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Jordan Herdman invited to Senior Bowl

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Jordan Herdman (#57) holds numerous conference records, including most tackles in a season and total tackles.

SFU football linebacker Jordan Herdman is off to the 2017 Reese’s Senior Bowl on January 28. The event showcases all of the graduating seniors from NCAA football programs who are eligible to be drafted into the National Football League (NFL). Herdman will be competing against players who will likely be chosen in the upcoming NFL Draft, and is widely considered the showcase event for the top senior football prospects.


“We at SFU football are tremendously proud of Jordan,” said football head coach Kelly Bates to SFU Athletics. “During his time as a member of SFU football, Jordan provided a great example of what every student athlete should strive to be and accomplish. He continues to push himself to be the best player he can be and his hard work and commitment have been rewarded both on and off the field.”

Herdman was a dominant force during his time in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference playing for SFU football. He holds conference records in tackles with 428, and holds the single game record for most tackles in a game with 26. He also holds the record for most tackles in a single season with 165. He was ninth in all of Division II in tackles per game.

What this means for his future career remains to be seen. He likely has a shot after this to compete in some NFL free agent camps, but if he has an outstanding game could be chosen late in the NFL draft. This game represents a huge opportunity to raise his draft stock.

And of course, there is always the Canadian Football League (CFL). He curiously wasn’t included in the CFL’s top prospects list back in September, but was included at 16th in the updated rankings in December. However, with the season’s he’s had, he could be in contention for the first overall pick.

The Senior Bowl will be broadcasted on the NFL Network . Kick-off is at 11:30 a.m. Pacific.

Minutes from Emergency Board Meeting

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The Peak Publications Society Board of Directors
January 20, 2017
The Peak offices
Chair: Jessica Pickering

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SFU women’s basketball defeat Montana State 86–72

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Wilson recorded her second straight double double, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds, as well as three steals.

After Tuesday night’s emotional loss, SFU was looking for a way to bounce back and show that they were still a dominant team in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). They found the perfect tonic in the Montana State University Billings. In a performance typical of the season thus far, the Clan got solid performances up and down the lineup to win 86–72.

“I thought some things were very good,” said head coach Bruce Langford after the game. “[Rachel] Fradgley was efficient, I thought that [Ellen] Kett was efficient, [and] I thought that we were resilient. They had some runs at us, and we maintained our composure and came back.”

The first quarter was a tight affair. SFU, frankly, missed some easy baskets, which allowed Montana State to take a three point lead. However, back-to-back threes by freshman Tia Tsang meant the Clan were up by two by the end of it. They were able to extend that lead to nine by the end of the half — Ellen Kett hit a clutch corner three, and also dished it out to Meg Wilson inside for an easy two points. SFU showed some resilience in the second half, battling back from two Montana State surges to eventually take the game by 14.

The dominant player throughout the game was easily Meg Wilson. Recording her second straight double-double, she finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and three steals in a type of performance that is starting to become commonplace.  

“She has a lot of weapons,” said Langford on what makes Wilson such a dominant player. “She can shoot the three, drive and finish inside tight, she rebounds well, [and] she usually gets a steal and a breakaway layup every now and again, which makes things easy for us. She’s got a great diverse skillset that allows her to have success.”

Another standout performance came from Division I transfer Tayla Jackson. Although she only recorded eight points, those all came in the final 3:05 of the game where she showed off what could make her a dominant force in the future — and perhaps making the case for more playing time.

“I thought that we were resilient. They had some runs at us, and we maintained our composure and came back.”

“Hopefully it will help her upside,” commented Langford. “She’s struggled a little bit with some things, and she had a lucky bounce that went in beautifully, and then she had two or three moves in a row that got stopped.

“I think she got frustrated, but then she had things go her way for a little bit. She had a nice drop step that open from a nice pass, and so I’m sure that’s going to help a little bit with her confidence.”

Ellen Kett once again led SFU in minutes played with 35, and finished with 13 points and seven assists. Rachel Fradgley finished with 15 points and three rebounds. Ozi Nwabuko rounded out the double-digit SFU players, finishing with 12 points and three rebounds.

