Durham College (DC) student-athletes continue their commitment to the local community through fundraising and community events. The DC Athletics department is involved in a variety of community initiatives, providing a great experience for the athletes by encouraging them to lend a helping hand.
 
Fundraising events
This season, the women’s softball team stepped up to the plate and gave back to multiple causes through their 50/50 draws held each game. Those groups included the Canadian Cancer Society – Durham Region and the ALS Society, in addition to providing funds for treatment for Maria Iurato, cousin of Lords catcher Justine Pike. The softball team also donated items to the Whitby Salvation Army Food Bank and the Denise House in Oshawa.
 
In September, the men’s baseball team fundraised for Play Global, an organization that teaches baseball to coaches and youth in developing countries and areas of conflict, using baseball as a way to help kids see past their differences, respect others and play as a team. The Lords not only raised a monetary donation for the charity, but collected equipment to send to Uganda.

The women’s volleyball team made raising funds and awareness for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Ontario Chapter a priority this season. Heading into the winter break, the team is approaching $500 raised and will continue with raffles and other initiatives in the New Year. At Christmastime they also collected toys to donate to the YWCA Durham’s annual toy collection.
 
Community events
The Lords participated in a number of community events this season, including the Terry Fox Run in Oshawa, the 10th Annual Walk for Mental Health Awareness and the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
 
The Athletics department was also involved with the 2015 Pan Am Games at multiple venues in various volunteer roles. Women’s volleyball alumnae, Alana McNeill, was part of the volleyball staff at Exhibition Centre, while Jenn Bowers was a line official at the beach volleyball venue. In Ajax, the department was represented by four volunteers during baseball events.

In November, the department welcomed the Adult Social Club from the Abilities Centre in Whitby to the men’s and women’s volleyball doubleheader against the Algonquin Thunder.
 
If you’re interested in participating in any of these community initiatives, please contact the Athletics department.

 

It was all Lindsay Panchan at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre on November 20.

The second-year Sport Business Management student led the Durham College (DC) women’s basketball team with 41 points in their 66-64 victory over the Algonquin Thunder, in the process breaking DC’s record for most points in a single game.

The previous record of 38 points was set by Jenn Hevey on October 16, 1998 against Georgian College when the Lords defeated the Grizzlies 75-26. 

“I’m extremely happy to find out I broke the record here at Durham College, but we aren’t even halfway through the season,” said Panchan. “I’ll take a little bit of time tomorrow to enjoy it, but Monday we’re back in the gym preparing for our next game and that’s where our focus is right now.”

The loss was Algonquin’s first of the season and only their fourth in the last seven years against DC, having won their last 17 head-to-head match-ups, dating back to January 12, 2007.

Panchan and Brittany Walters were the Lords lone scorers after the opening quarter as Algonquin was ahead 16-10. In the third, Panchan had 11 of DC’s 21 points as they took a 48-46 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Algonquin had a shot for the win in the dying seconds, but DC held on for the victory after Walters gave the Lords the lead in the final minute, making a pair of free throws to put them ahead for good.

Panchan also added 11 rebounds for the double-double, while Walters finished the game with 10 points.

The Durham College (DC) women’s softball team is back on top after winning the 2015 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship. The host Lords defeated the Humber Hawks 7-3 on October 24 at Durham Field to win the OCAA title, the program’s first since 2011.
 
Championship MVP Caitlyn Omelanchuk pitched a complete game for Durham, allowing three earned runs on nine hits and six walks in the win. She struck out three in the final.
 
“It’s always good to win at home, but it’s also good to win anywhere,” said head coach Jim Nemish. “We’ve been looking to put a new championship sign up there on the outfield fence; it’s been a few years. It’s just special to win at home on your home field.”
 
At the plate, player of the game Justine Pike led the Lords, going 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Rebecca Ropp was also named a tournament all-star for DC, finishing the tournament with a .538 batting average.
 
