationals for the first time ever. Since then, the team has cooled off, with their highest finish since being a tie for sixth. It’s no reason to expect any less from the team, who posted similar numbers around this time last season, and still went on to win the GNAC Championship, and place eighth at the NCAA championship. As a team this season, SFU has the best scoring average, with two-time Player of the Week Denby Carswell sitting in first, senior Michael Crisologo in fourth, and the brother duo of Bailey and Justin Bjornson in seventh and ninth, respectively. The team certainly has the talent to push for another conference championship and then some.
3 – Women’s golf
Results: 4th, 3rd, 8th, 7th
Trajectory: GNAC Champions; top-10 NCAA championship finish
The women’s golf team is also looking to claim the GNAC Championship for the second year in a row, and better their 12th place finish at the NCAA championship. Last season, SFU head coach Matthew Steinbach was named GNAC Women’s Golf Coach of the Year, while rising star Meera Minhas won Freshman of the Year. This season, Minhas has continued to be impressive, earning the first GNAC Player of the Week, and being tied for second in conference scoring average. Leading the conference scoring average is this year’s newest exciting addition to the Red Leafs, freshman Dana Smith, who received GNAC Player of the Week honours twice in October. Results have varied for the team this season. While they finished four places higher this season at the same tournament they had their worst result at last year, SFU, on average, is finishing four spots lower than they did through the first four invitationals last year.
4 – Track and Field
Trajectory: W-2nd indoors, 3rd outdoors (GNAC Championship)
M-5th indoors, 3rd outdoors (GNAC Championship)
With just days until the track and field season is set to begin, SFU students can rest assured that if last year’s performance is any indication, they’re in for a show headlined by significant athletic achievements. Last year’s indoor competition saw the women place third and the men place fifth in the conference championship, with the women’s team finishing 29th out of 50 schools during the indoor championships. In outdoor competition, the SFU women’s squad placed third out of nine schools in the GNAC Championship, while the men’s group placed sixth.
Then-sophomore Marie-Éloïse Leclair was the recipient of said significant athletic achievements, breaking numerous records during both the indoor and outdoor competition seasons. During the indoor season, Leclair shattered conference records, becoming the record holder for the fastest women’s indoor 400m runner in GNAC history. She capped off the indoor season by becoming the first SFU woman to gain NCAA All-American honours for sprinting. Months later during the outdoor championships, Leclair outdid her indoor accomplishments by doubling up on her number of All-American trophies. All these record breaking runs helped Leclair claim six individual women’s titles at the end of the season — the most of all other GNAC participants. The only difference between this season and last is if Leclair breaks any more records, they’ll likely already be her own.
5 – Men’s swimming
Record and results: 3–2, 1st, 1st
Trajectory: 3rd at the RMAC Championship
After losing three out of five individual meets to begin the season, the Red Leafs won both invitationals they participated in before the winter break. SFU swimmers placed first in seven events at the La Verne Winter Invitational and won twelve events at the Loger Invitational, including four relays and eight individual events. The 100-yard breaststroke in both tournaments had Hayden Visscher — one of the squad’s nine freshmen — breaking a long-standing SFU record twice. The men have three individual meets remaining before the conference championship: their first look at the RMAC postseason in their inaugural year.
6 – Men’s wrestling
Record: 3–2
Trajectory: 11th at regional championship
The 2023 postseason was short-lived but saw a first for longtime Red Leaf Taniela Feliciano-Takafua. Then a junior, Feliciano-Takafua made his national debut, going 1–2 in three matches at the NCAA championships. Though the team did not have much overall success, these postseason milestones propelled the Red Leafs into a strong 2023–24 start. The team began their first season in the RMAC with a dominant 50–0 victory. Newcomer Sam Pereira has shown up spectacularly, going undefeated in December’s Minnesota State Cactus Duals, and earning SFU’s only point against Minnesota State. The team looks to match their 11th-place finish at the regional championship once more, and has potential to send more than just one wrestler to nationals.
7– Hockey
Record: 4–3–1
Trajectory: first-round playoff elimination
Despite coming into the season with back-to-back league championships, the Red Leafs hockey team is not off to as strong of a start. In eight games, the team already has triple the losses they faced last season, with a league-leading 19–1–0 record. This slow start comes after major changes in the offseason to the hockey program, including the innovative separation of rosters — one for league competition and one for exhibition games against other collegiate teams. With twelve matches planned for 2024, SFU will need to finish the regular season in fourth place or better, out of five teams, to advance to the playoffs. They’re currently sitting in fourth.
8 – Women’s basketball
Record: 8–6
Trajectory: first-round playoff elimination
The women’s basketball team went on a recent seven-game winning streak against non-conference opponents in November, which was much needed after opening the season on a three-game losing streak. SFU is led by senior Jessica Wisotzki — last season’s GNAC first team selection and this season’s third-best scorer in the conference. She’s joined by her sister, junior Sophia Wisotzki, who’s five spots behind her in eighth. With multiple freshmen added to the roster, including Rachel Loukes, who leads the team’s freshmen in all but two categories, the team is on pace to finish sixth for the third year in a row.
9 – Women’s swimming
Record and results: 5–2, 5th, 1st
Trajectory: 6th at the RMAC Championship
Despite starting the season losing five straight swim meets, the Red Leafs women’s swim team has begun to turn their year around heading into 2024. After placing fifth out of 16 schools at the La Verne Winter Invitational, the team won the Logger Invitational alongside the men’s team — holding a 460-point lead over second-place, Alaska Fairbanks. Junior Tori Meklensek collected eight wins, factoring into all five of the women’s relay wins.
10 – Softball
Trajectory: miss playoffs
Despite leading the conference in runs scored per game and ranking second in batting average, the softball team came last, missing the postseason. Though the team had strong offensive capabilities — with Megan Duclos and Abby McGlynn earning two of the top five conference batting averages — defence was another story. With an earned run average of 5.96, the team’s pitching ranked last in the conference.
11 – Men’s basketball
Record: 2–10
Trajectory: miss playoffs
Disappointing is one word to characterize the basketball team’s 2022–23 season. SFU finished last in the GNAC standings with a 6–22 record — beating only one conference opponent. This season, the roster is virtually the same as last, and so too, unsurprisingly, are the results. SFU has the league’s lowest scoring margin at -11.2. It will take a massive turnaround for a playoff push to even be of consideration. Until then, for the foreseeable future, it’ll just be more growing pains for the team.
