Photo by Daman Singh

Weekly Dino Digest – Jan. 24 to Jan. 26

By Maggie Hsu, January 26 2025—

With 19 games and events this weekend, there is plenty of Dinos Athletics action to take in before we start preparing for the much anticipated Crowchild Classic at the Saddledome in a week! As always, all Dinos home games are free (including Pack the Jack!) with your UCID. Tickets can be purchased online with your student ID number. Check out the master schedule and grab a couple of friends to cheer on your Dinos!

Wrestling

The Dinos are back to the mat for the Pronghorn Duals and the Pronghorn Invite in Lethbridge this weekend. With six individual podium finishes for both the men’s and women’s teams two weeks ago in the Golden Bear Invitational in Edmonton. 

  • Second-year Annika Fines started the Dinos off with a first-place victory at 59kg.
  • Rookie Mackenzie Cayer and CW Athlete of the Week for Jan. 14 topped the 65kg category.
  • Fourth-year Ellise Daynes dominated the 72kg class as she won all four of her matches at the meet.
  • Fourth-year Maya Johnston picked up a silver medal as she dropped the final match of the 53kg class.
  • Second-years Danyka LaBelle (76kg) and Ankita Singh (50kg) defeated their opponents in their bronze medal matches to add to the hardware count for the Dinos.
  • Second-year Nick Hooper picked up a first-place in the 76kg category for the men.
  • Third-year Joseph DeMaio took second place in the 90kg class.
  • Fred Calingay (57kg), Jovi Leavitt (72kg), Brantley Saar (82kg) and Jack Pye (100kg) all claimed bronze for the Dinos.

At the end of the meet, the Dinos finished second overall with the women tying Simon Fraser for first place with 47 points while the men finished 16 points behind first-place Alberta Golden Bears with 40 points. These meets in Lethbridge will be the last set of meets before the Canada West Championships in Saskatoon on Feb. 15, hosted by the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Volleyball

Returns to the Jack as both the women’s and men’s teams play to the Trinity Western Spartans this weekend. While there are still three weeks left on the schedule, this will be the last home games for the Dinos volleyball squads.

Friday’s games will start at 6 p.m. with the 12th-place women taking to the court first against the ninth-place Spartans. With the top 10 teams qualifying for the playoffs, these final three weekends of play will be vital for this squad to rack up some valuable points to earn a playoff berth. Following the Friday game, they return to the court on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. to conclude their home schedule before heading off on the road to visit Brandon and MacEwan.

The men find themselves in a slightly better position as they currently sit in ninth place in the conference with a 5-9 record. They picked up a couple of losses on the road last weekend, leaving them with just 16 points right now. The fifth-place Spartans won’t make the Dinos’ path to the playoffs any easier as the Dinos will look for their first win over the Spartans since 2016. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday before they return less than 24 hours later on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Basketball

The pseudo-finale to the Crowchild Classic is set to take place on Kenyon Court this weekend as the Dinos make the short road trip down the street to visit the MRU Cougars where it’s not just their season records on the line but valuable points for the Classic as well.

The 9-3 women’s team has held a perfect record in the second half of the season that has put them in fourth place in the Prairie Division of the Canada West conference while Alberta, Regina and Saskatchewan are in a three-way tie for third. Mount Royal is not far behind with a record of 9-5. The Dinos still have the upper hand in the historical series with a 17-1 record over the past 13 years of competition with MRU’s lone win happening almost 3 years ago. Tip-off on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday’s game set for 5 p.m.

Following the women, the men’s basketball team is set to tip off at 8 p.m. and following on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Dinos have not had an easy start to the new year as they earned their second and third losses of the season. They now rank third in the latest U SPORTS rankings as well as third in the Prairie Division behind Manitoba and Winnipeg. On the other side of the court, MRU is sitting at fifth in the division with a 9-5 record. Identital to the women, the Dinos have a 17-1 all-time record against the Cougars in conference play.

Hockey

The Dinos women’s hockey team host the Trinity Western Spartans at home in Father David Bauer this weekend. The 6-12-2 squad enter the weekend one spot behind their weekend opponents, seven points behind their weekend opponents. With a valuable four-points on the line before heading into the Crowchild Classic, this will be a must-win scenario for the Dinos. With puck drop on Friday set for 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m., this weekend will serve as the defining games of the season for the Dinos who may find themselves even further outside of the playoff picture.

With their playoff berth confirmed, the Dinos’ men’s hockey team visit the Trinity Western Spartans in Langley to improve their seeding to try and clinch home ice advantage. The 10-8-2 Dinos will welcome the return of head coach Mark Howell and top scorer Colson Gengenbach who claimed gold for Team Canada at the 2025 FISU University Games in Italy.

Rugby 7s

The 2025 rugby 7s season kicks off this weekend with a tournament in Edmonton with Calgary scheduled to play five games over the two day tournament. 2025 is the eight season of rugby 7s in Canada West, a sport that has been surging in popularity over the past few years, specifically thanks to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Last year, the Dinos finished with a 5-8-1 record to claim the CW bronze medal.


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