Successful weekend for Bisons

It was a weekend of success for the University of Manitoba Bisons. At home the Track & Field team had a great showing in the Canada West championships, while the women’s hockey team earned another playoff win to advance to the Canada West finals.

The women’s hockey team defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 2-1 in Game 3 of the Canada West semi-final to win the best-of-three series on Sunday, March 1. The top line of Alanna Sharman, Alana Serhan and Maggie Litchfield-Medd made all the difference, scoring both goals for the Bisons. Sharman finished the regular season leading the Canada West conference with 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists), and has continued that lead in the playoffs with 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists). At the other end of the rink goaltender Rachel Dyck stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn the victory.

The Bisons now move on to the Canada West final against the University of Alberta. The best-of-three series will take place March 6-8 in Edmonton. The winner will move on to the CIS National Championship held in Calgary March 12-15.

In the newly named James Daly Fieldhouse at the Max Bell Centre on the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus, the Bisons men’s track and field team finished second in team standings while the women’s team finished seventh at the 2015 Canada West Track & Field Championship.

Manitoba’s ended the two-day competition in style as second year Aljahi Mansary jumped to a new conference record with a first place leap of 2.17m in the men’s high jump. The Bisons had two more medals with Oyinkansola Akinola’s second and Gee-ef Nkwonta’s third in the men’s triple jump, while rookie Tegan Turner finished second in the women’s 60m race.

“This was a spectacular meet as there was six new conference championship records set at the James Daly Fieldhouse while our men’s team performed very well and fought throughout the two days for the team title,” said Bison track and field head coach Claude Berube. “I was pleased with all the student-athletes who represented the University well while we hosted this prestigious event. It was a great finish to the event with Alhaji winning with a new record.”

The top two finishers at the conference championship automatically qualify for the 2015 CIS Track and Field Championship held this year at the University of Windsor from March 12-14.

For more information, visit www.gobisons.ca.