2015-16 VARSITY ATHLETICS YEAR IN REVIEW

ETOBICOKE, ON: Another sports season has come to a close at Humber College, and once again numerous individual and team championship banners will proudly be on display in the Humber Athletic Centre.  Heading into the summer break, it is now time to look back at the year that was in Humber athletics. 

With a haul of 23 provincial medals, Hawks athletics have now surpassed Seneca College in the all-time medal count, becoming the most successful collegiate sports program in the province.  After a truly remarkable 2014-15 season that saw Humber bring home 27 provincial medals (13 gold, nine silver, five bronze),  Hawks athletics have ascended to the highest level over the past two decades. Around Humber College, the various teams' successes fuel each other, driving fellow student-athletes forward and contributing to a campus-wide culture - and competition - of excellence.

On the national stage, Humber continued to add to their overall lead after winning 11 CCAA medals, including six national championships.  

*Over 80 CCAA institutions have never won six national championships in their athletic history, yet alone in one academic season*

WINTER RECAP

History was made during the winter semester, with three programs winning their first ever CCAA medal.  On both the provincial and national stage, the Hawks continued to extend their championship totals.  At the conclusion of another remarkable semester, the Hawks final tally read four national championships, seven CCAA medals, nine provincial titles, and 12 OCAA medals.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

CCAA Accolades:	Bronze Medal Winners
CCAA All-Stars:	Thalia Hanniman
	Alley Newman
	Deborah Mitchell
OCAA Finish:	Gold Medal Winners
	West Division Champions
OCAA All-Stars:	Thalia Hanniman
	Alley Newman
	Brittany Vanderlaan

On multiple occasions, the women's volleyball program made history this season.  It all began with the highly publicized OCAA win streak that spans over six seasons and currently sits at 109.  More impressive than the streak against OCAA opponents was their result at nationals.  With their backs against the wall, the Hawks won their first ever CCAA medal after defeating Briercrest College 3-1 in the bronze medal game.  Fifth-year senior's Thalia Hanniman and Deborah Mitchell end their careers a perfect 105-0 against OCAA opponents.

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

OCAA Finish:	Sixth OCAA West Division
OCAA All-Star:	Jordan Darlington

The men's volleyball program finished the regular season 10-8, making the OCAA postseason for the ninth consecutive season.  In their crossover match, the Hawks were unable to beat Durham College on the road.  Jordan Darlington was named an OCAA All-Star.

BADMINTON

CCAA Accolades:	Team Supremacy Gold
Men's Doubles - Gold	Adam Dong Ryan Chow
Mixed Doubles - Silver	Jesse Assing Phuthita Nilyok
Women's Singles - Gold	Olivia Lei
OCAA Accolades	Men's Gold Women's Gold
Men's Doubles - Gold	Adam Dong Ryan Chow
Mixed Doubles - Gold	Jesse Assing Phuthita Nilyok
Women's Singles - Gold	Olivia Lei
Women's Doubles - Bronze	Sandy Chen Michelle Chow

The Badminton Program, which has been dominating Ontario for almost a decade, once again put together a remarkable season.  At the OCAA Championship the blue and gold took home six medals, five gold and one bronze. On the national stage, two-time national player of the year Olivia Lei became the first Hawk to win back-to-back national championships in the same discipline.  Adam Dong and Ryan Chow cruised to a men's doubles national championship, while Jesse Assing and Phuthita "Boom" Nilyok earned a CCAA silver medal.   

MEN'S BASKETBALL

CCAA Accolades:	Silver Medal Winners
CCAA All-Stars:	Tyrone Dickson
	Ancil Martin
OCAA Finish:	Gold Medal Winners
OCAA Championship MVP:	Tyrone Dickson

For the fourth time in program history, the Humber basketball programs both won the OCAA championship in the same season.  Competing in the most difficult conference in the country, the men's basketball team defeated the Mohawk Mountaineers on home court to win their 14^th provincial championship.  Tyrone Dickson was named championship MVP and during the regular season he became first official Humber Hawk to have over 500 points and 500 rebounds in his career.  Playing against the countries best in Fort McMurray, Alberta, the defending national champions battled their way from behind to defeat Holland College 79-78 in the national semi-finals.  The Hawks eventually fell to NAIT in the finals and were given a CCAA silver medal, the 13^th national medal in program history.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

The women's program finished the year undefeated, making their second consecutive trip to the CCAA national tournament.  After rolling through their first two games, the Hawks were in tough against a rough Holland team.  With time running out in the championship game and trailing by two, Humber had one last chance to tie or win the game.  CCAA Player of the Year Ceejay Nofuente drove to the basket to tie the game but her path was cut off by two defenders.  Without hesitation, Ceejay passed to Ruth Holland who hit the most dramatic game-winning three-point shot to help the Hawks win their first ever national championship and cap the perfect season.  

