Camrosians will have more Vikings to cheer for in the coming months, as Augustana Campus is thrilled to announce the addition of Men’s & Women’s Soccer and Golf programs to Vikings Athletics beginning this fall.

The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) ratified Augustana’s application to join the league in soccer and golf at their Annual General Meeting on May 7, 2013. Golf will begin competition in the ACAC in September 2013; soccer will follow in September 2014 after one year of exhibition play and team development.

“The additions of golf and soccer clearly strengthen Augustana. They add new opportunities for students and contribute to our philosophy of educating the whole person,” says Dean Allen Berger. He adds, “given our current financial circumstances, I am particularly grateful to Greg Ryan, Director of Athletics, for putting together a creative proposal that allows us to add these sports without creating additional budgetary burdens.”

This comes as good news to the staff in Augustana’s Prospective Student Office. For several years they have been fielding inquiries from students with interest in these two sports. “It’s never fun to tell student athletes that we don’t have a team in their particular area, especially when the unique academic environment provided by Augustana is a perfect fit for them as a student,” says Tim Hanson – Assistant Dean, External Relations. “Augustana has a good mix of athletic offerings and the addition of golf and soccer will round out our offerings.”

Greg Ryan, Director of Athletics and Campus Recreation is excited for the Vikings expansion. “Camrose is a tremendously supportive community, with a rich history in sport.” He adds, “the success of our bid to add these programs is a testament to the existing strength of Camrose’s golf and soccer communities. The Vikings look forward to offering these programs and continuing to lead sport development opportunities for young Camrose area athletes.”

Augustana Vikings Men’s Volleyball is pleased to announce that Luke Ryan, Co-Captain of the NAIT Ooks Men’s volleyball team will be transferring to the University of Alberta-Augustana in the fall of 2013.

The 6’2” outside hitter began his playing career as a member of the Dino Boys’ Volleyball Club while living in Cochrane, Alberta. Luke also played with the U16 Lethbridge Volleyball Club while the family lived in Montana for two years. Upon moving to Camrose Luke competed with the Vikings as an 18U player.

In 2012 the Ooks placed 6th in the Conference as Luke played a supporting role with the Ooks. In 2013 Luke was named an assistant captain. Most recently Luke was named a provincial all-star during the U21 Men’s Provincial Championships where the Ooks placed third defeating MRU in the bronze medal match.

“Luke brings another dimension of physicality to our outside hitting corps,” said interim Head Coach Greg Ryan. “Luke’s spike touches 11’ and he is serious about working out to improve his abilities.”

Luke joins his sister Jessica and brother Joshua as members of Vikings Volleyball. Luke will be pursuing his interest in personal training as he works on a Kinesiology degree.

The University of Alberta, Augustana Campus is pleased to announce Tim Wintoniw (BSc Env Sci/Phys Ed ’05) as the newest head coach of the Camrose Ski Club and Augustana ski team. Tim will oversee the cross-country ski team, which is coming off a third place finish in University Ski Nationals at Whistler Olympic Park.

“I’m thrilled at the opportunity to lead the Augustana cross-country ski program and look forward to inspiring the next generation of Viking skiers,” Tim said.

One of the co-founders of Downtown Nordic, a Winnipeg-based cross-country ski team, Tim expanded the program from nine skiers to 63.

The 30-year-old spent a year as a field worker with SkiFit North and coached Team Manitoba at Canada Winter Games in 2011. He also headed up the Saskatchewan Cross-Country Ski team at the Western National Cross-Country Ski Championship in 2012.

Wintoniw also skied competitively for more than a decade, including three seasons with Augustana, where he led the team to a gold medal in the 3×5 relay in 2004 in Edmonton.

A multi-sport athlete, Wintoniw won World Cup bronze in white water rafting, qualifying for world championships in 2012.

The University of Alberta – Augustana Campus and Vikings Men’s Basketball program are pleased to announce the commitment by Sebastien Turcotte to the Vikings beginning in the 2013-2014 season.

Sebastien is a diverse multi-sport standout and high-honours student from Bishop J. Mahoney High School in Saskatoon who caught the eye of Vikings head coach Dave Drabiuk when the Saints played in the Jasper Place Reb Invitational in December.

“Sebastien’s coach at BJM , Brett Hoffman, is an excellent coach that really cares about developing player talent and molding people of great character. I know we are getting an excellent basketball player, student and new member of the Augustana community” states coach Dave Drabiuk.

As a member of the BJM Saints football team Sebastien won both city and provincial championships in 2011 and 2012 playing wide receiver and being named the recipient of his team’s hustle and desire award in both seasons. In 2012 the 6’ 6” forward scored the winning basket as the Saints claimed the Saskatoon championship in basketball.

Coach Dave Drabiuk noted that “Sebastien was quietly making his presence felt at ID camp this year and our players immediately pointed to him as ‘our kind of guy’ in terms of his demeanor, competitiveness and his commitment to success. His skills are still developing and he will only get better during this next phase of his basketball life.”

Sebastien has been an honour student in grades 9-12 and he will enter a Bachelor of Science program en route to medical school.

Cameron Vilcsak in action as a SACHS Skyhawk. Photo supplied.

The University of Alberta – Augustana Campus and Vikings Men’s Basketball program are pleased to announce the commitment by Cameron Vilcsak to the Vikings beginning in the 2013-2014 season.

The hard-working and talented point guard has been a key member of his St. Albert Catholic High School team, where he played under the tutelage of coaches Evan Holstein and Brett Gaudreau. Cam’s arrival on campus will reunite him with Vikings Basketball Rookie of the Year, Cole Aikens, a high school teammate last season.

