Kymani Pollard (No. 3) of the U of L Pronghorns men's basketball team during a game against the University of Victoria on Friday, November 4, 2022. The Pronghorns are in Langley on Friday, November 11 and Saturday, November 12 against Trinity Western University. (Photo by Janise Michel of Lethbridge Sports)

By Justin Goulet

College and university sports preview: November 10, 2022

Nov 10, 2022 | 8:21 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge College Kodiaks and University of Lethbridge (U of L) Pronghorns have teams in action this weekend. Here is a look at what the post-secondary teams are up to.

LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE KODIAKS

The women’s volleyball team holds a record of four wins and one loss to start the Alberta College Athletic Conference (ACAC) regular season. After losing their season opener on Saturday, October 15, 2022, they have won four straight games. On Friday, November 11, 2022 at 6:00 p.m., the Kodiaks will host The King’s University Eagles. That will be followed by a 1:00 p.m. meeting in Lethbridge on Saturday, November 12 against the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder.

The men’s volleyball team has started the ACAC regular season off on a hot streak, having won their first five games. The team is on home court Friday, November 11 for an 8:00 p.m. game against The King’s University Eagles. On Saturday, November 12 at 3:00 p.m., the Kodiaks host the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder.

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams have this weekend off and are back in action on Friday, November 18. Both teams will be on the road against The King’s University Eagles in Edmonton.

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Cross country athletes will compete at the 2022 CCAA Cross Country Running National Championship. The event is hosted by Medicine Hat College on Saturday, November 12.

In other Kodiaks news, Taryn Bach and Paycen Blackmore have been named the Athletes of the Week.

Taryn Bach suits up for the Kodiaks women’s volleyball team. Over two matches on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5, Bach recorded 71 assists and 15 digs. That helped the Kodiaks earn wins over Northwestern Polytechnic and NAIT.

Paycen Blackmore of the men’s basketball team scored a combined 39 points over two victorious games on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5.

The Kodiaks have also announced two Athletes of the Month for October. Taylor Hrycun of the women’s soccer team was selected to the Women’s ACAC All-Conference team and helped the Kodiaks secure a bronze medal at the ACAC Soccer Championships in Raymond.

READ MORE: Kodiaks women’s soccer team earns bronze at ACAC Championships

On the men’s side, Cooper Williams of the cross country team was named the Athlete of the Month for October. He was the only Kodiaks All-Conference selection for the team. At the ACAC Conference Championships in Edmonton on Saturday, October 29, he finished the eight-kilometre track in 27:57. This earned him a seventh place finish overall.

Meanwhile, a Picture Butte athlete has committed to the Kodiaks women’s soccer team. Centre-back Abigail Leusink has previous experience with the Lethbridge Football Club (LFC) and will join the team for the 2023-2024 season. Head coach Sean Carey said Leusink is “a full multi-sport athlete and she’s very good at basketball and volleyball, too, so we weren’t sure which way she was going to go.”

“She’s played at quite a high level with LFC for several years now with (former Kodiaks soccer head coach) Mike Racz,” Carey added.

Carey continued, “She’s been coached well and she’s definitely a big piece for our future. I know other schools were chasing her, so it’s huge for Abigail to choose us when she had lots of options.”

Leusink said getting to experience the Kodiaks team culture at ID camps was a factor in committing to Lethbridge College.

She said, “I went to an ID camp a few years ago and I really liked how Sean (Carey) made the Lethbridge girls feel welcome and showed a lot of interest in us.”

Training camp will start next August, but the Picture Butte star said she is already looking forward to starting her post-secondary career.

Leusink stated, “I’m excited to make a whole new group of friends and moving on to living on my own, playing post-secondary soccer and working towards a future in psychology.”

Leusink will enrol in the General Arts and Science program at Lethbridge College, as she builds towards her goal of becoming a psychiatrist.

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE PRONGHORNS

Both the U of L men’s and women’s basketball teams are in Langley, British Columbia this weekend for a couple of games against the Trinity Western University (TRU) Spartans.

The women’s basketball team has one win and one loss on the Canada West regular season so far. They face the TRU Spartans at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 11. The two teams will face off again at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 12.

The men’s basketball team faces the Spartans at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 11. Their weekend wraps up with a 7:00 p.m. match-up against TRU on Saturday, November 12. Like the women’s team, the men’s team has one win and one loss on the season.

In the pool, the U of L swim team has the weekend off, but is getting set to host the Canada West Swim Championship from Friday, November 25 to Sunday, November 27.

Read more local sports at Lethbridge News Now.