Next Games: SFU now are on a bit of a break, as they don’t play until next Thursday against Concordia University. SFU has already beaten Concordia this year, winning convincingly 80–58 on the back of Ozi Nwabuko’s 18 points. They’re currently seventh in the GNAC with a 3–6 conference record, but things could be different this time around. Of their six overall wins this year, four of them have come at home. They’re also third in the conference in three-point percentage. Despite that, it should be a fairly winnable game.

After that, it’s off to Western Oregon on Saturday. SFU has beaten them already this year 71–57. Similarly to Concordia, they’re a lot better at home — they’re 5–3 compared to their 1–6 away record. They currently sit in tenth place in the GNAC and are in the bottom half in pretty much every category, including turnover margin — meaning they give up the ball a lot more than they take it away from the opposition.

Like the last time these two teams met, the key will be to try and limit Shelby Snook’s opportunities — she’s currently fifth in conference scoring, averaging just over 16 points per game. When these two teams played last, SFU was able to do just that, as Snook had only six points in 33 minutes, of which five came in the first half. Ozi Nwabuko was tasked to shut her down, and she did so brilliantly. If SFU can repeat that gameplan, they should have no problem winning this one.

Both games start at 7 p.m.

Clan show signs of improvement, but fall short against Central Washington 97–85

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It was a game that highlighted both the youth on Simon Fraser’s basketball team, and the three-point making ability that Central Washington has displayed all season.

Coming into the game on a 12-game losing streak against the second place Central Washington Wildcats, the Clan knew they were facing a challenge. While they ended up losing the game, coach Steve Hanson was positive regarding the team’s effort.

“I thought our guys battled hard,” said the coach when asked about the game. “There were great stretches of effort, we just haven’t had a game of 40 minutes.”

The game started in favour of Central Washington, as two blocked shots by Fuquan Niles led to transition threes for Dom Hunter and Naim Ladd, and gave the team a 13–9 lead early. A few minutes later, two Ladd free-throws stretched the lead to 27–16 for the visiting team.

Two fouls by starting SFU point guard Michael Provenzano forced coach Hanson to go to his bench early, where Othniel Spence provided a defensive spark. The Clan then went on a 12–3 run that was capped by a steal and made free-throw attempts by Spence, cutting the lead to two points.

“He brings us so much energy on the defensive end,” said Hanson when asked about Spence’s play as of late. “He’s learning every week [. . .] he’s getting better every week.”

A beautiful alley-oop from Spence to JJ Pankratz helped the Clan keep the game close, before two failed defensive rebounds lead to a three for Ladd and a converted-and-one dunk for Niles.

When asked about it after the game, coach Hanson said, “The difference was the offensive glass, we just gave up too many second chance points.” Central Washington was plus seven in second chance points in this one, outscoring Simon Fraser 13–6.

A four-point play by Ladd gave the Wildcats a 52–44 lead going into the half. While faced with a daunting challenge, the Clan seemed to be holding their own so far.

In the beginning of the second half, however, the game got away from them. The Wildcats went on a 22–4 run to start the half, giving them a 74–48 lead. While the Clan made a valiant effort to claw back, strong play by Ladd and Niles ended up being the difference in the game.

“There were great stretches of effort, we just haven’t had a game of 40 minutes.”

Ladd ended the game with an efficient 33 points in 30 minutes on 8–11 three pointers, which has been the story of the Wildcats’ season thus far, as they lead the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) in three-pointers made per game. This combined with Niles dominating the paint with 14 rebounds and three blocks was too much for Simon Fraser to handle.

On the bright side, Kedar Wright had another solid performance for the Clan, with 25 points and seven rebounds on 8–17 shooting, including three three-pointers. When asked on his performance, coach Hanson responded with, “We see what Kedar can do on offense every day [. . .] he’s a very good three-point shooter.”

On top of this, the Clan were plus 17 in bench points, largely in part to Hidde Vos going 5–9 from behind the arc.

In a game in which Simon Fraser was a solid 48.3% from the field, the offense was not the problem. While showing bursts of effort on the defensive end, the 54.1% that Central Washington shot from the field alludes to the relatively young team that Simon Fraser has.

This can be summed up with coach Hanson’s post game quote: “We’re just not as big. . . not as old and strong.”

With this loss the Clan continue their skid with their 13th straight loss, and fall to 0–9 in the GNAC.

