Banner Season: Mustangs look to extend historic streak to 40 amidst tough field of title-seeking squads
Burlington, Ont. – There aren’t many winning streaks that can compare to that of the Western Mustangs men’s squash team, and they’ll put their nearly four-decade long stretch to the test once again this weekend. At the 2024 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Squash Championships, taking place from February 9th to 11th at the White Oaks Resort, the London, Ont. squad, alongside the eight-time reigning women’s champion Queen’s Gaels, will be tested by a collection of the conference’s best once again, as they aspire to add to their already historic program record books.
Championship Details:
When: Friday, February 9 to Sunday, February 11 | FULL SCHEDULE
Where: White Oaks Resort
Participating Schools (8): Brock Badgers, Guelph Gryphons, McMaster Marauders, Ottawa Gee-Gees, Queen’s Gaels, Toronto Varsity Blues, Waterloo Warriors, Western Mustangs (host)
Defending Champions: Queen’s Gaels (W), Western Mustangs (M)
Student-Athletes to Watch:
Ella Brown, McMaster Marauders | Brown will be competing in her third and final OUA Championships this weekend. A 2023 silver medalist, the Port Williams, N.S. local is a two-time Marauder scholar and OUA Academic Achievement Award winner. She is a recipient of the Marauder Women in Sport Leadership Award and playing first seed for Team Nova Scotia at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer. This year, Brown will compete as McMaster’s No. 3.
Salah Eltorgman, Western Mustangs | The King’s University College student from Toronto, Ont. is currently ranked 77th in the world and is a member of the Canadian Senior National Team. Not only does he have an OUA Championship under his belt from 2023, but he also has participated in the 2021 Senior Pan Ams and World Junior Championships, all of which should be immensely valuable experience against the conference field.
Alessia Ferris, Western Mustangs | A senior from Vaughan, Ont., Ferris is no stranger to stepping up for her squad on the squash courts. A first team OUA all-star year in and year out, the team’s No. 1 earned her side a critical seventh game victory in 2023 to help earn Western the bronze medal. She’ll be tasked with stepping up once again against their opponents’ best this weekend.
Dileas MacGowan, Queen’s Gaels | Since her first day with the Gaels, MacGowan has brought incredible talent to the team, leading the squad from the No. 1 position in her first season. Having brought strength and experience from her undergrad at Harvard, the Toronto, Ont. product is now competing in her third OUA Championships and will undoubtedly continue to showcase her crafty offensive and defensive play once again.
Sebastien Rancoeur, Guelph Gryphons | The Oakville, Ont. native has been with the team for several years and put in a lot of hard work this past off-season to crack the tournament lineup. The veteran also opened the season with an undefeated streak that he carried until the halfway mark of the schedule, and he’ll look to produce that same type of success when he hits the banner season courts at White Oaks.
Tyson Schille, Brock Badgers | Schille will be one to watch for the Badgers this weekend as he takes part in his final OUA Championships. The sport management major from Calgary, Alta., who also played for Team Alberta in the past, enters this final weekend in fine form, having previously taken down a member of the powerhouse Western squad earlier in the year. The team captain will surely look to add a happy ending to his Badgers story strong finale at White Oaks.
Ali Shalaby, Toronto Varsity Blues | The Varsity Blues team captain and No. 1, Shalaby will be leaned on as a key piece in Toronto’s championship aspirations. The economics/data science major from Mississauga, Ont. should have no trouble shouldering the spotlight for his side, having navigated the role in MVP-winning fashion a year ago. He will look to combine his impressive on-court skill and off-court leadership to anchor a winning weekend for the Blues.
Niki Shemirani, Waterloo Warriors | Shemirani is the reigning OUA rookie of the year and all-star, who has only built off of her strong varsity debut in 2023. Her dominant sophomore season has seen her achieve an undefeated 4-0 mark, which included a 3-1 win over the reigning OUA MVP. The Toronto, Ont. native has climbed over 140 spots in the world rankings to break into the top 140, and she has her sights set on helping her Warriors win a medal at White Oaks Resort.
Gabby Waite, Queen’s Gaels | Waite has been an incredible asset in her rookie season. She has worked her way up the roster and sits in the No. 4 position for this weekend’s OUA Championships after notching an undefeated record in the Jester’s League. With her first taste of banner season competition on deck, the Gaels are excited to see the first-year engineering student take to the championship courts.
