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The Ring is published at the University of Victoria by UVic Communications.

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April 2005 · Vol 31 · No 4

Kudos and awards wrap up busy Vikes season

by Lynda Hills

UVic Vikes athletes and coaches earned honours and respect last month for their gritty performances at home and on the road.

The men’s basketball team was seeded sixth heading into the semi-finals of the Canadian Inter-university Sport (CIS) championship in Halifax after winning the silver medal at the Canada West Final Four Championship. After a heartbreaking 62-60 loss to Brock University, UVic defeated the University of Ottawa in the consolation round final.

As honorary chair, former UVic director of athletics Wayne MacDonald opened the tournament. MacDonald was recognized for his contributions to advance Canadian university sport. During his time as athletic director from 1990-2004, UVic won 31 national titles.

The women’s basketball team also went to the national championships in Winnipeg, where they played against Université Laval for the bronze position. Laval won 60-47. Jody Potts was named Canada West defensive player-of-the-year, top defensive player in Canada, and a second-team all-star.

Vikes men’s basketball coach Craig Beaucamp and star guard Chris Trumpy received coach-of-the-year and defensive player-of-the-year honours at the 2004-2005 Canada West Championship respectively.
CIS has renamed an award in honour of Kathy Shields, the long-time coach of the women’s Vikes basketball team. She presented the inaugural Kathy Shields Rookie of the Year Award at the CIS women’s basketball championship banquet in Winnipeg on March 15.

Shields coached for more than 20 seasons in CIS and with the Canadian national team. She was a three-time CIS coach of the year and amassed a regular season record of 320 wins against 50 losses. Shields has recently stepped down from her coaching position due to ongoing medical reasons.

“This is a very sad day for me,” Shields said at an announcement attended by many of her former players. “I care deeply about the UVic program and have enjoyed 25 great coaching years at this school.”

Vikes Mitch Gudgeon (basketball) and Stephanie Dixon (swimming) were also named Sport BC Athletes-of-the-Year. Gudgeon, in his first year with the Vikes, won in the high school male athlete-of-the-year category. Dixon won in the athlete-with-a-disability category for her eight-medal performance at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece.

Dixon was the first non-able-bodied swimmer to qualify for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championship. She also broke her own world record for swimmers with a disability in the 200-metre backstroke at the B.C. Seniors Swimming Championship.

At the same meet, Mackenzie Downing finished with a gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly. Veteran Dave Creel picked up third in the 400-metre individual medley and alumna Christin Petelski nailed a bronze medal in the 100-metre breaststroke.