WOMEN'S INDOOR SOCCER

OCAA Finish:	Fourth
	West Region Champions
OCAA Championship All-Star:	Lucy Lorefice
OCAA Academic All-Stars:	Katherine Green
	Rebekah Alto
	Rachel Spratt
	Emily Tirabassi
	Corina Vanderschaaf
	Jayde Wiklund-Roach

The women's program rode a six-game shutout streak into the semi-finals but was unable to find the back of the net against Seneca in the semi-finals.   Six student-athletes were named OCAA Academic All-Stars.

MEN'S INDOOR SOCCER

OCAA Finish:	Gold Medal Winners
OCAA Championship MVP:	Kingsley Bosiako
OCAA Championship All-Star:	Camilo Duenas

the men's team successfully defended their provincial title.  Three-sport athlete Kingsley Boasiako was named championship MVP and Camilo Duenas was a championship all-star.  

CURLING

CCAA Finish (Men's):	Gold Medal Winners
OCAA Finish (Men's):	Bronze Medal Winners
(Mixed):	Bronze Medal Winners
OCAA All-Stars:	Abbey O'Keefe
	Jonah Paquette

The curling program continued to establish themselves as one of the best programs in province after both the men's and mixed teams won OCAA bronze medals.  Abbey O'Keefe and Jonah Paquette were both named championship all-stars.  At nationals, the men's curling team went 5-2 in pool before defeating Augustana in the semi-finals.  After losing to Sault College in pool play, the Hawks redeemed themselves by defeating Sault 8-4 to win their first ever national championship. 

FALL RECAP

MEN'S BASEBALL

OCAA Finish:	Bronze Medal Winners
OCAA Men's Player of the Year:	Sean Mattson (Scarborough)
Championship All-Star:	Doug Skillcorn (Toronto)
OCAA All-Stars:	Sean Mattson (Scarborough)
	Daniel Campos (Mississauga)
	James Byrnes (Mississauga)

In their third season of existence, the Humber College men's baseball team won their second OCAA medal after falling to Fanshawe College 8-5 in 11 innings.  The marathon game was the longest in OCAA men's playoff history and infielder Keegan Murphy received player of the game for Humber.

Pitching and defence helped the Hawks finish with their second consecutive 12 win season after allowing a program best 3.15 runs-per-game.   

Sean Mattson, a native of Scarborough, was named 2015 OCAA player of the year.  Mattson led the OCAA with nine doubles, while finishing near the top with a .408 batting average, 23 runs batted in and 14 runs scored.  Mattson became the first Hawk in program history to win the award.

"The Hawks men's baseball team continued to solidify themselves as a perennial contender in 2015," said assistant coach Matthew Ferreira, who has been with the program since 2009.  "Our team will be losing some key veteran student-athletes [Player of the Year Sean Mattson, three-time All-Star Daniel Campos and staff ace James Byrnes].  Despite this, there are many building blocks which will be returning and the coaching staff will look to fill the holes that will be created by our graduating student-athletes.  We are looking towards cultivating a championship culture in 2016, both on and off the field."

WOMEN'S SOFTBALL

OCAA Finish:	Silver Medal Winners
Championship All-Stars:	Hilary Redrup (Carlisle)
	Kaitlyn Pitek (Whitby)
OCAA All-Star:	Myranda Pierson (Toronto)

The Humber Hawks women's softball team won their fourth OCAA medal since the program began five years ago in 2011.  Playing the most games in program history, the Hawks also won the most games, wrapping up the season with a respectable 15-7 record. 

The Hawks lost 7-3 in the OCAA championship game to the host team Durham Lords and settled for a silver medal.  Team captain Hilary Redrup and Kaitlyn Pitek were named tournament all-stars after hitting .429 and .538 respectively.

Second-year catcher Terah Camilleri put on a clinic at the dish this season.  The native of Streetsville set a team record with three home runs and finished with a slash line of .450/.485/.700.  Myranda Pierson, playing in her first OCAA season, was named an all-star after her dominant performance on the mound.  The criminal justice major led the league with ten wins, going the distance in five. 

Natalie Stoberman now sits a top the list for career hits, surpassing Jessica O'Quinn's record set in 2013.

"I think this was a great season for the growth of our team," said second-year assistant coach Duaine Bowles.  "In the end the result wasn't what we were looking for, but in hind-sight, I think we can say that we were very satisfied with our process and the silver medal is indication that we are trending in the right direction. The hard part comes next season as we try to maintain and improve in every facet of the game, but I think our girls are up to the challenge."

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

OCAA Finish:	Gold Medal Winners
OCAA Coach of the Year:	Teresa Arnini
	Monique Haan
OCAA First-Team All-Stars:	Luke Deighan
OCAA Second-Team All-Stars:	Sam Kirwin
	Simon Wells

The men's cross country team won their ninth OCAA team medal in school history after bringing home gold from the 2015 championships.  The Hawks have now won medals in five consecutive seasons and in seven of the last ten. 

The Hawks completed the 2015 OCAA season completing every race with a top-three finish.  As the reigning CCAA champions, Humber College lost a tough race to Fanshawe College and Cegep de Sherbrooke and were unable to medal in consecutive seasons.

