UNews - the NCAA

Horns men's basketball in Calgary tourney

trevor.kenney — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:14:14 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's basketball team is getting an early start on the 2010-11 school year with a matchup versus an NCAA opponent at the Battle of the Border tournament in Calgary this week.

The Horns will face the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks of the NCAA's Big Sky Conference Wednesday, Aug. 11 and Sunday, Aug. 15 at the Jack Simpson Gymnasium at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary.

Wednesday night's game tips at 7 p.m. with Sunday's affair set for 10 a.m.

The entire Pronghorns squad is not available for the two pre-season games, with newcomers Abner Kamps and Niko Kovacs unavailable due to previous commitments. However, Julian Spearchief-Morris and Zack Humphrey will both make their Pronghorn debuts, joining eight returning players.

Northern Arizona is the third Big Sky School to make the trip to Calgary for the tournament after Weber State attended in 2007 and Montana in 2008.

The Lumberjacks, based in Flagstaff, Ariz., went 14-14 overall (8-8 Big Sky) in 2009-10, falling in the opening round of the Big Sky Tournament. Led by two-time All-Big Sky guard Cameron Jones, the team returns four starters in 2010-11 under head coach Mike Adras.

The Horns are gearing up for the 2010-11 Canada West season, which begins October 22-23 when the club hosts the Trinity Western Spartans.

Steacy, Patzer named Athletes of Year

trevor.kenney — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:30:20 +0000

Pronghorn thrower Jim Steacy and women's rugby fullback Ashley Patzer were named Male and Female Athletes of the Year respectively at the annual Blue and Gold Pronghorn Athletics banquet Friday night.

Over 330 athletes, administrators and special guests were in attendance for the supper and awards ceremony where former Pronghorn basketball star, Danny Balderson, served as guest speaker.

Steacy, thought to be the most decorated track athlete in CIS history, won his fifth Athlete of the Year honour, one for every year in which he competed for the U of L. Coming back from a year off to compete in the Beijing Olympics, Steacy continued his dominance of the CIS scene.

For the fifth time, Steacy broke both the Canada West and CIS records in weight throw, winning gold at both championship meets. His furthest throw of 24.08 metres in the weight throw, the last of his CIS career, was five metres better than his nearest competitor. It also beat the NCAA gold medalist by more than two metres, becoming the only CIS track mark to outdo its American counterpart.

Patzer led the women's rugby team to its second CIS title, while being named the tournament most valuable player and an all-star.

The Horns captain, and former CIS player of the year, was a dominant force at the CIS Championships leading the tournament in scoring with 34 points. The Lethbridge native was also named Athlete of the Year in 2006-07.

Megan Bach of the women's hockey team received the President's Award, rewarding the student athlete with the highest academic standing at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Bach achieved a perfect GPA of 4.00. The men's track and field team won the Team Academic Award, as they achieved a cumulative 3.13 GPA.

Following are team MVP honours as selected by their respective teammates.

Team MVP
Men's Soccer – Ryan Conn
Women's Soccer – Jessica Dearlove
Men's Hockey – Scott Bowles
Women's Hockey – Charlette Hainer
Men's Basketball – Danhue Lawrence and Allen Kadima
Women's Basketball – Hannah Blanchette
Men's Swimming – Jeffrey Nicol
Women's Swimming – Kristy Gabruck
Men's Track – Jim Steacy
Women's Track – Heather Steacy
Women's Rugby – Ashley Patzer

Horns follow Bowles' lead

trevor.kenney — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:25:46 +0000

Far too many young men are forced to make a choice between hockey ambitions and pursuing an education. ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns goaltender Scott Bowles never saw it that way – the two were always linked.

"With my parents both being teachers, education was always important," the second-year, Creston, B.C., native says. "Still, it was a decision that was left in my hands. I was only told that school would be important at one time or another and to factor that in."

Bowles entered the Western Hockey League as a 17 year old, opting not to pursue a possible education opportunity with an American college or university. The WHL is considered the fastest route to professional hockey and it allowed Bowles that opportunity. All the while, he knew that through the league's education program, every year he played in the WHL would turn into a year of Canadian post-secondary education if the pro dream didn't transpire when he was done.

"That's one of the biggest decisions you have to make when you're 16 or 17," says Bowles. "Are you going to go the NCAA route or give that up and try the WHL. With their package, it was good enough for me where I figured I could play four years and still have my schooling waiting for me when I was done."

Bowles played two-plus seasons with both the Calgary Hitmen and Prince George Cougars and when the pro game did not come knocking, he quickly turned his attention to finding the right fit in terms of a city and a school.

"He came in for a tour and spent a weekend with us," Pronghorns head coach Greg Gatto says of the recruitment pitch they made to Bowles. "I remember saying at the end of the weekend, he didn't say a word the whole time, and my comment was, 'I don't think we're going to get him', and a week later he phoned and told us he was coming."

Knowing Pronghorns Devin Featherstone and Kris Deines helped in the process but what swayed Bowles on coming to Lethbridge was the combination of the city and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's programming options.

"I just really liked the set-up, I liked the fact the school offered the courses I wanted to take and I liked the size of the school. I wanted a smaller school where I felt I'd be more comfortable," he says. "Coming from Prince George, a city that's about the same size, I felt it'd be a very smooth transition."

It was, both on the ice and in the classroom. Bowles had a stellar first season, earning the team's most valuable player award, and has followed that up with another outstanding season; helping lead the Horns back into Canada West playoffs. Despite losing in the first round to UBC, Bowles played extremely well, making 50 saves in a 4-3 triple-overtime loss in Game 3 of the series.

Educationally, he started studying German but by taking advantage of the liberal education ideal at the U of L, quickly found his interests lay elsewhere.

"I found that environmental science might be a better path and it's going well," he says. "I really like my profs and the program offers a sort of mix and variety of a bunch of different sciences which, seeing as how I have a hard time narrowing down what I want to do, is still nice to take a range of courses."

Naturally, given his success and a recognition that goalies often hit their stride later in their careers, one has to wonder if pro hockey might finally come calling for Bowles. He doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about that possibility.

"Now that I've decided to go to university, school is definitely at the forefront," he says. "If things work out in pro hockey, then they do and we'll look into it but right now I'm committed to being here and finishing my degree."

GET THE FACTS

• Bowles had 13 wins in the regular season and was named Canada West Hockey – Husky WHL Graduate of the Month for November

• His best WHL season was in 2005-06 when he had 26 wins with Prince George

• Bowles' mother is an elementary school principal while his father, a teacher by trade, is a performance coach for Pacific Sport

• Bowles has a younger sister currently attending Okanagan College

UNews - the NCAA

Horns men's basketball in Calgary tourney

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