Among the throngs of graduating students passing through the Chan Centre will
be 132 varsity athletes. And if, in 30 or so years, somebody asks any of them
what they recall about sport at UBC in their graduating year, they won’t have
to think particularly hard.
For varsity sport, the 82nd year of classes at UBC was one of the most memorable.
Perhaps most importantly, there are three more Canadian university championship
banners hanging from the War Memorial Gymnasium ceiling. With 40 championships,
T-Bird teams narrowed their gap behind the University of Toronto which, with
48, ranks tops in Canada.
The success of this past season can, and should, also be measured by a windfall
of individual performances and awards, such as volleyball aces Mike Dalziel
and Melanie Griswold each winning the CIAU’s prestigious TSN Award for
best combination of excellence in athletics, academics and community service.
September: The football T-Birds stumble out of the gate, badly
losing their home-opener in front of a record crowd and then dropping their
second straight Shrum Bowl Game against arch rival SFU.
October: UBC’s men’s soccer team toils in relative anonymity
against the televised success of Thunderbird football. They quietly win the
Canada West Championship and go on to thoroughly dominate the CIAU national
tournament in Halifax. But despite out-shooting McGill 20-0 in the final, the
T-Birds fail to score, and an overtime shoot-out falls in favor of the Redmen,
1-0.
November: Football playoff time, and whatever it was that had
plagued UBC in the first part of the season is long gone. The Thunderbirds capture
the most coveted trophy in Canadian university sport, the Vanier Cup. Mark
Nohra is named Hec Crighton Award winner as the most outstanding player
in the country. Three T-Birds are first team all-Canadians and nine are conference
all-stars.
December: While everyone expected the first-place standing
of the women’s volleyball team, few expected UBC’s basketball teams to be as
scrappy as they are. In particular, the small 10-player men’s squad stuns a
few conference and non-conference rivals. The hockey team hosts the popular
Father Bauer Christmas Tournament, and posts a tournament victory.
January: At the conference championships in Victoria, UBC’S
men’s and women’s swim teams cruise to wins. For the men, the win happens without
the assistance of national team member Mark Versfeld, who is winning
two medals at the World Aquatic Championships.
February: The women’s volleyball team clinches the Canada West
Championship. The hockey team bows out in conference quarter-finals. UBC’s gritty
hoop squads also lose in play-off semi-finals to rivals the University of Victoria.
Women’s ice hockey completes its inaugural season.
March: Women’s volleyball coach Erminia Russo is named
CIAU Coach of the Year, but in match two of the CIAU Championships, the defending
national champion Pandas send UBC to the consolation final and eventually a
fourth-place finish. The swim teams become the first teams in UBC history to
win simultaneous national championships in the same sport. Swim team coach Tom
Johnson is named CIAU Coach of the Year. UBC’s women’s golf team wins its
first-ever NCAA Tournament at Santa Clara’s Colby Classic. Olympic swimmer Sarah
Evanetz and Mark Nohra are named UBC’s top athletes at the annual
Big Block Awards Dinner.
