MIKE JONES AWARD NOMINEES: Westman welcomes year of champions

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This article was published 29/12/2023 (828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Provincial and national events were back on the sports calendar in full effect in 2023.

The long wait to crown champions for many sports was well worth it for Westman-based teams as several squads made their marks.

Here are this year’s finalists, listed alphabetically, for the Brandon Sun’s Mike Jones Award for team of the year.

• Birtle/Shoal Lake/Rossburn Falcons

The Westman High School Hockey League’s Falcons won both round-robin games at the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association’s AA hockey championship in Swan Lake, won a wild 8-6 decision in the semifinals and took gold with a 5-1 victory over the Killarney-Wawanesa Raiders in the final.

• Boissevain Centennials

The core group of Boissevain’s host team was entering its eighth provincial final and had only earned silver before Baseball Manitoba U18 AA championship. The Centennials went unbeaten through the three-game round-robin, topped Altona 9-6 in the semifinal and then struck gold with a 9-3 thumping of the Portage Phillies.

• Brandon Bobcats men’s futsal and soccer

The Bobcats entered 2023 hungry after a 4-3 upset loss in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference soccer final. They ran through the MCAC futsal league with just one blemish — a 2-2 draw — on their regular season and won an 8-7 thriller in the league final, avenging their defeat against St. Boniface. Then in the fall, they survived two one-goal games to reclaim the soccer crown. BU travelled to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association nationals in Windsor, Ont., and became the first MCAC team to win a game at the tournament.

• Brandon Wheat Kings U15 female AAA

The Brandon Wheat Kings won the U15 AAA Manitoba Female Hockey League’s inaugural championship, beating the Pembina Valley Hawks 4-3 in Carmen to sweep the best-of-three final. In the regular season, they tied for first with a 19-9 record with the Central Plains Capitals, but earned top spot thanks to an extra victory over their rival, and then won all six games in the playoffs through three rounds.

• Brandon Wheat Kings U15 male AA

With no returning players and just eight in their second season in the age group, the Wheat Kings went 23-3 to finish in first place and then won all eight games in the playoffs to earn the Winnipeg U15 AA hockey championship. They also went undefeated at the Tournament of Champions in Brandon and earned that banner.

• Brandon Wheat Kings U15 male AAA

The city won its second consecutive Winnipeg U15 AAA Hockey League championship — and second in city history — but it wasn’t easy. The first-place Wheat Kings edged the second-place Winnipeg Wild Red in Game 7 of the best-of-seven final with a 4-0 victory after losing the first two games of the series at home.

• Dauphin Clippers women’s rugby team

Hard work made tough tasks look easy for the Clippers. Dauphin rumbled through the Westman High School Rugby season without an opponent staying within 20 points. That changed, slightly, in the provincial final when the Rivers Rams put up a good fight but fell 27-10. Dauphin won the WHSR final 36-3 over Rivers, and outscored opponents 392-30 overall.

• Miniota/Elkhorn C-Hawks

In their first season in the Tiger Hills Hockey League after a long run in the North Central Hockey League, the C-Hawks went 17-1 in the regular season and 11-1 in the playoffs to earn the league title. To make a dominant season even better, they beat the Ste. Anne Aces in the best-of-three Senior A provincial championship as well.

• Neelin Spartans varsity girls’ basketball

The Spartans were down to their last leg. They lost the third-place game at a provincial qualifier and earned a wildcard contest to sneak into provincials. They won that, then drove to Thompson as a low seed and rattled off three straight upset victories. Neelin beat College Beliveau and tournament MVP Jazmin Birch 66-64 in an incredible final.

• Neelin Spartans varsity boys’ volleyball

If you want to explain peaking at the right time, use these Spartans as an example. Neelin steamrolled the Brandon High School Volleyball League and kept pushing into provincials in Dauphin. It dropped just one set all weekend and blew Steinbach Christian out for gold.

• Neelin Spartans varsity girls’ volleyball

Neelin was down and all but out, about to have to regroup for a bronze-medal match. Cue the dramatics and a whole bunch of heart. The Spartans came back from down 22-13 and 24-18 to force a third set, beat the Westgate Wings and reach the AAA provincial final. That one wasn’t close as the Spartans crushed the Linden Christian Wings as Tyra Lasuik was named tournament MVP.

• Oak River Dodgers baseball

After a disappointing campaign in the South West Baseball League which saw the Dodgers ousted by the Hamiota Red Sox in the first round of the playoffs, the team had a second chance as hosts of the Western Canadian Senior AA championship. Oak River went 4-1 in the round-robin to earn a berth in the final, and then defeated the Border All-stars 7-2 to take gold.

• Vincent Massey Vikings track and field relay teams

Twenty years ago, Massey coach Jason Jones had six students in the track club. How times change. At provincials last summer, the Vikings won three golds in 4×100 — varsity girls and boys and junior varsity girls — with the varsity girls team of Anna Forman, Juliana Crocker, and twins Sydney and Kendra Schram also earning the title in the 4×400. The varsity boys team included Lucas Cels, Temi Toogun, Joseph Gemeda and Kevin Garcia, while the JV girls were twins Chelsey and Tessa Hoad, Mya Shorting and Jordan Woloski.

• Wawanesa Brewers

The Brewers fell to the powerful Boissevain Centennitals in the South West Baseball League final, but earned redemption in Clearwater at Baseball Manitoba’s senior A championship. They split their two round-robin games, beat the Border Baseball League host Clearwater 12-3 in the semifinals and won it all with a 4-2 victory over the Border Baseball League’s Carman Cardinals.

• Westman Heat U13 softball

At the U13 Softball Manitoba AA championship at the Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex, the Westman Heat beat the Westman Fury 8-5 to earn gold. The Heat went 6-1 overall, with their only loss coming in a 12-4 defeat by the Fury during the round-robin.

• Westman Magic U17 softball

Head coach Faron Asham said all season his team was capable of greatness, but after compiling a 16-12 record in the Manitoba Premier Softball League and missing out on earning a berth to nationals, they headed to the Western Canadian AAA championship in Winkler. With a 3-2 record, they needed a win to stay alive and got it, and then won their last three games, including a 12-5 dismantling of the Smitty’s Terminators in the final for the second Western title for a Magic team in recent memory.

• Westman Storm U15 softball

The Storm went 2-1 in round-robin play and 3-0 in the playoffs at Softball Manitoba U15 AA championship at the Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex. In the final, the Storm built a 6-0 lead in the first inning and held on for a 9-7 victory, giving a cohort of girls who won at the U13 AA level last year their second gold medal in a row.

• Westman Volt hockey

The year-old Brandon-based team, whose five players were Anshika Chimpa, Catie Devolin, Jack Miskulin, Cain Burgess and Zander Wallin, won the Variety Village’s Volt hockey tournament in Scarborough, Ont. They trailed Toronto 3-1 in the third period of the final, but rallied to tie, and Miskulin scored the only goal of the shootout from his battery-charged chair.

• Zoey Terrick rink

The Terrick sisters had quite the weekend. Zoey, Jaycee and Tessa, along with Jensen Letham, beat Grace Beaudry 9-8 in an extra end to win the provincial junior curling title. It was the first season the sisters from McCreary played competitively together and ended up travelling to Rouyn-Noranda, Que., for nationals, where they cracked the podium and returned with bronze medals.