Thunder Athletes Recognized at ACAC and National Championships
Posted on: Mar 7, 2016Over the past two weeks, numerous Thunder athletes have risen to the top at their respective ACAC Championships and the list of medal winners and ‘best of’ accolades is an enviable one. Beginning with the ACAC Badminton Championships, Thunder athletes Calvin Siu, Rachael Smillie and Takeisha Wang all received honours as ACAC All Conference athletes. For Takeisha, the accolades did not stop there as she was the unanimous choice of all the Coaches of the ACAC Badminton schools as the Female Badminton Player of the Year. This is a remarkable achievement for any athlete but it is even more exceptional than usual in that Takeisha is in just her first year of ACAC competition. In the final high point of her remarkable rookie season, at the Nationals banquet on Wednesday, March 2nd, Takeisha Wang was named to the CCAA All-Canadian National team.
In just the 3rd year of ACAC competition, the Thunder Indoor Track team rocked their ACAC Championship with several runners dominating the field. In a most unusual development, two 5th year runners – Kirk Sundt and Kenton Sportak – were named as ‘co-recipients' of the ACAC Men’s Indoor Track Runners of the Year. With their great showing at the Champs, the Thunder Women’s team finished 3rd overall and the Men’s team claimed their first ACAC overall team title. In the final ‘icing on the cake’, Head Coach Matt Norminton was also named as the ACAC Indoor Track Coach of the Year.
Long held as one of the ‘quietest’ sports on campus, the Thunder Curling team came out roaring at their ACAC Championship. The ACAC Mixed Curling Gold Medal was the first ever for any Thunder Curling team. Thunder Skip Adrienne Maschmeyer was also selected as the ACAC Female Curler of the Year. Adrienne further distinguished herself as the first women to Skip a team to the Gold Medal in Mixed competition and was the first Mixed player to ever be selected as the Female Curler of the Year.
Although neither team were able to make the playoffs this season, both the Men’s and Women’s Thunder Basketball teams had players that were recognized by the ACAC for their individual performances. On the Men’s side, 2nd year Thunder Guard Jason Jones Jr. was selected as a first team All-Conference athlete while on the Women’s side, versatile first year Thunder Guard/Forward Nakita Newman was selected as a second team All-Conference player.
To cap off her first year in a Concordia uniform, Thunder Guard Sofia Lucadello was selected as the 2015-16 ACAC North Division Rookie of the Year. Congratulations to all of our distinguished Thunder personnel on their accomplishments!