Friday April 5th, 2024 Thank you to all our club athletes and coaches for attending the 2023-24 Clubs Banquet. Many of our clubs celebrated a year full of accomplishments competing on regional, provincial, and even national stages. Congratulations to all our teams on a successful year and we look forward to next season.
Atcha Crew
Atcha Crew was the first dance team to participate in a showcase this year when they traveled to McMaster to compete in the NOVA showcase in late November. The team continued their training throughout the winter and ended the season in Toronto during early March for their last competition. They spent the rest of the semester scouting out new recruits for next year and intended on coming back better than ever!
- ATCHA CREW- MOST IMPROVED 2023-2024 ARASHEL GUTHRIE
- ATCHA CREW- FAMCHA AWARD 2023-2024 JULIA DUKE
Artistic Swimming.
Novice Artistic Swim team was able to take home a podium finish at Nationals in Winnipeg! Overall, the team had a great season despite dealing with challenges navigating a new scoring system as a predominantly student-coached team. Earlier in the season, the team had traveled to Quebec City to compete in the Eastern Division Championship which helped them gain the experience for their great showing at Nationals.
- ARTISTIC SWIM – EXPERIENCED ATHLETE OF THE YEAR 2023-2024 MIA LAMRINO
- ARTISTIC SWIM – NOVICE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR 2023-2024 ADINA BORENSTEIN
Cheerleading
Cheerleading started the year welcoming back fans to Alumni Stadium for another great varsity football season. They attended PCA Nationals in February where the all-girls team finished second and the co-ed team was crowned national champions for their fantastic routines. They ended the year in Nashville where both the All-Girl and Co-ed Teams came home with first place awards. To go along with the awards, the All-girl team had the highest score in the 2-day combined scores for all collegiate teams.
- CHEERLEADING – GRYPHON HEART 2023-2024 ERICA PICHE
Dance Pak
Their team didn’t get underway until March, but when the time came, they were ready to go. The team placed top 10 in their first 2 competitions and their line came home with 8th place at the BU Varsity Dance Challenge. The team ended the
year on a high note with a top-5 finish at the View Dance Challenge.
- DANCE PAK – DEDICATION AWARD 2023-2024 KYA SOUSA
- DANCE PAK – TEAM ROLE MODEL 2023-2024 HELENE LEMMEN
Dragon Boat
This past summer the Dragon Boat Team placed 3rd in the 2km Hamilton Regatta and 2nd in the 500m Final during the Milton Regatta. Though the team was happy with the results, they worked even harder this year to get ready for the summer ahead. We wish them all the best when they start their 2024 season at the Toronto Island Dragon Boat Festival!
- DRAGON BOAT – MOST VALUABLE TEAMMATE 2023-2024 CHARLOTTE PONG
- DRAGON BOAT – MOST IMPROVED PLAYER 2023-2024 ASHLYN STUART
English Equestrian
The team was very successful on the track this year and attended 5 competitions throughout North America. They had 5 riders qualify for regionals in late march where the team placed 4th as a group. They even had 1 rider qualify for zones and will attended nationals this weekend.
- ENGLISH EQUESTRIAN –MVP 2023-2024 LIV TAMBLYN
- ENGLISH EQUESTRIAN –ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 2023-2024 AMY CARTER
Women's Football
This year women’s football team grew on an already successful 2022-2023 season. The highlight of the fall semester was late November when the team was crowned champions of the Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Football Association beating the Brock Badgers 20-0 in the finals. The team continued to practice hard throughout the winter and advanced to the final 8 of the winter 11v11 season. After capturing their first OWIFA championship this year, the team is only getting better and plans on making larger strides in the sport.
- WOMEN’S FOOTBALL – VERSATILITY AWARD 2023-2024 JAIME VICKERY
- WOMEN’S FOOTBALL – ATHLETE ENDURANCE AWARD 2023-2024 MARY RUSSO
Gryphsteps
Gryphsteps tried something new this year and performed at one of our Varsity Basketball games where they brought great energy and life to the court. They continued working hard through the year and ended with a great performance at the River Run Center for the University Dance Challenge. Just like Atcha, they have been working on recruiting and have big plans for next season.
- GRYPHSTEPS – MVP 2023-2024 PANIZ LANGARY
- GRYPHSTEPS – TEAM SPIRIT AWARD 2023-2024 KAELAN O’ROURKE
Quadball
The team had a fantastic season highlighted by hosting the Eastern Regionals on home turf. The team battled hard throughout the weekend and came home with a 3rd place finish. They ended the year with a great showing at nationals, wrapping up the weekend as the 5th best team in the country.
