Bisons cross-country
The Bisons cross-country team raced in the inaugural Dakota Classic this past Saturday. Formerly known as the Sled Dog Open, the race was co-hosted by the Whitecap Dakota First Nation and University of Saskatchewan Huskies as a way to put reconciliation into action. The event marked the first time a Canada West race has ever taken place in a First Nation community.
At this historic event, three of the Bisons runners on the women’s side finished in the top 20. Angela Kroeker placed 11th, rookie Lena Klassen placed 13th and veteran Hailee Morisseau placed 18th. For the second race in a row, Angela Kroeker finished first overall on the women’s side of the team.
On the men’s side of the team, four finished in the top 15. Justin Kroeker placed third with the fastest overall Bison time of 27:14.1, while veteran Calvin Reimer placed 10th, Noah Fillion placed 11th and rookie Carson Kroeker placed 12th.
The Bisons next race will take them to Calgary for the Stewart Cup, hosted by the University of Calgary Dinos on Oct. 14.
Bisons football
The Bisons football team picked up its second win of the season Sunday, hosting the University of Calgary Dinos at IG Field.
The herd started the game with a two and out, which was followed by a Dinos touchdown. However, the Bisons punched right back in their second possession. Marching downfield, the Bisons’ first touchdown of the day came courtesy of quarterback Jackson Tachinski, and the Bisons wouldn’t look back from there.
Manitoba put up two more touchdowns in the first half, taking a 21-7 lead into halftime. The herd would put up another 13 unanswered points, including two field goals from kicker Maya Turner in the second half. The Dinos would put up two touchdowns late in the game, but the Bisons would come out of the dominating performance winning 34-21.
Turner put up 10 points for the herd and had impressive kickoffs throughout the game, her longest being a 60-yarder. Receiver Nathan Udoh assumed punting duties on Sunday, his longest a 47-yarder.
Running back Breydon Stubbs had a rushing touchdown on the day. Tachinski — who recorded over 100-yards rushing on the day, a first for the quarterback with the herd — had two rushing touchdowns. Tachinski also found receiver Brendt Adams in the endzone for the lone Bisons’ receiving touchdown of the afternoon.
On special teams, receiver Michael O’Shea Jr. led the herd with six punt returns on the day. O’Shea Jr. also had his second fabulous touchdown return off a missed opposing team field goal attempt of the season negated by a flag.
The defence recorded five break ups, with linebacker Nick Thomas recording the lone forced fumble for the Bisons and fellow linebacker Markos Bockru recording the lone interception of the game.
This next weekend is a bye week for the herd, with the Bisons returning to the gridiron on the road Oct. 14, hosted by the University of Regina Rams.
Bisons golf
The Bisons golf team was back in Minnesota, hitting the links in the Twin Cities Classic from Sept. 23 to 25. Hosted by the Gustavus Adolphus College Gusties, the herd took on the par 72 Elk River Country Club course, the par 72 The Links at Northfork course and the par 70 Le Sueur Country Club course over the tournament’s three days.
The best overall scores came courtesy of veteran Lachlan Allerton and rookie Chase Janas — who both played the tournament as individuals — shooting +17 and +20, respectively. Allerton also had the best outing on his second day, shooting an impressive -1 on The Links at Northfork.
Jordon McDonald and rookie Jack Rudick both shot +24, with their best outings on the par 72s. Veteran Cole Peters shot +26, recording his best outings on the last two days of the tournament. Rookie Jose Mekish-Lacquette shot +27 and veteran Trent Robertson shot +30, both recording their best scores on their second day.
The Bisons clocked in 23 birdies over the tournament and faired best on par 5s.
At time of publication, the herd will be wrapping up the 2023 Canada West Championships tournament hosted by the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in Abbotsford, B.C.
Bisons hockey
The puck dropped on both the women’s and men’s hockey teams this past weekend when the herd faced the University of Saskatchewan Huskies both at home and on the road.
The men’s team hosted Saskatchewan on Thursday and Friday at Wayne Fleming Arena, unfortunately dropping both games to the Huskies. In the opener, the Bisons were walloped in the first two periods before playing a much better third, but only managed to net one goal courtesy of defencemen Chase Hartje in the 6-1 loss.
Goaltender Simon Harkness was pulled late in the second frame, giving fellow goalie Kolby Thornton time to shine. Thornton would go on to start the final game of the series and ended up standing on his head, facing 42 shots by the end of the 60 minutes.
The Bisons had a much better start in game two, entering the first intermission 1-0 with a goal from veteran forward Tony Apetagon. However, the Huskies came out and put three goals on the board in the second. Despite a power play goal from Bisons captain Jonny Hooker late in the second and a great third period effort, the herd lost 3-2.
In Saskatoon, the women’s Friday night game started quite evenly with the Huskies opened the scoring, but the Bisons punched back with a goal from veteran forward Kate Gregoire. While the teams went into first intermission tied at one, the Huskies came out blazing, scoring three goals in the second frame. The Bisons managed a second goal in the third courtesy of veteran forward Sarah Dennehy, but Saskatchewan would go on to win the game 4-2.
While goaltender Emily Shippam got the start in game one, head coach Jon Rempel started Meagan Relf in net for game two. Again, the first period was fairly even, the two teams going into intermission tied 0-0 and the Bisons outshooting the Huskies 10 to nine. However, by the end of the second frame, the Huskies had again scored three goals, adding a fourth goal in the third and shutting out the Bisons 4-0.
Both teams are on bye weeks this weekend, with the women’s home opener scheduled for Oct. 13 against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, while the men’s team will travel to Vancouver to also face the T-birds next Friday.