In his senior year at SACHS, Cam has been selected to the MVP team in the Edmonton Premier Conference and been named an Edmonton Journal all-star. Cam was also selected as an all-star of San Diego “surf and slam tournament” and was named the MVP of SCA invitational tournament. He punctuated his personal accomplishments this season with a 42 point outburst against Leduc Composite. The summer months have been busy for Cam as well as he represented Team Alberta baseball in 2007-2008 and Team Alberta basketball in 2012.

A strong student in the classroom, Cam youth group won the ‘Leaders of Tomorrow Award’, which coach Dave Drabiuk agrees will set Cam up nicely for a great future at Augustana contributing to the basketball program and the community at large. Says head coach Dave Drabiuk of the newest Viking; “Cam made an immediate impression when he visited our campus and our returning players are excited to welcome this dynamic player to our program.”

His parents, a NAIT alumnus and a U of A alumnus, are very supportive of Cam’s academic choice as he begins his Bachelor of Science degree in physics and biology with designs on graduate level research.

Cam will be participating in the Augustana Vikings High School All-Star Series on April 6th.

Augustana Vikings Men’s Volleyball is pleased to announce that Cole McCartney, member of the University of Alberta Golden Bears, will return to Augustana in the fall of 2013.

The 6’5” middle played high school volleyball at Tofield School under coach Kurt Otto. He has played club volleyball in Camrose as a member of the Vikings for two years under coach Greg Ryan. Cole trained as a member of the Team Alberta U16 Beach Volleyball team. Cole was also selected to represent Alberta with the U17 team at the Western Canadian Elite Championship.

As a member of the Vikings, Cole was selected in his second year as an ACAC conference First Team All-Star and a CCAA All-Canadian. This was a remarkable achievement for a player on a team that placed ninth in the conference.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome him back to Augustana Volleyball,” added Director of Athletics and Head Coach Greg Ryan. “Cole’s character and athletic ability are a combination one does not see very often. Having an athlete of Cole’s stature compete at Augustana speaks to the quality of this young program and the great educational experience that Augustana offers to students.”

Cole will be pursuing a degree in Kinesiology with the goal of becoming a chiropractor.

It’s a great year to be a Viking! Following our silver medal in the women’s basketball championships, two outstanding Augustana athletes were recognized with Alberta Colleges Athletic Association Athlete of the Year Awards!

Daniel Hope

For the second consecutive year a University of Alberta-Augustana Hockey player has been selected as player of the year.

Daniel Hope is a 4th year Viking from Kelvington, Saskatchewan, studying Business Economics. Daniel played with the Melville Millionaires of the SJHL from 2007-2009 as a team captain. In 2009, the Millionaires advanced to the league final.

This season, while sporting a 3.9 GPA, the captain of the Vikings was the leading point-getter in the league and led his team with 18 goals, 25 assists. As a power play specialist, Daniel scored a league-leading 9 power play goals. Hope is now the All-Time career point getter for Vikings Hockey in ACAC.

“I am extremely proud of Daniel and his accomplishments with Vikings hockey over the past four year, this is a fitting award for the consummate team leader,” said Coach Gusdal.

Andrew Evans

If Andrew had followed through with his idea of leaving university in his first week at Augustana, we wouldn’t be talking about him here today. It’s a good thing for the Vikings he decided to stay!

From the beginning of his college-curling career, it was obvious what position Andrew would be playing. His pinpoint accuracy, ability to quickly call games and be thinking farther ahead of other skips is akin to watching a chess-master against the clock.

Born and raised on a farm near Kitscoty, Alberta, Andrew Evans is the winner of 2 Mixed ACAC Championships, 1 Men’s Silver medal, and now the 2013 Men’s ACAC Curler of the year!

Read the full story on the ACAC website.

After months of endless preparation and a grueling season in which the Vikings Women’s basketball team dominated the Alberta Colleges Athletic Association with a series of 15 early wins and a 20-1 regular season record, the Championship weekend arrived at Augustana.

The Vikings held 1st place through the season and lost only to Grande Prairie, earning them 2nd place nationally among the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association. Augustana showed their strength in the Championship by surpassing Concordia in the quarterfinal and knocking off Grant Macewan by 13 points in a tight semi-final.

Olds College, in their first ACAC season, came in as the seventh-seeded team and stormed the tournament. They knocked off the second- and third-seeded teams (Kings and NAIT) on their way to the Championship game against the Vikings.

The teams stayed even for three quarters, with Olds holding a slim lead, but the Broncos began to pull away in the fourth. They held an 11-point lead over Augustana after three minutes of play. With two minutes left to play and a 15-point lead, the Broncos relied on a defensive game and controlled the ball. The Cinderella Story ended with a 83-65 Olds victory.

Congratulations to Olds College on an outstanding Championship tournament, and congratulations to our own Augustana Vikings for an outstanding season and fantastic silver medal victory!

On February 27, the Alberta College Athletics Committee held their annual Awards Night.

Three Augustana women’s basketball players were rewarded for their achievements. Taryn Story and Kelsey Lund were named to the ACAC 1^st team (north) and Kari Kubinec was named to the ACAC 2^nd team (south).

Head coach Leanne Shenton was also honored at last night’s awards; she was named ACAC North Division women’s basketball coach of the year!

Leanne is an alumna of Augustana and is currently working on a Master’s degree in Coaching at the University of Victoria. She has led the Augustana Women’s Vikings to an amazing season. During regular season play, the Vikings managed a 20 and 1 record. In exhibition play, the team pulled off a 13 and 1 record!

The team’s record is the culmination of several years of hard work. Last year, the Vikings were 12 and 8. Also, this year marks the third straight that the Vikings have made it to the playoffs.

Congratulations, Leanne Shenton and the Augustana women’s basketball Vikings!

Please see more ACAC Basketball tournament news at www.acacwomensbasketball.ca