February 24 & 25, 2024 – The weekend was packed with exciting action. Alpine Skiing and Nordic Skiing teams showcased their skills at Red Lodge Mountain and the P’ayak loppet respectively, while the Sailing team competed in Match Racing Nationals. The Men’s and Women’s Ultimate teams triumphed at the 11th Annual Dogwood Bowl, bringing home victories for UBC.
Alpine Skiing
This weekend, UBC Alpine competed at Red Lodge Mountain in Red Lodge, Montana at USCSA Western Regionals Conference. Congratulations to both the Men’s and Women’s Teams for their incredible performance this weekend. Both teams were one spot away from qualifying for Nationals with the Men’s Team in 5th place and the Women’s Team tied for 4th. Even with such a close margin, our athletes put up a good fight in the beautiful sunny but windy conditions.
Shout out to Coco Robertson, Bella Bay, and Bea Mick for finishing in the top 30 overall. Congratulations to Marko Smitran, Samuel Agerskov, and Phillip D’Andrea for finishing in the top overall both days as well. We hope to conclude our season at the Rotten Apple Cup so stay tuned!
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Nordic Skiing
15 athletes competed in the annual P’ayak loppet at Whistler Olympic Park last weekend, completing both skate and classic races of 15, 25 and 50k.
Highlights:
- Micheal Murdoch defends his 50k title again this yeah with a time of 2:27:21.
- Reid Wilson and Chloe Walc both placed 7th in the 15k classic in their respective categories.
- Maxine Forder placed 4th in 25k female category.
Sailing
Over reading break, the team participated in Match Racing Nationals! Match racing is a special type of racing with a slightly different set of rules where only one boat sails against one other boat for each race. There was a total of 12 teams from Universities across the country that competed from the 23-25 of February. The event also provided a 2 day training camp to help tune up before the event. The two teams were UBC 1 comprised of Julia Jaynes (skipper), Jessica Hirschbold (crew: spin and main trimmer) and Sophia Moiseyenko (crew: bow) and UBC 2 comprised of Ashley Ferreira (skipper), Angela Ying (crew: spin and main trimmer) and Anthony Rizk (crew: bow). Ming Lee (crew: bow) also sailed with UOttawa as they were one person short. The weekend provided variable conditions which caused a lot of waiting for wind to come, then transitioning working hard in the strong breeze when it came in. UBC 1 was the only all female team and was tied with 3rd and 4th place before the semi finals. Unfortunately UBC 1 lost the tie breaker and did not advance to the final rounds. However, UBC 1 still showed great performance and won 7 out of 11 races, placing 5th out of 12 teams overall. UBC 2 had a great time learning and developing in a boat none of the members have sailed before and placed 10/12 teams. Overall the team showed great improvement in competitive races and had a blast getting lots of sailing in over the break!
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Men’s Ultimate
In an electrifying showdown at the 11th Annual Dogwood Bowl, the UBC Thunderbirds embarked on their journey to Victoria to battle against UVIC. With both teams wanting to bring home the trophy, anticipation soared as UVIC fans filled the stands of their home field.
The game unfolded as a tightly contested affair, with both teams exhibiting their determination despite battling through challenging winds gusting at 20 km/h. The T-Birds demonstrated remarkable resilience, executing impressive layout blocks on both offence and defence. Despite turnovers induced by the fierce wind, the T-Birds’ O-line remained composed, consistently regaining possession and capitalizing on scoring opportunities.
The nail in the coffin arrived with a breathtaking huck from Devon Bringeland-Powell to Jake Yuen, sealing the victory for the T-Birds as they stormed the field in celebration. The hard-fought contest concluded with the UBC Thunderbirds taking the victory over the Vikes with a final score of 14-10.
Despite facing a formidable home crowd, the T-Birds showcased their determination and skill, bringing the Dogwood Bowl trophy back to its rightful home. With this win, the series between the Birds and the Vikes now stands at 6-5 in favour of UBC, which we cannot be happier about.
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Women’s Ultimate
The Birds travelled to the island this past weekend for the annual Dogwood Bowl! The birds played against the University of Victoria on their home field and faced windy weather conditions that challenged our skillset and resiliency. However, the team always responded with support for each other and felt fueled by the exciting environment with commentators and spectators. A commanding win over the University of Victoria secured the Birds first place and, alongside the UBC Men’s team, both teams brought back the Dogwood Bowl title for UBC. The team is looking forward to our next big tournament, Stanford Invite, and continuing our success next weekend!