- QUADBALL – MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 2023-2024 CALLA SHANTZ
- QUADBALL – THE BRYAN MELCHIOR LEADERSHIP AWARD 2023-2024 WILL MCMILLAN
Ringette
The team continued to blossom on this ice this year. They started hot, taking home a gold medal in just their second tournament of the year. Over the Christmas break, they competed in the University Challenge Cup in Ottawa where they battled hard and finished 5th out of 16 teams. They wrapped up the season at provincials in Kitchener and after a long 4 days, they beat Brock 7-5 to win the bronze medal.
- RINGETTE- MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 2023-2024 KELLY CALLAGHAN
- RINGETTE- SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD 2023-2024 JULIA MEZENBERG
- RINGETTE- GRYPHON AWARD 2023-2024 SARAH DEAN
Softball
The softball team hosted many home games and traveled to Windsor and Ottawa throughout the year to battle against the best teams in the province. Though their season didn’t end the way they wanted it to, they improved by 6 wins over last year's record. They plan on building off this year's success and having a solid playoff push next season.
- WOMEN’S SOFTBALL- GRYPHON HEART 2023-2024 JUSTINE STYLES
- WOMEN’S SOFTBALL – TEAM BUILDER AWARD 2023-2024 AINSLIE ROONEY
Tap Pak
Competed in Guelph, Mississauga and Hamilton this year, and at their first event of the year placed among the top teams. In their second competition, they won the top tap award and their extended line placed in the top 10 for overall awards.
- TAP PAK – IMPACT AWARD 2023-2024 OLIVIA AFONSO
- TAP PAK – DEDICATION AWARD 2023-2024 SAMANTHA MOHR
Tennis
This team that had massive growth in numbers this year was our Tennis club. Last year the team had only 12 members and this year they more than tripled those numbers with over 40 members. They went from 2 exhibitions in 2 years to 15 exhibition games this season. To cap off a great year, they made the playoffs in the Ontario Exhibition Tennis League which will take place this Sunday. Good luck as you wrap up a great season!
- TENNIS – PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2023-2024 AARON GINSBERG
- TENNIS – PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2023-2024 IZZY IEWAK
Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate Frisbee came out of the gates hot with a second place finish at the Steeltown Classic which was their first tournament of the year. They continued their hard work throughout the season and came 5th in Ontario Regionals and wrapped up the year with a Division 2 National championship. They had a great season but are eager to get back on the field and capture Division 1 glory next year.
- ULTIMATE FRISBEE – MOST IMPROVED PLAYER 2023-2024 MAC FERGUSON
- ULTIMATE FRISBEE – MOST IMPROVED PLAYER 2023-2024 TAYLOR BECHARD
- ULTIMATE FRISBEE – MOST DEDICATED PLAYER 2023-2024 KEVIN COUGH
- ULTIMATE FRISBEE – BREAKOUT PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2023-2024 CELE NESTBITT
Underwater Hockey
One of our most tenured clubs we have Underwater Hockey. The Underwater Hockey club has been around for decades, and is highlighted every year by their Annual college royal tournament. This year was once again a success as the club
hosted teams from all across North America for an action packed weekend in the gold pool enjoyed by athletes of all ages.
- UNDERWATER HOCKEY – E.CORRIGAN AWARD FOR SPORTSMANSHIP 2023-2024 CHARLOTTE SLAYTON
- UNDERWATER HOCKEY – L. CUSTODE AWARD FOR ENTHUSIASM AND DEDICATION 2023-2024 BRENDEN HARE
Waterpolo
This year’s water polo team wasn’t the most experienced group however, they learned the game very quickly. The team traveled to Ottawa to compete in the National Collegiate Water Polo Championship in late November where they enjoyed testing out their skills against some of the best in the country. Outside of their travel to Ottawa, the team hosted many exhibition games throughout the season, even hosting a team from Pennsylvania in Early March.
- WATER POLO- MOST IMPROVED PLAYER 2023-2024 BREANNA COCHRANE
- WATER POLO - MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 2023-2024 ERIC VAN ROOYEN
Western Equestrian
Western Equestrian also excelled during their competitions this year as they had 7 riders qualify for regionals which were held in Morrisville New York. At regionals, the team battled and rode well, to come home with some 3rd place hardware. Both equestrian teams are eager to grow on this past year’s success and plan to work even harder next year.
- WESTERN EQUESTRIAN –MVP 2023-2024 KAYLA BRICKUS
- WESTERN EQUESTRIAN –SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD 2023-2024 SLOANE BARACH
MAJOR AWARDS:
Momentum Award: English Equestrian
The Momentum Award is given to the club who excels in growth and leadership demonstrated through dedication, creativity, and resilience.
The nominees for 2023-2024 were: English Equestrian, Women’s Football, and Ultimate Frisbee
Circle of Excellence: Western Equestrian
The Circle of Excellence Award is given to the club who exemplifies success on and off the field of play as a shining example of excellence in administration and athlete development while consistently representing positive Gryphon virtues in the communities they interact with.
The nominees for 2023-2024 were: Western Equestrian, Dance Pak, Tap Pak and Ringette.