DC made their way to the championship final by defeating the Canadian Collegiate Softball Association (CCSA) champion St. Clair Saints, 8-5 and Fanshawe Falcons, 11-3 on Friday.
 
“They’re a young team and we’ve been up and down all season, but last Sunday we had a good talk with the girls and told them they’ve got to play with heart,” said Nemish. “This game is played with heart, discipline and being able to make adjustments. They bought into that and we went on a roll, sweeping Fanshawe, Conestoga and then went undefeated. You can use the cliché ‘peaked at the right time,’ but the girls played solid ball and believed in themselves this weekend.”

The Toronto Blue Jays are the hottest team in the majors. Minor baseball registrations are up. Canada has fallen back in love with America’s pastime.

In 2015, the Durham College (DC) Lords’ men’s baseball team is doing their part in growing the game internationally having teamed up with Play Global.
 
A charitable initiative formed in 2012, Play Global teaches baseball to coaches and youth in areas of conflict and developing countries including Uganda, using baseball as a way to help kids see past their differences, respect others and play as a team. 
 
“It is really important for our guys to give back,” said DC head coach Sam Dempster. “With all of the challenges kids face in Uganda (poverty, malnutrition, malaria, etc.), they still want to play baseball. The sport has given so much to our players growing up so we are excited to be able to give back.”
 
At the Lords’ home opener on September 13, a fundraising barbecue was held in support of the charity, raising $350, a portion of which was used to purchase warm-up t-shirts crested with Ugandan Baseball logos. These shirts are currently being worn by the team and at the end of the season will be autographed and sent to Ugandan youths.

Along with the shirts, the team will also send a variety of baseball equipment including gloves, cleats, bats, uniform tops, pants, hats, baseballs, batting helmets and catcher’s gear as well as a number of DC campus recreation t-shirts.

For more information on the Durham College baseball team, visit www.durhamlords.com.
 
For more information on Play Global, visit www.play-global.org.

 

The Durham College (DC) men’s soccer team is getting used to their annual team photo with DC President, Don Lovisa. Nobody even has to say ‘cheese’ with everyone smiling ear-to-ear as the Lords hold onto the Campus Cup title for another year.

This season’s win was a 2-0 final over the UOIT Ridgebacks men’s soccer team.

“We’re excited to hold onto the Campus Cup title for another year,” said DC Athletic Director, Ken Babcock. “This is such a great annual event for our student-athletes, as well as the students in attendance. We’re proud to be Lords and hope that this builds some school spirit as our teams prepare for their respective regular seasons.”

Bruce Cullen opened the scoring for DC in the 13th minute of the shortened 50-minute friendly. The Lords held the 1-0 lead at halftime.

It wasn’t until the 42nd minute that Tevin Noel-Peterson scored to pad DC’s lead. Noel-Peterson was last season’s hero as he scored the lone goal in the 2014 Campus Cup.

In the dying minutes of the match UOIT was awarded a penalty kick, but after hitting the post were unable to score as the Lords held on to win their sixth title in seven years.

DC will now open their OCAA regular season this weekend in Sudbury when they take on Cambrian College on Saturday at 3 p.m. Their home opener is Thursday, September 17 against the Fleming Knights at Vaso’s Field. Kick-off is 8 p.m.

Women’s game

This year, the Ridgebacks were dominant as they picked up a 5-0 victory over their campus rivals. Shynice Williams led the Ridgebacks with a pair of goals in the match, while Cassandra Sribny, Sara Voisin and Tyra Gordon all scored a goal apiece. In goal, UOIT keepers Helen Frampton and Victoria Savage split time to share the clean sheet.

The Durham College (DC) Lords have hosted many athletes and coaches who excelled far beyond expectation proudly representing the college, and this year two great men are being recognized for their contributions. The Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA) Hall of Fame is inducting Ron Winterink and Gord Williamson at the end of the month.

