Gryphon Weekend Wrap (Feb. 16-18, 2024)

GUELPH, Ont. – A total of seven Gryphon varsity teams are featured in the latest edition of the ‘Gryphon Weekend Wrap’ for the period covering February 16 to 18, 2024.
 

Of the seven Gryphon varsity teams in action this past weekend, the University of Guelph swimming team was the only one in postseason action. The Gryphons made the trip to St. Catharines, Ontario and the Eleanor Misner Aquatic Centre for the 2024 OUA Swimming Championships, hosted by Brock university. The Gryphons completed strong weekends, finishing in 5th-place on the women’s side and 6th in the men’s final team standings. While the Gryphons were unable to make any trips to the podium they did record 24 top 8 finishes highlighted by a pair of 4th-place finishes for the women’s 4x100m medley relay team and the men’s 4x50m medley relay team. Impressive performances from Alanna Casasanta and Ethan Rotsaert-Smtih also added two more student-athletes to the list of Gryphons who have qualified for the U SPORTS Swimming Championships next month. The pair join Lauren Anthony, Alexndra Bertrim, Liz Greaves, Ashley Hodge, Hannah Nordquist, and Jacob Stojanovic in successful qualification for the national meet. 

For the U SPORTS No. 1 and 2-ranked Gryphon track & field teams, this past weekend was the final opportunity to compete before the 2024 OUA Track and Field Championships this coming weekend (Feb. 23-24). The Gryphons sent athletes to a pair of meets with the first taking place in their own Fieldhouse on the University of Guelph campus, the Guelph Last Meet. Highlighting the day at the Guelph fieldhouse was an auto-qualification performance from distance runner Nicholas Bannon in the men’s 1500m as well as strong showings from Mason Basson and Eric Campbell, who both entered the top 10 nationally in the men’s 600m. In Toronto at the U of T Hal Brown Last Chance Meet, Callista Blair earned U SPORTS auto-qualification in the women’s high jump with a jump of 1.73m, which was also good enough for the top spot in the nation. 

The playoff-bound Gryphons women’s basketball team captured dominant wins in North Bay over the Nipissing Lakers and in Sudbury over the Laurentian Voyageurs to close out the 2023-24 regular season with a 15-7 record. The weekend was highlighted by a record-setting performance from Rain Jhaj, who set a new program record for 3-pointers made in a single game after going 7-for-11 from beyond the arc Friday night against the Lakers. 

On their home court at the GGAC, the U SPORTS No. 10-ranked Gryphons men’s volleyball team set a new program record with their 15th win of the season. The Gryphons will now shift their attention to the Windsor Lancers, who they host on Saturday (Feb. 24) in the OUA quarterfinal round of the 2024 postseason.

Finally, the U SPORTS No. 3-ranked Gryphons women’s hockey team closed out the season with a split of their two-game set against the Windsor Lancers, earning home-ice advantage throughout the McCaw Cup playoffs thanks to a 3-1 win Friday night. 
 

Gryphon Weekend Scoreboard

Saturday, February 17, 2024