After contributing to the Marauder women's volleyball team and featuring in a tense nationals game, first year Lucie Shaver shares her perspective and excitement for whats to come
Among the success and growth of McMaster women’s volleyball this season, first year Lucie Shaver has had the unique task of transitioning from high-school to Ontario University Athletics volleyball. With this, she’s been in many exciting positions throughout the season, including a tense U Sports quarterfinals match.
For Shaver, the transition to OUA athletics has been one filled with learning. She noted the increased speed and power of play that happens in university volleyball.
“The biggest thing I notice is that the game is very much faster. It's much faster. Everybody hits the ball harder, everybody moves faster and the moves are a lot more crisp and more precise. One thing I found in high school was like there's often like two or three good players on the team that have to carry a lot of weight but that is not really the case here,” said Shaver.
Despite the high level of play, Shaver have risen to the occasion this season. The team ended the OUA season by winning the Quigley Cup against Brock University. Shaver has attributed part of the team's success this season to head coach Nathan Janzen.
“Nate's also very like a statistical coach. He's big into stats, so he looks at patterns of the other team and he'll even map out where the other team's hitters hit most and like he'll do like serving charts. So you see like, oh they serve from this angle to this side of the court . . . you can see if they mix up the depth of their serves as well or if they're all serving all long or all super short,” said Shaver.
The team’s achievements this year brought the Marauders to the U Sport’s nationals
In this game, the Marauders lost their first set against the Carbins but impressively won sets two and three. In the game’s fourth set, it seemed as though Janzen wanted to change things up, as the team was struggling to put points up. This is when Shaver entered the match.
As such a young player in a team full of veterans like Sullie Sundara and Emma McKinnon, Shaver is not always put on the court. But, Janzen still had trust in Shaver's abilities and this trust was on full display when he subbed her into such a close match on the national stage. Shaver describes how this moment felt and how it influenced the rest of the tournament for her.
“Yeah, well, there have been a few times throughout the season where Nate's kind of put me in a few high pressure moments and so like going in I was definitely nervous, really nervous. But I kind of knew I could do it, just had to put some serves in. Then when I got subbed in for the rest of the tournament, I was kind of like, okay, I've got a sense of it and I was having a lot more fun,” said Shaver.
The Marauders managed to score a few more points with Shaver in the fourth set, but ultimately lost the it. They then lost the crucial fifth set against the Carabins, losing the game.
This loss put the Marauders into the consolation bracket of the tournament with the chance to finish in fifth place if the team won two consolation games.
“It was definitely upsetting, but I think the biggest takeaway is that we still wanted to finish the season on a high note, especially for our seniors who were leaving, and I think that was just the most important thing for the rest of the tournament,” said Shaver.
. . . we still wanted to finish the season on a high note, especially for our seniors who were leaving, and I think that was just the most important thing for the rest of the tournament
Lucie Shaver, Outside Hitter
McMaster Women's Volleyball
The team did just that; they defeated both Memorial University in the first match and Saint Mary’s University in the second consolation match, earning the Marauders a fifth-place finish. Shaver was able to play in these matches and highlighted how she felt during the games.
“On the times that I did go into the court for the other two games, I was kind of just happy to be there and happy to be playing. It just made me really excited for next season as well to keep playing,” said Shaver.
I was kind of just happy to be there and happy to be playing and then yeah, it just made me really excited for next season as well to keep playing.
Lucie Shaver, Outside Hitter
McMaster Women's Volleyball
As the year has wrapped up, Shaver’s first season has turned out to be one she is happy with. Volleyball fans and the sports community at McMaster will look to see what lies ahead for her and the rest of her teammates in their next season.
McMaster rowing heads to nationals after earning medals at OUA championships
For current fifth year student Sarah Cushnie, the rowing team is not where her McMaster athletic career began. Cushnie began as a cross country athlete, but two seasons ago she made the transition to the rowing team, and has since become the captain of the women's team.
“The transition was actually pretty smooth. So the reason I initially switched is because I was having a lot of injuries as a runner. So one of my forms of cross training was to get on the rowing machine on the erg. I really loved it and I also excelled at it,” said Cushnie.
As captain, her focus has been on making the entire rowing program a more cohesive one and bridging the gaps between the novice, junior varsity and varsity teams within the program.
A more cohesive environment seems to have helped the team excel this season. From the novice level to the varsity level, the rowing team achieved great results throughout the regular season, building momentum ahead of the Ontario University Athletics championships.
