2008-09 CIS Year In Review

With every year that goes by, more Canadian Interuniversity Sport history is written and record books grow thicker and thicker. Following is a sport-by-sport look at another CIS season filled with outstanding performances and remarkable achievements.

Home Sweet Home: The Victoria Vikes were crowned women's field hockey champions in front of their home fans on November 2nd following a 2-1 win over Alberta that marked the final university game of their team leader, Victoria native Alexandra Lee, a four-time all-Canadian and a former CIS MVP and rookie of the year. UVic's McCrae Cup triumph was the 11th in school history, tying archrival UBC for most all-time.

Home Sweet Home (Part II): On the same day in Lethbridge, Alta., the hometown Pronghorns captured their second straight Monilex Trophy as women's rugby champions. Team captain and Lethbridge native Ashley Patzer, a member of Canada's senior national team and a former CIS player of year and top freshman, earned tournament-MVP honours after she scored a pair of tries in three consecutive games.

Double-Double: One year after becoming the first school in history to sweep the women's and men's cross country titles, Guelph was at it again on November 8th on the historical site of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. The Gryphons once again claimed double gold, with their women's team tallying the lowest point total at Nationals since 1986 (27) and Matt Brunsting becoming the first Gryphon since 1977 to win the men's individual race.

As White As Snow: It wasn't snowing in Langley, B.C., where Trinity Western was hosting a CIS championship for the first time. It was raining. But that didn't stop the hometown Spartans from doing a little white washing as they became the first team in 16 years to post back-to-back-to-back shutouts on their way to the Gladys Bean Memorial Trophy and the women's soccer title. Freshman TWU goalkeeper Kristen Funk was so impressive she was recently selected to represent Canada at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Serbia.

Lions Den: Not to be outdone, York was also perfect on defence en route to the men's soccer title. With a 1-0 victory over Trinity Western in the nation's capital, the Lions captured their first Sam Davidson Memorial Trophy since 1977 and the school's first CIS banner in any sports since 1989-90, when CIS was still CIAU and the Lions were? the Yeomen!

Red and VERY Gold: Nothing was going to stop the Rouge et Or football team in 2008. Laval used four plays of 60 yards or more to down Western 44-21 on November 22nd at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton to complete the first perfect season (12-0) in the team's short 13-year history and move into second place on the all-time list with five Vanier Cup victories. Glen Constantin, who led the R&O to a fourth title in eight campaigns at the helm, tied former Calgary sideline boss Peter Connellan for most Vanier Cups by a head coach.

One Lost, One Gained: The winter championship season opened February 19-21 with the nation's top swimmers gathering in Vancouver. In women's competition, the longest streak of success in CIS history - in any sports - came to an end when the Calgary Dinos, led by Olympian Erica Morningstar who won seven gold medals in seven races in her university debut, claimed their first-ever banner after an 11-year domination by the UBC Thunderbirds. The T-Bird men however reclaimed the title from their U of C rivals, who had ended their 10-year reign in 2008.

They Had A Good Run: Another dynasty was overthrown a week later in Calgary where the Simon Fraser men captured their first wrestling title since joining CIS in 2002-03, ending a 10-season reign by the Brock Badgers in the process. Entering the national meet as defending champions, the Clan women didn't have as much luck and had to settle for silver behind the hometown Dinos and 63-kilogram champion Justine Bouchard, who capped off her university career with a fifth CIS medal in five years.

Golden Girls: After winning their first women's volleyball championship since 1978 last season, the UBC Thunderbirds didn't want to wait another 30 years to taste CIS gold again. The T-Birds didn't look like national champions at the midway point of the season when they had a 7-5 conference record but went 17-0 from that point on, including their second five-set CIS gold-medal win in two years in Fredericton, this time over the U of C Dinos.

Perfection, Part I: The Alberta Golden Bears and BLG award nominee Joel Schmuland were as close to perfection as it gets in men's volleyball in 2008-09. Ranked No.1 in the nation from Day 1, the Bears kept a 23-0 mark in the regular season, Canada West playoffs and at the CIS championship, winning 69 of 75 sets along the way. Schmuland became the first U of A player in history to win three Tantramar Trophies as the Bears were crowned in their own gym in Edmonton.

WINdsor: The Windsor Lancer women and men became the seventh and eight teams to win CIS gold on home turf this season when they swept the track and field banners, on March 14th. While the Windsor men put on one of the most dominating displays in history, more than doubling their closest rivals in the standings (145.5 points to 72), the Lancer women edged defending champion Guelph by a single point thanks to a fourth-place finish in the very last even of the meet, the 4x 400-metre relay.

The BC Baby: The West domination in women's basketball resumed in Regina where Simon Fraser defeated the hometown Cougars 68-62 in the championship match to claim its fourth Bronze Baby Trophy in eight seasons. The Clan's triumph also marked the eighth straight year the CIS banner returned to B.C., the 18th consecutive title by a school currently playing in the Canada West conference and the 10th all-West final in 12 campaigns.

Perfection, Part II: It took them 11 years to win CIS women's hockey gold but the McGill Martlets didn't have to wait very long to hoist the trophy for a second time. The Martlets beat Laurier 3-1 on March 22nd in Antigonish, N.S., to repeat as national champions, thanks in large part to defender Catherine Ward and BLG award nominee Charline Labonté - an Olympic gold-medalist goaltender -, who were both announced as Team Canada members for the 2009 IIHF world championship two days before the start of the CIS tournament.

The Return Of The King: Carleton won five straight men's basketball titles in Halifax from 2003 to 2007 but was ousted in the semi-final round a year ago when the championship moved to Ottawa after a 24-year stint in Nova Scotia's capital. The Ravens regained their crown in spectacular fashion on March 15 at Scotiabank Place with an 87-77 victory over UBC, after advancing to the title match on a semi-final buzzer-beater by all-Canadian Stuart Turnbull against Western.

Hawks Heaven: It was quite a year for skip Hollie Nicol and her Wilfrid Laurier curling teammates. After qualifying for the 2009 World University Games tournament by winning the inaugural CIS championship last winter, the Golden Hawk women travelled to China in February to claim Universiade silver, and then returned to Canada to repeat as CIS champions with a 6-4 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies. It was a Sunday afternoon Saint Mary's would rather forget as the Huskies also dropped the men's final to Regina, 9-8.

MacIntosh Too Sweet For Stangs: UNB forward Lachlan MacIntosh had nine goals in 32 AUS conference and playoff games going into the University Cup championship. The Perth-Andover, N.B., was named tournament MVP in Thunder Bay after exploding for five markers in three outings, including a hat-trick in the gold-medal final against the Western Mustangs, to lead the Varsity Reds to their second men's hockey title in three years.

World Champions: CIS continued to offer international opportunities through numerous world university championships and the 2009 Winter Universiade in Harbin, China, where the Canadians racked up six medals, including a historical triumph in the inaugural Universiade women's hockey tournament. McGill hockey player Cathy Chartrand and Wilfrid Laurier curler Hollie Nicol carried the Canadian flag at the Games' opening and closing ceremonies, respectively.

Hoping To Host The World: CIS proudly supports the 2015 Edmonton bid to bring the Summer Universiade back to Canada for the first time since 1983. The host city for the Games will be announced by the Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) on May 23rd.

Champions in the Classroom: Last but not least, 23 percent of CIS student-athletes received Academic All-Canadian recognition for maintaining an average of 80 percent or better in the classroom while competing for one of their university's vars