Luke Deighan was named a first-team all-star after leading the Hawks to their first OCAA gold medal since 2006.                                                                                     

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

OCAA Finish:	Gold Medal Winners
OCAA Coach of the Year:	Teresa Arnini
	Monique Haan
OCAA Rookie of the Year:	Hannah Carley
OCAA Second-Team All-Stars:	Hannah Carley
	Coby Phillips (Brampton)
	Katherine White (Toronto)
	Ivon Jaimes (Toluca)

For the tenth consecutive seasons, the women's cross country team has won an OCAA team medal.  With six runners finishing in the top 20, the Hawks won their second consecutive gold medal; sixth in program history.

Teresa Arnini and Monique Haan won the OCAA Coach of the Year awards for the second consecutive season.  Since starting the program in 2005, the coaches have led the men's team to two OCAA gold medals and the women's to six.  They have also seen 11 of their runner's win an individual medal during that span.

As a program, the men's and women's teams have now won 33 OCAA medals: 21 team medals and 12 individual medals. 

MEN'S GOLF

CCAA All-Canadian:	Scott Benzoni
OCAA Team Finish:	Silver Medal Winners
OCAA Individual Finish:	Sliver – Scott Benzoni
	Bronze – Christian McCullough
All-Ontario Team:	Scott Benzoni
	Christian McCullough

One stroke was the deciding factor between first and second place at the OCAA championships this season and Humber narrowly missed out on winning their tenth consecutive gold medal.  Settling for silver, the Hawks won the 27^th team medal in program history.  The men's team has now won a medal in 20 straight seasons. 

Fourth-year Oakville native Scott Benzoni became the 16^th Humber Hawks to be named CCAA All-Canadian for the men's golf team.  Benzoni won the Georgian Invitational and finished second at the OCAA championships.  Christian McCullough was named to the all-Ontario team after winning the OCAA bronze medal. After the two wins, the Humber Hawks men's golf team has now won 36 individual medals.

WOMEN'S GOLF

CCAA Accolades:	Gold Medal Winners
CCAA Individual Accolades:	Bronze - Sonia Nagindas
OCAA Team Finish:	Silver Medal Winners
OCAA Individual Finish:	Bronze – Sheila McKeen
All-Ontario Team:	Sonia Nagindas
	Sheila McKeen

Women's golf has had a league in in the OCAA for 17 seasons and the Humber Hawks have completed dominated during provincial play, winning 14 medals over that span.  This season the Hawks added two medals to their collection after winning a team silver and individual bronze won by Sheila McKeen.

In British Columbia, the women's program won the fourth team national championship in program history and was anchored by Sonia Magindas, who won the bronze medal.  The two medals brings Humber's total CCAA medal count to 21, only four behind Champlain St. Lawrence for most all-time.                              

MEN'S SOCCER

CCAA Accolades:	Gold Medal Winners
CCAA All-Canadian:	Jaineil Hoilett
OCAA Finish:	Gold Medal Winners
OCAA All-Stars:	Jaineil Hoilett
	Joshua Paredes-Procter
Central Division Coach of the Year:	Michael Aquino

In a rematch of the 2014-15 OCAA championship, the Hawks once again found themselves battling the Algonquin Thunder with the provincial title on the line.  This time the Hawks came away with a 3-0 win, capturing their ninth OCAA championship.

In Quebec, the Hawks went on to capture their fifth national championship after defeating Capilano 1-0.  During their championship run, Humber outscored their opponents 8-0 and goalkeeper Eugenio Garro was named tournament MVP after not letting in a goal.  The Hawks now have nine CCAA medals all-time, two behind Capilano University.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Central Division Scoring Champion:	Ashley Osorio
Central Division Coach of the Year:	Vince Pileggi
	Mauro Ongaro
OCAA All-Stars:	Alora Walcott
	Brittany Verge

After winning the OCAA central division with a 7-2-1 record, the Hawks went in to the OCAA playoffs and fell to the red-hot Cambrian Golden Shield in penalty kicks.

Ashely Osorio finished fifth in the league in scoring after doubling her career-high and finishing with ten goals. 

WOMEN'S RUGBY

OCAA Finish:	Silver Medal Winners
	OCAA West Division Champions
OCAA All-Stars:	Samantha Drimmie
	Christina Branch

For the fifth straight season, women's rugby won an OCAA medal.  After locking up first place in the OCAA west division, the Hawks defeated St. Lawrence (K) in the semi-finals.  After hard-fought championship game, Humber lost to Fleming 33-32 in penalty kicks, narrowly missing out on becoming back-to-back champions.  

Fourht-year Mississauga native Laura Congdon led the OCAA West in scoring with 55 points, while teammate and OCAA all-star Christina Branch led the entire OCAA after scoring ten tries.  

With 17 student-athletes on the roster only in their first-year, the women's rugby team looks primed to continue their OCAA dominance for years to come.