CCAA National Success

CCAA National Success

The 2017-2018 season across the PACWEST was extremely successful. From individual milestones to team triumphs, the PACWEST was a force in the CCAA.

The first sport to taste success was golf led by the UFV Cascades. After rolling through the PACWEST which saw them sweep the medals on the women’s side and winning gold and silver on the men’s side, they entered CCAA nationals.

Making the trip east to Oshawa didn’t seem to slow them down. PACWEST champion Daniel Campbell continued to roll right through the CCAA competition and won a national gold. Hot on his heels was UBCO Heat golfer James Casorso who finished with a national silver medal, eight strokes back of Campbell.

On the team side the Cascades men left little doubt, winning a national gold medal by 16 strokes over the Heat who claimed silver.

Over on the women’s side the Cascades’ Madison Kapchinsky was tied for top spot on the leaderboard after the four national rounds. She claimed a national silver medal following a one-hole playoff.

Kapchinsky would pace her entire team and the Cascades blew away the field like the men and captured the CCAA national gold medal by 21 strokes.

CCAA Medal Count:
Gold: 3
Silver: 3

Next up on the season was soccer and again PACWEST teams flexed their muscle on the men’s side.

After winning their first PACWEST title in four years the Douglas Royals punched their ticket to the CCAA National Championship hosted by the VIU Mariners, who received an automatic berth.

Both the Royals and Mariners won their first two national championship games and found themselves staring at each other for the fourth time this season, but this time for a Canadian title. In a back and forth game the Mariners would capture national gold with a 1-0 victory showing the parity of the PACWEST.

CCAA Medal Count:
Gold: 4
Silver: 4

Women’s volleyball looked oddly familiar of that of men’s soccer. The Royals and Mariners were neck and neck throughout most of the PACWEST regular season. In the PACWEST gold medal match, the Royals would defeat the Mariners to claim the Conference title for the first time in 23 years. Both teams however punched their ticket to the CCAA Nationals in Grande Prairie.

After breezing through their first two national championship matches they set the table to play each other for the Canadian gold medal. The Mariners avenged their PACWEST loss and beat the Royals in four sets to win the national championship title for the second time in three seasons. The Royals settled for a CCAA silver medal.

CCAA Medal Count:
Gold: 5
Silver: 5

When the PACWEST basketball season tipped off in November the VIU Mariners won 12 in a row and looked to be on cruise control for their fourth straight men’s championship. Everything seemed to be lining up considering they were even hosting the PACWEST championship. Enter the Douglas Royals.

After winning back to back games on consecutive night to open the PACWEST championship, the Royals entered the gold medal tilt with the Mariners playing their third high quality opponent in three nights. That didn’t seem to matter as they held down the first place Mariners and captured their first title in 10 years and punched their ticket to the CCAA nationals in Quebec.

The Royals continued their hot play on the biggest stage complete with a semi-final victory over the host and defending CCAA champion Nomades de Montmorency. This set up a date with the OCAA champion Seneca Sting in the title game.

Despite a one point lead at halftime, the Royals struggled to keep up with the Sting and ultimately settled for the CCAA silver medal falling by 12 points. The national silver is the first PACWEST basketball medal since 2015.

CCAA Medal Count:
Gold: 5
Silver: 6

The PACWEST also made some noise in cross country running this past season on the national stage as Veronika Fagan of the UBC Okanagan Heat claimed her first ever CCAA gold medal. The medal also helped the Heat women’s team win the CCAA bronze medal.

CCAA Medal Count:
Gold: 6
Silver: 6
Bronze: 1

Another pair of CCAA medals were won by PACWEST badminton players this past season. Grayson Robb of the VIU Mariners finished with a bronze medal, while women’s doubles players Kelly Chiang and Joyce Leung of the Langara Falcons claimed silver.

CCAA Medal Count:
Gold: 6
Silver: 7
Bronze: 2

The final sport to take center stage at the CCAA nationals this past season was curling and the PACWEST flag was flying high yet again.

On the men’s draw the Douglas Royals ran the table during the round robin and the playoff to win national gold for the first time since 1990. They would finish off the Fanshawe Falcons 7-3 in the gold medal match.

Over on the women’s side the Camosun Chargers finished second after the round robin with a 5-2 record. After a 6-3 win over NAIT in the semis, they would also face the Falcons in the gold medal game. It was a hard fought match that the Chargers dropped 5-4, however still claimed the CCAA silver medal and added to the PACWEST medal count.

CCAA Final Medal Count:
Gold: 7
Silver: 8
Bronze: 2

The CCAA put a wrap on the 2017-2018 season just last week handing out two more significant awards which the PACWEST laid claim to. First up, Brian McLennon of the Douglas Royals was named the CCAA Athletic Director of the Year and the Capilano Blues earned the CCAA Community Service Award.

This past season was one of the most successful and memorable in Conference history. A total of 17 CCAA medals were won across six different CCAA sports. The future of the PACWEST looks very bright heading into 2018-2019.