NEXT GAME: Simon Fraser will host the Northwest Nazarene University Crusaders on Saturday. The Crusaders are 1–4 in away games so far this season, giving the Clan a good opportunity to break their losing streak. They are tied for second in the GNAC in scoring defence, averaging 73 points per game.

Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

Politics Central: State of Innu reserve of Uashta-Maliotenam has been labeled as form of “apartheid”

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By: Manon Busseron

Five suicide deaths have occurred in the Innu reserve of Uashat-Maliotenam, near Sept-Îles (Quebec), home of more than 4,000 people. An inquiry was conducted by Quebec’s coroner, Bernard LeFrançois, to determine the circumstances of these deaths and, above all, to analyze the victims’ broader living context in order to understand the high suicide rates that have affected aboriginal communities.

LeFrançois’ final report underlines that First Nations people are more affected by poverty,  unemployment, alcohol, drug consumption, imprisonment, domestic violence, school dropout, and suicide issues.

Since 1994, 44 deaths by suicide occurred in the reserve of Uashat-Maliotenam. LeFrançois and Innu Chief Mike McKenzie believe that although suicides are mostly linked to personal discontent, structural causes must also be examined. Indeed, LeFrançois said that the entire reserves system “contributes to mental health problem[s] and substance abuse.” Aboriginal people are often isolated from health and suicide prevention services. For instance, the Naskapi have to travel 900km to get addiction treatment in their own language or English.

In his report, LeFrançois called reserves an “apartheid system,” in reference to the discriminating system towards black people established in South Africa between 1948 and 1994.

He put this idea directly in relation to reserves and suicides, stating that “the great fundamental problem lies with the ‘apartheid’ system into which aboriginals have been thrust for 150 years or more,” and that “the Indian Act is an ancient and outdated law that establishes two kinds of citizens, aboriginals and non-aboriginals.” He described the exclusion aboriginal people have faced: “The aboriginal is a ward of the State, someone considered incapable and unfit.”

First Nations representatives reacted positively to this report. Jean-Claude Therrien Pinnette, a spokesman for Uashat-Maliotenam people, agreed with the label “apartheid,” with the understanding that the name was an accurate assessment.

The report is considered by the coroner and First Nations’ chiefs as a step towards improvement for the Uashat-Maliotenam reserve, but also for all the other aboriginal people that are affected by the issues previously mentioned. Indeed, the report acknowledges that the people who committed suicide had their own reasons but also shared an aboriginal identity marked by their life in reserves. It seeks to find solutions to sociological and structural problems in order to prevent any more suicide.

The report offers 44 recommendations to provinces and to social institutions, including the creation of an aboriginal suicide prevention centre with Indigenous staff in Ottawa, a regional task force to fight drug trafficking, and the development of therapy centers and addiction treatment facilities for aboriginal people.

Quebec’s Minister for Rehabilitation, Youth Protection, Public Health, and Healthy Living, Lucie Charlebois, also highlighted that her government was holding a multi-year inquiry into the treatment of Indigenous people.

The suicide rate among Aboriginal people in Canada remains twice as high as non-aboriginals’.

With files from CBC, & Bureau du Coroner Quebec

Minutes from January 18th

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Peak Publications Society Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
January 18, 2017
The Peak offices
Chair: Jessica Pickering

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Simon Fraser lose 84–72 to Western Washington

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Ellen Kett (#5) finished with 16 points, six assists, and five rebounds playing the full 40 minutes.

The Simon Fraser University defence had no answer for Taylor Peacocke as she showed the Clan why she leads the NCAA Division II women’s basketball in points per game.

“We could do anything differently and it wouldn’t have been as bad as today,” coach Bruce Langford answered when asked about how the team could stop Taylor Peacocke in the future.

An ugly turnover lead to a Peacocke layup at the tip-off, and the game seemed to come just as easily to her as it continued. She had a career high 41 points, and dominated the game offensively in a variety of ways. Whether it’s her ability to drive to the basket, her ability to draw fouls, or her three-point abilities, she was certainly the catalyst behind Western Washington’s 84–72 victory to take sole possession of second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).

The game began with an emphasis on attacking the basket for both teams, with three consecutive traded layups — one of which was a Peacocke-and-one. A few jump ball calls and diving players in the first quarter showed that both teams were determined to battle for the second seed. A gritty first quarter went in favour of Simon Fraser, as they lead 19–17 at the end of the quarter after an Ellen Kett steal lead to a basket for Sophie Swant.