Winterink and Williamson had memorable careers with the Lords, and they will be receiving the highest honour one can receive in Ontario collegiate sports. Dedicated to the recognition of extraordinary contributions and accomplishments the seventh OCAA Hall of Fame ceremony will be held at the Oakville Convention Centre in Oakville, Ont. on Wednesday, April 29.

“I cannot think of a greater way to honour two outstanding individuals that contributed so much to the success of athletics at Durham College,” said athletic director Ken Babcock. “Any time an athlete or coach is recognized at the provincial level, it demonstrates what influence they had in their respective sport. We are all looking forward to celebrating two great careers on hall of fame night.”

A multi-sport athlete at DC, Winterink began with the Lords in 1979. Playing soccer and basketball, he quickly established himself in the OCAA by leading the men’s soccer team to the first of two east region championships and an OCAA bronze medal in 1979 to 1980. Over three years with the men’s soccer team, the Oshawa native scored 21 career goals in 19 conference games and played a part in the program winning its first ever OCAA men’s soccer gold medal. Once he was off the field and on the court he led the basketball team in scoring during his freshman season with 12.3 points per game. He averaged a double-double over his three-year collegiate career with 11.2 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game.

Coach Williamson joined the Lords in 1997 and turned the men’s volleyball team into a pinnacle program in collegiate volleyball. In 13 seasons, he led the Lords to eight OCAA championship appearances, six OCAA final four appearances, five OCAA medals, and one CCAA national championship appearance. With an overall record of 223-102 and a conference record of 128-52, Williamson leaves the Lords as the winningest coach in program history. As a medal contender every year, his teams have consistently been ranked nationally.

The long-time coach has also garnered the respect from his peers from around the country. In 1999-2000, he received the CCAA Coaching Excellence Award, becoming only the third Ontario coach to win the national award.

Winterink and Williamson will become the thirty-second and thirty-third DC members of the OCAA Hall of Fame. Prior to 2015, Durham has had 24 student-athletes, five coaches and two builders inducted into the Hall of Fame.

For more information on the origins and history of the OCAA Hall of Fame and to view honoured members’ biographies and photos, please visit the OCAA Hall of Fame website at www.ocaa.com/fame.

The Durham College athletic department hosted the 6th annual academic luncheon in honour of all the student-athletes who exemplified academic excellence throughout the 2014-15 varsity season.

It was another successful year for the Lords in the classroom as Durham College had 24 student-athletes who received OCAA All-Academic awards.

The Bert Dejeet Memorial Scholastic Award was presented to Kelsey Gallant (women’s volleyball – recreation and leisure) and Jonathan Jealouse (men’s volleyball – architectural technology) for having the top overall GPA of all varsity student-athletes at Durham.

Two athletes also received national recognition for their academic excellence, both from the men’s volleyball team. Petrus Kuypers (Whitby, Ont.) and Erik Janssen (Hampton, Ont.) were recipients of the SIRC-CCAA Academic All-Canadian awards. The CCAA award is prestigious as it recognizes excellence in academics and athletics. To achieve the honour, a student-athlete must be named to their respective provincial all-star team in a CCAA sport, and must achieve honour roll status.

“The athletic department is honoured to recognize these outstanding student-athletes,” said Durham College athletic director Ken Babcock. “It requires tremendous skill, dedication and perseverance to achieve excellence in both sport and academics. This recognition reflects how our student-athletes at Durham College strive for success in the classroom and in their respective sports.”

Along with the student-athletes, coaches, family, faculty, administration and members of the athletic department were all in attendance for the academic luncheon.

The 45th annual Durham College athletic banquet will be taking place Thursday, April 2 at the General W. Sikorski Polish Veterans Association Hall in Oshawa, Ont.

