Record runs and last-play thrillers: 11 UBC athletic feats from 2025
A year of record-breaking performances and championship drama for UBC Thunderbirds and UBCO Heat athletes—from last-play victories to historic academic achievements.
UBC Thunderbirds won their second-straight Canada West women's soccer championship. Photo credit: UBC Athletics.
From a championship-winning final play to record-setting seasons, 2025 was another year to remember for UBC Thunderbirds and UBC Okanagan Heat athletes.
And the wins weren’t limited to the athletic arena. At UBC Vancouver, 240 Thunderbirds were honoured as Academic All-Canadians after posting at least an 80 per cent average in 2024-25—an eight per cent increase from the previous year and the second-highest total the program has ever recorded.
At UBC Okanagan, a record 113 Heat student-athletes hit that same academic standard.
With some fall/winter seasons still in progress, here are a few of the biggest UBC athletic highlights from 2025:
Four-peat for men’s rowing
Men’s rowing extended UBC’s national dynasty in 2025, capturing a fourth straight Canadian University Rowing Championships title in Montreal—the program’s second four-peat—and a Men’s Coach of the Year honour for Mike Pearce. The men delivered podium finishes in five of six events, led by gold in the men’s eight and men’s pair. The women placed fourth, paced by Gabrielle Yarema’s single-scull gold.
The Western Canadian University Rowing Championships in Burnaby had built momentum when UBC swept the team banners and won 12 of 18 gold-medal events.
Women’s rugby title thriller
A last-play try delivered the headline again as UBC women’s rugby went back-to-back as national champions against top-seeded Victoria at Thunderbird Stadium, with a 15–13 win sealed by Adia Pye’s finish on the final play. UBC’s title run included big wins over Laval and Queen’s, and ended with Charity Williams named MVP and five Thunderbirds earning all-star honours.
On the men’s side, the Birds added national bronze with a win over UVic, while the UBCO Heat men repeated as Prairies U champions.
UBC rules the pool
UBC ended the 2024-25 season on top in the pool, sweeping men’s and women’s national titles at the U SPORTS Swimming Championships. The new season began the same way, with both teams also capturing Canada West banners.
Golf domination
UBC women’s golf won every championship it entered: Canada West (sixth straight), Cascade Collegiate, Canadian national and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) titles. Jessica Ng earned NAIA medalist honours and head coach Chris MacDonald was named NAIA Coach of the Year.
Grace Bell and Sienna Harder delivered UBC’s first NCAA Division I wins since the 1990s.
At UBCO, Julia Alexander-Carew captured the national individual title—one of three titles she won in 2025—as the Heat women finished second overall. The UBCO men repeated as Canada West champs with a record-setting team round to edge out UBC.
Track and field, cross-country
UBC swept men’s and women’s outdoor team titles at NAIA nationals in May—the women’s fourth straight title and the men’s third in eight years. Olivia Lundman set a Canadian 5,000-metre racewalk record and Dylan Uhrich repeated as NAIA steeplechase champion.
UBCO’s Lauren McNeil won Canada West cross-country gold and silver at nationals, becoming the first UBCO student-athlete named a U SPORTS All-Canadian three times.
Softball supremacy in Kelowna
UBCO Heat softball won its second national title in 2025, capturing the Canadian Collegiate Softball Association crown. After a slow start, the Heat posted a 27-0-1 run to finish the season and earned their third Western Collegiate Softball Association title in four years.
Rising basketball stars
Keira Daly became the second Thunderbird to win the Kathy Shields Award as U SPORTS Rookie of the Year, while teammate Mona Berlitz was named a Second Team All-Canadian.
UBC’s Nikola Guzina was drafted 10th overall by the Vancouver Bandits in the Canadian Elite Basketball League draft, while UBCO’s Jalen Shirley became the first Heat player drafted, taken 28th by Edmonton.
Women’s hockey milestones
UBC women’s hockey earned national recognition in 2025, with Grace Elliott named U SPORTS Player of the Year after a standout season that placed her among the country’s elite. In a historic first for the program, Chanreet Bassi was drafted into the Professional Women’s Hockey League in June, marking a breakthrough for the Thunderbirds’ pipeline to professional hockey.
Perfect (almost) on the pitch
UBC women’s soccer had a spotless regular season, going 1,420 minutes without conceding. They gave up one goal in playoffs en route to back-to-back Canada West titles before falling 2–1 to Montréal in the snow-delayed national final.
On the men’s side, Nicolas Nadeau (Vancouver FC) and Luke Norman (Pacific FC) were both drafted into the Canadian Premier League.
Gridiron to the pros
Five Thunderbirds—Arvin Hosseini, Skyler Griffith, Isaiah Knight, Gavin Coakes and Ronan Horrall—were selected in the 2025 CFL Draft, while standout tackle Caleb Cunningham earned First Team All-Canadian honours.
In the NFL, former ’Birds Giovanni Manu and Theo Benedet both saw regular-season action, combining for eight starts.
Return to the World Series
UBC baseball returned to the NAIA World Series for the first time since 2006. Pitcher Ryan Heppner was drafted by the Atlanta Braves and outfielder Jonny McGill signed with the Los Angeles Angels as a free agent.
