In the News

[Jeffrey Reed]

KINGSTON, Ont. - The Waterloo Warriors took home both the men's and women's OUA golf Championships in Kingston, Ontario. Both men and women battled through high winds and tough conditions on the final day of action.

The Waterloo men's team entered day two at Cataraqui Golf and Country Club trailing first place Queen's by five strokes. The team was led by strong play from individual leader Garret Rank (Emira, Ont.) who finished the tournament at two-over and shot an impressive 68 in the final day.

On the team leaderboard, Waterloo came home with the Championship with a combined team score of 594, followed by the Queen's Gaels at 600 and Western Mustangs at 601.

On the individual circuit, Rank topped all golfers finishing two-over for the tournament and taking home the gold medal for the second year in a row. Guelph's Chris Hemmerich (Kitchener, Ont.) finished four-over and took home the silver, while the Gaels' Russell Bowie (Mississauga, Ont.) who shot six-over brought home bronze thanks to his 73 second round score.

Finishing out the first team all-stars were Western's Charles Fitzsimmons (North York, Ont.) who shot a six-over and Jordan Oudyk (Oshawa, Ont.) who finished eight-over.

Waterloo’s Simon McInnis (Toronto), McMaster’s Greg Gabel (Ancaster, Ont.), Ottawa’s John Henry MacDonald (Cherry Valley, Ont.), Harris Bundy (Toronto) of the Western Mustangs, Laurier’s Brett Murray (Newmarket, Ont.) and Queen’s Matt Courchene (Carleton Place, Ont.) were named OUA second-team all-stars for their top-ten finishes.

On the women's side, no amount of wind or overcast skies could throw the Waterloo Warriors off their game. With a total combined score of 486, the Warriors were victorious.

Finishing in second place was the Western Mustangs team, who were 18 strokes behind the Warriors at 504, while the Guelph Gryphons faired one stroke more in third place, scoring 505.

The Windsor Lancers' Meaghan Pototschnik (Stratford, Ont.) posted an impressive 77 in the final round and took home the individual gold for the tournament. Potoschnick's two-day scores were 82 and 77, putting her 15-over, two shots lower than round one leader from Guelph Christine Fraser (Kingston, Ont.).

Rounding out the top three and tied for second place were Fraser and Waterloo Warrior, Jane Tang (Toronto) at 17-over. The Varsity Blues’ Laura Upenieks (Toronto) and Warriors’ Mandy Wong (Calgary, Alta.) rounded out the first-team all-stars.

Brock’s Kristine Littlefield (Brampton, Ont.), Waterloo’s Devon Rizzo (Stratford, Ont.) and Western’s Jessie Mercer (Plainfield, Ont.) were named OUA second-team all-stars for being top-eight finishers.

OUA MAJOR GOLF AWARDS

FIRST-TEAM ALL-STARS
Men
Garrett Rank (Elmira, Ont.) – Waterloo
Chris Hemmerich (Kitchener, Ont.) – Guelph
Russell Bowie (Mississauga, Ont.) – Queen’s
Charles Fitzsimmons (North York, Ont.) – Western
Jordan Oudyk (Oshawa, Ont.) - Laurier

Women
Meaghan Pototschnik (Stratford, Ont.) – Windsor
Christine Fraser (Kingston, Ont.) – Guelph
Jane Tang (Toronto) – Waterloo
Laura Upenieks (Toronto) – Toronto
Mandy Wong (Calgary, Alta.) – Waterloo

SECOND-TEAM ALL-STARS
Men
Simon McInnis (Toronto) – Waterloo
Greg Gabel (Ancaster, Ont.) – McMaster
John Henry MacDonald (Cherry Valley, Ont.) – Ottawa
Harris Bundy (Toronto) – Western
Brett Murray (Newmarket, Ont.) – Laurier
Matt Courchene (Carleton Place, Ont.) – Queen’s

Women
Kristine Littlefield (Brampton, Ont.) – Brock
Devon Rizzo (Stratford, Ont.) – Waterloo
Jessie Mercer (Plainfield, Ont.) – Western