Storylines to Keep an Eye On:
It is a tough test ahead for the Brock women’s team, but despite the challenge from the talent-laden crop of championship competitors, the Badgers are poised to move up the rankings and improve on their seventh-place showing a year ago with some experienced players in the top half and some young student-athletes rounding out the roster. For the men, they have seen some successes through the year, including wins over McMaster, Laurier, and Western, and will turn to their depth to help their quest to similar move up the OUA ranks this time around.
Despite losing some key student-athletes on both teams, the Guelph squads have put together strong campaigns to date. The Gryphons can attribute this to the hard work they have put in and the corresponding improvements that have been achieved throughout their lineups. If this upward trajectory can continue to close out the conference campaign, the Gryphons could also be looking at a step up from the fifth and sixth place finishes at the 2023 OUA Championships from their men’s and women’s team, respectively.
This season, McMaster had seven returning players and two new faces with head coach Roozbeh Amirian also returning for another season after winning the OUA silver medal in 2023. The Marauders have had a few setbacks this season, including having to miss a full tournament because of a snowstorm, but the team has this as a reason to be even more excited to give their all at their final tournament of the season. The maroon machine has been training hard and is poised to make another run at the OUA Championships this weekend.
With eight straight championships in tow, the goal is clear once again for the Gaels women’s team, as they look to make it nine in a row this weekend. They’ll look to do so on the heels of another successful regular season in the University Jester’s League that saw them match McGill with an 8-1 record. They then went head-to-head, with Queen’s securing the overall league win with just two additional matches over McGill, and they’ll look to carry that winning momentum into the OUA Championships this weekend.
Toronto has been a mainstay on the provincial podium across the last four seasons and the men’s team will eye even more hardware this year, setting their sights on dethroning the long-time reigning champions. For the Varsity Blues women’s side, they haven’t claimed a top-three finish since 2019, but after falling just shy a year ago with a fourth-place result, they are hungry to make their return to the podium and take another step forward for the program.
Both the women’s and men’s teams at the university of Waterloo came third in the Jester’s League regular season play. Despite missing some key pieces near the top of both lineups, the Warriors’ depth propelled them to a successful campaign thus far under first-year head coach Ahmed Abdelkader. With the full team now back together and healthy, the black and gold will surely be ones to watch this weekend.
Despite having a 40th consecutive OUA Championship in their sights, the Mustangs men’s team is taking nothing for granted this weekend. The hosts are sticking with what has worked well over the years, with goals of working hard and trusting the process to become the best that each individual student-athlete can be. They will once again be giving their all amidst another pressure-filled provincial finale as they look to add to their already lengthy legacy of the program. With a string of consistent top-three positions of their own, meanwhile, the Western women’s side will look to continue that pace and produce another podium-worthy performance in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
What They’re Saying:
“This year, we have a lot of depth, so we feel confident. The team has been training hard and attending practices and playing in the local leagues at White Oaks. We have seen a lot of improvement from the players overall and the team has really come together.” – Matt Easingwood, Brock Badgers, Head Coach
“Our team has been playing together for a few years now, we have such a great dynamic, and I am excited for our team to have fun and compete together this weekend.” – Ella Brown, McMaster Marauders, Student-Athlete
“I’m excited. It’s bittersweet after having competed six years with Queen’s.” – Heather McLachlan, Queen’s Gaels, Student-Athlete
“I feel confident that we will do well this weekend based on the great season we have had so far, winning over 90 percent of our matches. In the end, we aim to enjoy the weekend and have as much fun as possible because all the hard work has been done.” – John Lennard, Toronto Varsity Blues, Men’s Head Coach
“I’ve loved watching each person on our team grow over the past two seasons, and the OUAs are a great place for us to showcase our improvement and realize how much all the hard work from this season has paid off.” – Rayan Hashmi, Waterloo Warriors, Student-Athlete
“I’m extremely proud of our performance this season. Our unwavering commitment and rigorous training have set us up for success at the upcoming OUA Championships. With the dedication we’ve shown, I’m confident that we’re going to perform exceptionally well.” – Khaaliqa Nimji, Waterloo Warriors, Student-Athlete
“No team wants to be the team to lose the streak and our team has been training hard to ensure that we capture our 40th consecutive championship this weekend.” – Christopher Hanebury, Western Mustangs, Men’s Head Coach