Women's Basketball News
Girmay Ready to Bring Her Passion for the Game to Blazers Women's Basketball
The CMU Women's Basketball program is very pleased to announce the commitment of Betty Girmay for the 2023-24 MCAC and NIAC seasons. The River East Collegiate product will bring a strong three-point game and play-making ability from the point to the Blazers this year.
Girmay and her high school River East Kodiaks squad had a strong showing in the MHSAA "AAAA" division this year, maintaining a top ten ranking in the province throughout the season, taking home third place wins in two of their four tournaments heading into Manitoba Provincial Championships. Girmay received All-Star and MVP recognition in those top-three tournament finishes at the Sisler Spartans Classic and Crocus Plains Tournament to go along with her KPAC conference All-Star and MHSAA Graduating All-Star awards. The Kodiaks were a dominant force in KPAC Tier 1, dropping only one regular season match to the Garden City Gophers, who they met again in the division final. River East entered the provincial championship as the sixth seed, and after a win over the hosts Crocus Plains, the Kodiaks found themselves up against their rivals the Gophers in the quarter-finals, but once again Garden City came out on top on their run to the provincial finals. Kodiaks varsity girls head coach Kristen Asmundson weighed in on what Girmay has brought to their program the past few years: "Betty has been an important part of Kodiaks basketball the past four years leading our JV and Varsity teams at the point guard position. In this role, she stood out mostly for her three-point shooting and deceptive ball handling skills. Betty has so much love and passion for basketball, you can see it when she competes and by how much time she puts into improving her game. Betty has been a part of Winnipeg Wolves, TAP and the provincial team, and will be a nice addition to the Blazers program and we look forward to seeing how she progresses there."
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Blazers Women's Basketball Make Landmark Signing with Victoria Welsh
The CMU Women's Basketball program is very pleased to announce the commitment of Victoria Welsh for the 2023-24 MCAC and NIAC seasons. The Landmark Collegiate product will be a versatile combo forward/guard addition to the Blazers roster for the coming year.
Welsh will bring another dimension to the Blazers next season having competed within the "AA" boys division of the Manitoba High School Athletic Association for both of her varsity seasons. Coming from a relatively small school often comes with the need to fill in where necessary, and after the varsity boys coach for her high shcool Landmark 96ers approached her to tryout for his team in her grade 11 year, Welsh proved herself on the court and was given a spot on the squad, receiving full support from her new teammates. The change was received a little less amicably by opposing teams, but despite some backlash Welsh continued on, defying the typical gender boundaries. Now in her senior year she has garnered a reputation as a worthy opponent and has used her experiences as motivation to continue to improve and bring her game to the next level. Her high school coach, Matt Feakes, weighed in on what the Blazers latest signing brings to the court, noting "Victoria has a great drive to play basketball the right way. She understands the game, shares the ball, and has good skills. She never shrinks back from the big moments."
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Blazers WBB Flush with Versatile Talent after Addition of Royal
The CMU Women's Basketball program is very pleased to announce the commitment of Hannah Grobb for the 2023-24 MCAC and NIAC seasons. The Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School captain will be a versatile combo forward/guard addition to the Blazers roster for the coming year.
The Selkirk, Manitoba native will be trading her Selkirk Royal blue for the green and gold of the Blazers this upcoming season after being a standout on her high school squad for the past two varsity seasons. While the team missed out on the highly competitive MHSAA "AAAA" Provincial Championships, her squad featured at three tournaments this season, including the Crocus Plains Java Jam in Brandon, as well as a third place finish at their home "Royal Rumble Varsity Girls Basketball Tournament," and a semi-finals appearance at the Tec Voc Varsity Girls Basketball Tournament. Grobb received tournament MVP honours at the latter two, which attests to the impact she had on her team both on the court and from a leadership perspective. Never one to step down from a challenge, Grobb featured at several different positions throughout her high school career, with the ability to slot in at point or shooting guard with appearances as a small forward as well.
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Blazers Hand Out Hardware at the 2023 Green & Gold Banquet
Blazers Athletics celebrated the 2022/23 season at their annual Green & Gold Banquet held in the Great Hall at Canadian Mennonite University this past Tuesday, handing out awards for academics, athletic excellence, and good works, while sharing stories of the season's successes on and off the field of play.
This year the Blazers took home one MCAC Championship, that being the women's basketball team's fifth consecutive provincial title, and the team went on to a finals appearance at the NIAC Championships a week later. All eight Blazer teams, including women's and men's futsal made final four appearances at MCAC Championships, with both the men's volleyball and basketball teams making finals as well. The Blazers men's volleyball team peaked at the eighth spot in the CCAA National Volleyball Rankings in mid-February; the highest ranking an MCAC team has achieved in the conference's history thus far over its two years of full participation in the CCAA.
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Blazers Women's Basketball Ink Post with Big Potential
The CMU Women's Basketball program is very pleased to announce the commitment of Chanelle Lafreniere for the 2023-24 MCAC and NIAC seasons. The Miles Macdonell Collegiate forward has seen her game grow at an unprecedented pace and will look to bring it to the college court this upcoming season.
A relative newcomer to the game, Lafreniere has brought athleticism and perseverence to training every practice to improve her own skillset, lifting her high school Buckeyes team to the MHSAA "AAAA" Provincials in consecutive varsity seasons. Lafreniere and her team played their way to a KPAC Finals appearance in 2022, earning their way into the provincial championships, while this season the team played their way into the tournament with a wildcard placement. Despite not going deep in either playoff run, it was still a valuable experience playing and watching some of the top schools in the province. Just this past season the team also made the finals in the prestigious St Mary's Tournament, once again showcasing the strength of the Miles Mac program.
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