The second quarter was very much the same, as charges taken by Elisa Homer and Ellen Kett set the tone for the Clan’s defence. There was nothing to separate the teams, and Western Washington even switched to zone defence a few times to try and gain an edge. This edge was not gained, at least in the first half, as a Peacocke-and-one layup tied the game at 34 before a Kett free-throw made the game 35–34 for SFU going into the half.

The second half, however, was a different story.

A 22–9 run propelled by Peacocke’s outside scoring gave the Vikings a 12 point lead. A combination of Simon Fraser zone defence and strong point play by Kett helped cut the lead to five, and the teams went into the fourth quarter with a score of 60–55.

Peacocke was simply too much for Kett and company to handle, as her strong play continued into the fourth quarter. A midrange jumper and back-to-back three’s by her gave the Vikings a 68–58 lead. She didn’t miss her first shot of the half until there was 4:53 left in the fourth quarter. She finished the second half with 27 points on 8–9 shooting. “I didn’t think we contested her shots,” said Langford on the team’s defending of Peacocke.

The game ended 84–72, with Peacocke certainly being the difference. “[Your] best players need to be your best players and Peacocke was the best player tonight,” said Langford.

Even with this devastating loss, however, there is a positive to take from the game. Meg Wilson continued her strong play with a 24 point, 10 rebound double-double. When asked on her performance, coach Langford responded with: “She does a lot of things right [. . .] she scores quickly because of steals, she rebounds, and [she] gets offensive putbacks.”

In this one however, Taylor Peacocke simply took the game over.

With this loss Simon Fraser University falls to 7–2 in conference play and third place in the GNAC, with both of their losses coming to the teams above them in the standings. Coach Langford believes the team can make improvements: ”We need some better offensive flow,” said Langford. “I don’t think we shot our shot early in the game or even late in the game.”

Next Game: The Clan hopes to improve from this home defeat as they host the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets on Thursday. The Yellowjackets are tied for sixth in the conference with a 3–5 conference record and a 6–10 record overall. They are lead by Tiana Hanson who is averaging 16.3 points per game.

Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

Agenda for January 18

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Peak Publications Society Board of Directors Meeting Agenda
January 18, 2017
The Peak offices
Chair:

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Clan pick up two more losses on Oregon road trip

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Othniel Spence has emerged as one of the team’s most consistent scorers during the team’s last few games.

The men’s basketball team headed to Oregon on the weekend and picked up two losses.

On Thursday, the Clan fell 85–60 to the Western Oregon Wolves. At times, SFU was remarkably competitive against the Wolves, who last year made it to the NCAA Division II Final Four in the playoffs.

Michael Provenzano opened up the scoring with two successful free-throw attempts. At the beginning, SFU managed to get the best of Western Oregon, including an 11–2 run that gave SFU a 19–11 lead.

However, the Clan followed this by allowing a 23–2 run, which, after the two points scored by Provenzano at the beginning of the run, became a 21–0 run. SFU went 5:32 without a point and by the end of the run, were down 34–21.

By halftime, SFU had managed to cut down the deficit to nine, and were down 39–30. However, the damage was already done, and the Clan was never that close for the rest of the game.

Sophomore Tyrell Lewin went a perfect 7-for-7 from the field — harkening back to his 12-for-12 performance earlier in the season — and finished with 16 points, two of them from the free-throw line. Lewin leads the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) in field goal percentage with a .658 percentage (he’s also one of the few players on the list to have less than triple-digit attempt numbers, but it’s still a good record).

Provenzano was the only other player to put up double-digit points with 10, while Izaiah Sherman-Newsome recorded 10 rebounds.

Prior to Saturday’s game, it seemed like Concordia would be one of the more winnable games for SFU so far this season. Concordia was the team that SFU’s one conference victory came against last season, and it was a road game, too. Even in SFU’s home game against them last season, SFU fared pretty well, losing by only four points — a tight loss.

This was a team that SFU played well against. And Concordia was coming off a four-game losing streak — which could go either way, but didn’t likely mean a confident team.

Instead, SFU lost 97–70. Not their largest or worst loss by any stretch, but a disappointment in the sense that it seemed like it was going to be a competitive game beforehand.