AWARDS SUMMARY

Bert Dejeet Memorial Scholastic Award (Top Overall GPA)
Male: Jonathan Jealouse – Men’s Volleyball
Female: Kelsey Gallant – Women’s Volleyball

SIRC-CCAA Academic All-Canadians
Petrus Kuypers – Men’s Volleyball
Erik Janssen – Men’s Volleyball

OCAA All-Academic Awards

Men’s Baseball
Andrew Boros (Ajax, Ont.) – Electrical Technician
Michael Chilvers (Sutton West, Ont.) – Sport Management
Jack Lang (Pickering, Ont.) – Graphic Design

Women’s Softball
Ashley Black (Waterloo, Ont.) – Police Foundations
Danielle Crosby (Whitby, Ont.) – ECE
Lydia Kalbflesich (Moorefield, Ont.) – Sport Management
Sam MacCallum (Whitby, Ont.) – Protection and Security

Golf
Adam Hobb (Bowmanville, Ont.) – Marketing

Men’s Soccer
Nicholas Axhorn (Pickering, Ont.) – Emergency Service Fundamentals
Kyle Woods (Whitby, Ont.) – Power Engineering Technician
Kevin Collins (Cedar Valley, Ont.) – Mechanical Engineering NDE

Women’s Soccer
Hayley Dow (Oshawa, Ont.) – Personal Support Worker
Cailey Giorgi (Oshawa, Ont.) – Police Foundations
Jessica Prytulka (Kingston, Ont.) – Digital Video Production

Women’s Basketball
Janina Adduru (Pickering, Ont.) – Social Services Workers
Courtney Harley (Cambridge, Ont.) – Biomedical Engineering Technology
Brittany Walters (Oshawa, Ont.) – General Arts and Sciences

Men’s Volleyball
Erik Janssen (Hampton, Ont.) – Biomedical Engineering Technology
Jonathan Jealouse (Oshawa, Ont.) – Architectural Technology
Petrus Kuypers (Haydon, Ont.) – Paramedic

Women’s Volleyball
Kayla Donahue (Ajax, Ont.) – Addiction and Mental Health
Kelsey Gallant (Whitby, Ont.) – Recreation and Leisure
Natalie Manicotto (Winnipeg, Man.) – Fitness and Health Promotion
Tess Newey (Hampton, Ont.) – Advertising

Top GPA (By Sport)
Andrew Boros – Men’s Baseball
Lydia Kalbfleisch – Softball
Adam Hobb – Golf
Kevin Collins – Men’s Soccer
Jessica Prytulka – Women’s Soccer
Dylan Pelissero – Men’s Basketball
Brittany Walters – Women’s Basketball
Jonathan Jealouse – Men’s Volleyball
Kelsey Gallant – Women’s Volleyball

It’s not often a team gets the chance to avenge a tournament loss in the same weekend.

The Durham Lords got that chance at the OCAA men’s basketball championship, and they didn’t waste it as they defeated the St. Lawrence Vikings 66-51 to win the bronze medal in front of their home fans at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre.

It’s the Lords’ first medal in OCAA men’s basketball competition since winning gold in 1997, and they also avenged a 69-65 loss to the Vikings on the opening night of the tournament.

From the opening tipoff, it was evident that, no matter how resilient the Vikings were, a repeat of Friday’s quarter-final wasn’t in the cards.

Durham, possibly riding the wave of support from its home fans, came out flying as they scored the game’s first eight points in a 2:18 stretch. The Lords also played tough defence to open the game, holding the Vikings off the scoreboard for the first 4:05 before Dawkins connected on a three-pointer.

The Lords had a strong finish to the opening half, closing on an 8-2 run in the final three minutes to take a 30-20 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The Lords kept the momentum going through the fourth quarter, as they finally wore the thin Vikings roster down before closing out the game with a 9-0 run.

 

The Durham College women’s volleyball team were in the giving mood during the holidays as they held a fundraiser for YWCA Durham.
 
The YWCA Durham has been serving women and their families in Durham region since 1945 and is a trusted community leader that provides high-quality programs, services and resources that respond to the needs of women, children, youth and families.
 
