Sports Shorts
Mike Kostoff

With the OUA finals quickly approching (this weekend at Laurentian University in Sudbury), both the men's and women's swimming teams find themselves ranked among Canada's best. The men entered the CIAU ranking at #10 this week, with the women moving up from #6 to #5. It is the first time that both Hawk teams have been ranked in the top ten.

"We should see the men move up in the rankings this weekend," commented Hawk head coach Dean Boles, who was happy to hear about the rankings, but is much more concerned with performances in the pool.

"To be competitive in the CIAU championships we will need to qualify some more swimmers," added Boles. Currently, six Hawks have met the CIAU qualifying standard and will be competing in Toronto. The swimming Hawks enter the provincal finals with their strongest team ever, and have their sights set on a top three finish and more CIAU births this weekend.

On January 29-30, the men's and women's curling teams competed in their crossover competition in Toronto. Both teams had excellent weekends and both now sit in first place heading into the OUA finals to be held Februrary 20 to 21 in Toronto.

The women's team of Heather Graham, Jackie Smith, Shannon McCleary, Boni Griffith and Angela Selkirk had a great weekend going undefeated 6-0. They had wins over Nipissing (11-3), Trent (9-5), Toronto (11-6), Queens (8-6), McMaster (8-7), and RMC (9-3). The team looked impressive and now goes into the OUA finals ranked 1st with a combined 9-1 record.

The men also had a good weekend, coming out with a 4-2 record. The team of John Morris, Brent Laing, Paul Moffat, Ian Morton and Scott Whiting defeated Nipissing (8-6), Trent (9-2), Queen's (8-7), and RMC (10-5).

Unfortunately, the team dropped two tough ones, losing to Toronto (8-0), and to McMaster (11-6). The men's team now holds a record of 9-2, and are also ranked first heading into the OUA finals.

Both teams are anxiously awaiting the provincial competition, as both have high hopes of returning to Laurier with banners to hang in the Athletic Complex.

In men's volleyball, Ryan Brown led the way in a pair of wins over Waterloo and Guelph to help the Hawks move closer to nailing down the final OUA West playoff spot. Brown had 25 and 27 kills respectively in the pair of wins.

The Hawks play their final game of the regular season tonight at the Athletic Complex at 8:00pm.

A win over the 0-8 McMaster Marauders will solidify a post-season berth for the squad.

The men's basketball team got much deserved recognition this past week as centre Ken Hodgkins was named the OUA Male Athlete of the Week for January 25-31.

Hodgkins poured in 49 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in games against Brock and Guelph and has been the driving force behind the Hawks in only his second year at Laurier.

Coach Mike Kilpatrick said of Hodgkins, "He has the necessary tools to become the premier post man in the OUA West. His soft jumper and jump hook make him extremely versatile; his passing makes him another threat at his position."