By the Numbers: Career milestones, productive campaigns, and hot streaks

Photo by Toronto Varsity Blues
Photo by Toronto Varsity Blues
October 2, 2019

3000 – Levondre Gordon has led the Wilfrid Laurier offence this season, but his 2019 efforts are just the latest drop in the bucket that is his impressive career. The fifth-year running back currently leads the OUA in rushing (139 YPG), but he was able to add another feat to his résumé in his team’s win over Queen’s this weekend. Thanks to his 52-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, Gordon joined the 3,000 yard rushing club for his career.

250 – Scott Ballantyne has been a major piece of the Wilfrid Laurier baseball puzzle during his tenure and his accolades have continued to grow since he took over as coach in 2007. With his team’s win over Queen’s this past weekend, the Golden Hawks bench boss picked up his 250th career win – a stretch that includes non-conference and conference games. During that span, he has amassed a 250-149 record (.627 winning percentage) and has helped his team become a consistent force to be reckoned with on the diamond.

82 – After a closely contested first half, the Western Mustangs managed to pull away from the Windsor Lancers after the break on Saturday, and they can once again thank their talented QB for playing a leading role in the win. Chris Merchant has been one of the best in the business yet again this season, and his passing performance in his team’s sixth win of the season was no exception. Merchant completed 18 of his 27 pass attempts for 340 yards, but his highlight play came on a game-high 82-yard connection with Savaughn Magnaye-Jones to open the scoring and set the table for another electrifying effort from the purple ponies.

15 – The women’s rugby regular has come and gone, but it will be anything but a distant memory for Varsity Blues winger Khadi Dako. The fourth-year player had herself a strong campaign for Toronto and the numbers show just that, especially after putting a bow on things in her team’s regular season finale this weekend. Dako ran in a trio of tries to bring her total for the fixture to 15 points. The effort gives her a total of seven tries on the season, good enough for third place in the conference, while her 35 points have her ranked sixth in the OUA.

7 – The nationally-ranked Guelph Gryphons men’s soccer team have seen sensational contributions from a number of players this season, but perhaps none have been greater than that of midfielder Alex Zis. The fourth-year talent has been all over the score sheet for the Gryphs’ so far and that trend continued over the weekend. Over the course of two games played this past week, the Gryphons scored eight goals, with Zis either scoring or assisting on seven of those (3 goals, 4 assists).

6 – The first national men’s hockey rankings of the season have arrived, and with puck drop set for Wednesday night for the 2019-20 OUA men’s season, the conference as a whole is putting its best foot forward early on. Six of the initial top-10 U SPORTS squads are part of the preeminent conference, with the highest ranked OUA team being the Ottawa Gee-Gees at No. 4. The OUA also boasts the sixth through tenth ranked teams, setting up what should be a season-long battle of top-tier talent on the ice.

5 – It has been a successful stretch for the black and gold golfers, as the Waterloo Warriors women’s team has been finding the top of many a leaderboard ahead of next week’s OUA Championship. Led by head coach Carla Munch, the Warriors have picked up five first-place team finishes in their six events, including top results at the McMaster, Western, and Queen’s Invitationals. Their latest top result came earlier this week at the Guelph Invitational, backed by individual gold and silver from Olivia Richards and Laura Wesselius, respectively.

4 – After finishing ninth a year ago at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, MN, Lakehead runner Rebekkah Pyle turned her top-10 result into a top-five finish this time around. In the women’s 6k maroon race, the third-year Thunderwolves standout crossed the line in 22:37.8, which was good enough for fourth place at the event.

3 – The RMC Paladins have seen stellar play in net from Claudia Rusu, but on the weekend, backup keeper Breanna Habinski got her chance to stand tall between the pipes. She made an impressive appearance in the second half of RMC’s match against Nipissing on the weekend, stopping three of the four shots she faced to keep her team close in the final 45 minutes. The highlight of her outing, however, came when she turned away a Lakers penalty kick.