Concordia opened the game by scoring 12 straight points and never looked back. It took nearly four minutes before JJ Pankratz was able to put up SFU’s first points of the game on the board.

By halftime, SFU was down 48–31. The Clan never came up with an answer to the 12-point deficit that they started with, and were unable to go on any runs.

It was another career-best game for freshman Othniel Spence, who led the team with 17 points in 21 minutes (which has got to be one of the more efficient points-per-minutes performances) off the bench.

Kedar Wright had 14 points, while Pankratz, Provenzano, and Sherman-Newsome all had nine points. SFU only managed four offensive rebounds.

Provenzano, who averages 30.2 minutes per game, saw more limited action Saturday, playing only 23 minutes.

Redshirt sophomore Bowen Bakken did not play, and has not played since December 29. In the most recent home games, he was dressed — ready to play, not injured — but did not receive any minutes. Redshirt freshman Graham Miller did not play either game, and has not played since the Las Vegas tournament in mid-December, having suffered an injury in practice before the team’s December 29 game.

THIS WEEK: SFU returns home looking for their first conference victory of the year and to break a 12-game losing streak.

Up first, on Thursday night, are the Central Washington Wildcats. They are currently second in the GNAC with a 6–2 conference record and 11–3 overall record.

They are one of the best offensive teams in the conference — second in scoring offence, putting up 89.1 points per game. However, they are one of the worst defensive teams in the conference, second-last (to SFU) in scoring defence.

Sound familiar? A team that’s at the top of the GNAC, with a terrific offence and a below-average defence? Sounds a lot like Western Washington. And if the Western Washington game was any indication — a close 103–98 loss, that saw SFU put up their best offensive output — these are the kinds of teams that SFU can compete against. Maybe even win against.

On Saturday, SFU will face Northwest Nazarene. They sit sixth in the GNAC with a 4–4 conference record and 7–7 overall record. They are the opposite of Central Washington with a below-average offence, but an above-average defence.

Tipoff is at 5:15 p.m. Thursday and 7 p.m. Saturday.

SFU impresses at the UW Indoor Preview

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Chantal Desch finished with a time of 56.70, good enough for sixth overall.

It was a great start to the indoor season for SFU’s track and field team. After a winter that saw them unable to train on the track due to snow, the Clan was able to deliver some convincing performances at the UW Indoor Preview.

“I think it was a great start,” said head coach Brit Townsend talking to The Peak. “We haven’t been able to be on the track because of the weather [. . .] So all those things considered, I think we did amazing[ly].”

Because of the heavy snowfall in the Lower Mainland, affecting exams up on the Burnaby Mountain campus, the team had to find new, creative ways to train and prepare for the upcoming meet.

“We’ve been going on the treadmill, we’ve done the AQ over the holidays and measured out some distances out there,” said Townsend. “Hallways, really anything that we could find. We’ve tried out some hills in the parking lot and residence and stuff like that. It was just a really long period of time to be without pacing and race simulation.”

Townsend believes however that this will make the team more focused heading into the rest of the season.

“I think it’s important to be able to adapt to adversity. These athletes have done that. Over the holidays we were up in the AQ, we even used the wheelchair ramp when school was closed. So you just have to make do. I got some good information and some research on treadmill workouts.”

“So for the distance runners, that was important. So we did a little bit of pace work there, but the machines only go so fast, so we have to work on aerobics stuff when we’re on there. But we have to make do.”

Standout performances included Chantel Desch and Daniel Kelloway, who “was home for the holiday [and] was able to do some indoor workouts”. Both had personal bests in the 400-metre. A number of freshmen also did extremely well, with Nathan Mah and Katherine Lucas being pointed out as having great performances by Townsend. Both Kelloway and Desch, as well as Julia Howley, made Division II qualifying marks.

Now the focus turns to the UW Invitational. It will be another tough test early on in the season to see where SFU’s runners match up.

“Now we’re looking at more schools across North America, lots of Division I schools will be at this next one,” explained Townsend. “We’ll also do our first DMR relay for men and women on the Friday night. We qualified both teams for indoor nationals and that’s our goal this year. So we’ll see if we can start that quest.

“I don’t know if we’ll make it the very first meet because, like I said, because it’s early and we haven’t really had the work that we would like to have done. But hopefully we have the ability to get both of those teams qualified once again.”

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

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© The Peak Publications Society

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society