“When brainstorming ideas for our holiday get-together, we wanted to do something that would benefit others,” said Durham College head coach Tony Clarke. “Rather than buying gifts for one another, our team came up with the idea of purchasing gifts for families in need. It was a great feeling for the team giving back to our community.”
 
The team donated unwrapped toys as well as non-perishable food items to the organization.
 
On the court, the women’s volleyball team finished the 2014 portion of their season with a five game win-streak to improve to 6-3. The Lords will open 2015 hosting the 27^th annual Adidas Cup from January 2-3.

Coming from two different ends of the world, Caio Reis Ramon and Jordan Edmonds have travelled thousands of miles to further their education at Durham College (DC). With just over 400 international students, Durham provides these students with not only the opportunity of learning abroad but also to be a student athlete for the Durham Lords.

Hailing from Belem, Brazil, Ramon is the newest midfielder for the men’s soccer team and Edmonds from Horsham, England takes the mound as pitcher for the men’s baseball team. Despite limited resources and opportunities, Edmonds and Ramon started playing their chosen sports at young ages and have worked hard to excel both in their athletic and educational goals. Now they are able to continue to do that in Canada.

Although they’re playing on different teams at Durham, Edmonds and Ramon have both enjoyed their experience so far, but admit that the beginning of their journeys were a little intimidating.

“I was pretty nervous, just trying to find my way around was challenging,” said Ramon about his first week at Durham College. “When I started playing with my team, I started making friends and they really helped making the whole process of coming to a new school in a different country easier.”

Coming from Brazil, which has a strong cultural connection to soccer, the sport has always been familiar to the 20-year-old Ramon. Throughout his childhood, Ramon grew up playing soccer. He has continued to be inspired and motivated to improve his soccer skills like other professional athletes from his country. Being on a variety of school teams throughout his life, it was an obvious choice for Ramon to continue to play soccer at Durham.

As the midfielder for the men’s soccer team, Ramon credits his success so far to coach Dave Ashfield and his teammates that have helped him throughout his transition, especially with overcoming language barriers. After completing his education in the Operations Management – Business Administration program, Ramon plans to return to Brazil and work, while hoping to play soccer in his spare time.

Unlike Ramon, Edmonds’ exposure to his sport was only by chance. At the age of 12, Edmonds was introduced to baseball by an American who ran clinics at a baseball club in his hometown of Horsham, England. Although the lack of participation and funding for baseball made playing in England challenging, Edmonds continued to play in the baseball club in his hometown. When the opportunity to play for the Great Britain National Team presented itself, Edmonds did not hesitate to take it. It was on that team that he met Sam Dempster, who is also the head coach for the Durham Lords’ baseball team.

Now the pitcher for the men’s baseball team and a first-year Journalism – Web and Print student at Durham College, the 19-year-old has big plans for his future. After Durham, Edmonds hopes to join a league in either the United States or in Europe to see how far he can progress with his baseball career.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Canada and when I learned that Sam Dempster was the head coach, I knew that Durham College would be a good fit for me,” said Edmonds. “My whole team gets along and we just have a really good time together so it helps us play the game that much better.”

Although they haven’t changed their personal style of play, both Ramon and Edmonds try to improve their skills and learn from practices and games. Their coaches push them hard during practice to prepare them both mentally and physically for games.

For Edmonds and Ramon, their game winning plays have been the highlight of their time here in Canada. For Ramon it was scoring the first two goals of his Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA) career to defeat George Brown in a 4-0 victory and more recently when the team qualified as one of the final four teams for the OCAA championship for the first time since 1999. As for Edmonds, it was his first win while pitching against George Brown and finishing silver in the OCAA championship that made all of his hard work worth it.

According to Ramon, “One of the best parts of being an international student athlete at Durham is being able to travel around with my teammates and seeing parts of Canada that I would not have seen otherwise.” Edmonds adds, “Durham really has a strong sense of community both in the school and in it’s athletics programs, I love being not only a student but also an athlete for the Durham Lords.”