The University of Manitoba Bisons delivered remarkable accounts following the wrap of the 2023-24 sporting season.
The women’s volleyball team was a force to reckon with, clinching the bronze medal at the U Sports championship. After losing to the University of Alberta Pandas in an epic semi-final clash, the Bisons gathered momentum through stellar performances to snatch the bronze medal over Acadia University’s Axe-women.
The herd kept composure to triumph over the opponent in all three sets, with the first, second and third sets ending in 25–18, 25–13 and 25–17, respectively.
Bisons Light Uchechukwu, Andi Almonte and Brenna Bedosky overshadowed opposing players through individual brilliance to seal a third-place spot at the U Sports championship.
Aside from the bronze medal feat, the U of M women’s volleyball team chalked promising statistics with 27 wins and five defeats.
Elsewhere, the U of M women’s volleyball team was in the spotlight after emerging as winners of the 2024 Canada West championship for the first time in the university’s history, following a 3–2 narrow win over the University of British Columbia.
The first, second and fifth sets propelled the Bisons to victory, ending 25–17, 25–17 and 15–13, respectively, while the third and fourth sets were a close call of 26–24 and 25–23 going to the University of British Columbia.
“It was such a great match by two great teams and a great crowd,” said Bisons head coach Ken Bently, as reported by gobisons.ca.
Swimming
Last season ended on a memorable note for Ella Howe and Kelsey Fillion, members of the Bisons women’s swim team, after the duo had put up a five-star performance to win gold medals at the Canada West championship. The gold medal triumphs earned Howe and Fillion a spot in the Olympic trials.
Georgia Pengilly, a member of the swim team, encouraged athletes to overcome any potential fears during competition and to be proud of what the sport represents. “Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want, and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there,” she said.
The men’s team had a resounding swimming adventure at the Canada West championship by capturing the bronze medal in the 4×100-metre. Through cohesion, Eric Dupre, Carson Beggs, Ty Unrau and Andriy Usan made a pleasant time of 3:53.04.
Through individual effort, Usan was pronounced MVP after bagging three individual medals. With a time of 2:09.62, Usan emerged victorious in the 200-metre butter-fly, second with a time of 56.24 in the 100-metre butterfly and wrapped up in third with a time of 25.41 in the 50-metre butterfly.
Track and field
For the Bisons women’s track and field team, Lara Denbow rose to the occasion through an indelible display to win the gold medal with a jump of 1.78 metres at the U Sports championship.
The men’s team was a step away from the ultimate target as they ended with a second- place finish to improve in the standings. The team amassed 82 points. Max Speiser exhibited endurance and agility to become a heptathlon winner with a total of 5,270 points across all events.
