Roundup

By John Austen

It wasn’t supposed to end this way.

Two of Concordia’s top intercollegiate sports teams were upset in the first round of the playoffs earlier this month, thwarting any chance of a championship banner hanging from the rafters of either the Concordia Gym or Ed Meagher Arena.

The league champion women’s hockey team was dumped in two straight games by the Ottawa Gee-Gees, while the men’s basketball team was beaten by the Bishop’s Gaiters in the conference sudden-death semi-final.

This is the second straight season that Concordia has sailed through the regular season in top spot only to see their season end unceremoniously at the hands of the upstart Gee-Gees.

Ottawa won the best-of-three opener 4-3 at Concordia on Feb. 26 and wrapped things up with a 2-1 triple overtime win two days later in the nation’s capital.

Ottawa forward Mandi Duhamel scored her second goal of the game at the 6:38 mark of the third overtime frame to stun the Stingers and send them packing. Karine Bombardier scored the lone goal for the Stingers.

The Stingers outshot Ottawa 60-47 in the game, including 33-12 in overtime.

The men’s basketball team hadn’t lost to the Bishop’s Gaiters all year, but that didn’t deter the visitors from Lennoxville on March 8. The Gaiters dismantled the Stingers 72-69 to stun an overflow pro-Stinger crowd at Concordia Gym and send coach John Dore and his Stingers packing for another season.

Bishop’s centre Jeff Sitza led the way with 16 points and 14 rebounds as the unranked Gaiters thwarted the fourth-ranked Stingers at every turn.

It was the fewest points that Concordia has scored against the Gaiters this season. The Stingers had swept four regular season games against Bishop’s.

Cunningham to get CFL look

All-Canadian defensive end Troy Cunningham of the Concordia Stingers football team has been selected to attend the 2004 CFL evaluation camp and will work out for the league's coaches and general managers in Ottawa this weekend.

Each CFL team submits a list of Canadian prospects for the upcoming CFL draft it would like to see evaluated. Only the top 40 vote getters are invited to the camp.

In his fourth season Cunningham, a native of Mallorytown, Ont., was a commanding presence on the Stingers' line in 2003. He recorded 20 solo tackles and 12 assists in seven games. He was menacing in the backfield, picking up 7.5 tackles for losses and a sack.

"He's an eyeball test kid," said Stingers defensive co-ordinator Warren Craney of his star lineman. "He's a cat. He's very fast and strong. He's a prototypical CFL defensive lineman.

The six-foot-four, 265-pound Exercise Science major has attracted a lot of attention from the CFL scouts. Several teams have indicated they consider him a first round draft choice. The CFL's annual college draft will take place Wednesday, April 28.

Raposo gets the nod

Third-year guard Maria-José Raposo was named a second team All-Canadian at the CIS's women's basketball awards banquet last Thursday in Winnipeg.

The 22-year-old Montreal native is the QSSF MVP and was the leading scorer in the conference, averaging 13.5 points a game. She was also second in steals with 2.75 a game. The team captain led the Stingers in scoring, assists, steals and three-point shooting. She is a complete player who excels at both ends of the court.

Centre Emilie Ruel, the QSSF Rookie of the Year, was named to the CIS All-Rookie team. She led the Stingers in rebounding with a 5.9 average and she earned a lot of respect for her role in guarding the opposition's top offensive threat.

Wrestler, dad earn trip

Victor Zilberman, long-time head coach of the Concordia wrestling program, and his son David, a rookie with the team, are in Athens this week for eight days of training and competition.

Victor has been named head coach of the national junior team that will represent Canada at the Acropolis Tournament, an elite international meet that attracts some of the top American and European wrestlers.

David, a heavyweight, has been named to the Canadian under-23 team for the competition. The team is made up of the country's top up-and-comers. Wrestling Canada is investing in its younger athletes in hopes of preparing them for the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008.

David will also represent Canada at the World University Wrestling Championships in Lodz, Poland, June 3-6. He won a gold medal in the 130 kg.-weight class at the CIS championships last weekend. He was also named the outstanding male rookie at the nationals.