This year’s OUA championships were hosted in St. Catharines on Oct. 24. And Oct. 25. The competition saw the Marauders women's team capture multiple medals. Sarah Oresnik and Brooke McCoy earned a bronze medal in the lightweight women's pair event. Cushnie and Nathalie Hilbert won a silver medal in the open women's double event.
These impressive results set the Marauders up for a great push at this year’s Canadian University Rowing Championships on Nov 2. and Nov 3. in Victoria, BC. While the event may be a source of pressure, Cushnie sees it as a way to celebrate.
“Nationals is more just a celebration and it's normally like a bonus, but it's about kind of admiring the hard work and using that to appreciate the fun and the joy of the sport in a competitive environment,” said Cushnie.
Nationals is more just a celebration and it's normally like a bonus, but it's about kind of admiring the hard work and, and using that to appreciate the fun and the joy of the sport in a competitive environment
Sarah Cushnie, Women's Team Captain
McMaster Rowing Team.
The exciting weekend at nationals was also a busy one for the team. But despite the busyness of the weekend and the travel, the women's rowing team continued with their mindset of viewing being at nationals as a bonus. Cushnie recalled the gratitude she felt being able to spend her time with her soon-to-be-graduating teammates.
"I was sharing a hotel room with Kate [Panzica] and Natalie [Hilbert] because it was just like the open-weight women in one room and both of them are graduating this year. So for me it was really nice to have that opportunity to really connect with them on a formal trip one last time before they leave," said Cushnie.
As Cushnie took to the first race of the weekend with her partner, she did not fell much external pressure on herself, being already happy with the results of the season. Though with this being Cushnie and Hilbert’s final race weekend, a sense of optimism filled Cushnie.
“It was just like me and Natalie knew that we were fit. We knew that we rowed well together and that we looked at it like it was our last chance to compete because she’s leaving [Hilbert]. But we also kind of treated it more as like we're doing this for us, not for anyone else,” said Cushnie
It was just like me and Natalie knew that we were fit. We knew that we rowed well together and that we looked at it like it was our last chance to compete because she’s leaving [Hilbert]. But we also kind of treated it more as like we're doing this for us, not for anyone else.
Sarah Cushnie, Women's Team Captain
McMaster Rowing Team.
After this race, the 2024 season came to an end for Cushnie and the rest of the rowing team. But the growth of the rowing team is something Cushnie is determined to continue through the off season. She’s aiming to build an eight person boat team to race in competitions.
After a successful season, the growth of the women’s rowing team will be one to keep an eye on. Cushnie’s work will hopefully bring the team to the next level come next season, continuing the team's pattern of success this year.
After an impressive race season, the Marauders cross-country team earns podium finishes at the OUA championships
The McMaster Marauders cross-country teams capped off a strong season with third-place finishes at the Ontario University Athletics championships on Oct. 26 in North Bay.
Before competing at the OUA championships, the Marauders tested their endurance at three invitational races.
The season began at the Vigars & Salter Western Invitational on Sept. 21, where both the men’s and women’s teams delivered promising performances. Alexander Purnell led the men’s team with a fifth-place finish in the eight-kilometre race, clocking in at 25:40. On the women’s side, Ana Morariu was the Marauders’ top finisher, placing 11th overall with a time of 31:05.
A week later, the Marauders competed at the Don Mills Open on Sept. 28. The men’s team secured a second-place finish, while the women’s team placed fourth.
Their final regular-season race took place at the 8-Kay Marauder Invitational on Oct. 11. The women’s team earned a third-place finish, with Morariu again leading the pack, placing eighth overall. The men’s team finished fourth, with Purnell securing fifth place individually.
The OUA championships in North Bay marked the culmination of the Marauders’ season, and both teams delivered consistent performances.
The OUA championships in North Bay marked the culmination of the Marauders’ season, and both teams delivered consistent performances.
The men’s team earned a third-place podium finish, with Purnell once again leading the way, finishing sixth overall. On the women’s team, Morariu place ninth, helping secure another third-place team finish.
Following their OUA success, the Marauders will now compete at the U Sports championships on Nov. 9 in Kelowna, B.C. With momentum on their side, the team looks to finish their season on a high note.
Following their OUA success, the Marauders will now compete at the U Sports championships on Nov. 9 in Kelowna, B.C. With momentum on their side, the team looks to finish their season on a high note.
After moving from British Columbia to Ontario, first year Marauder swimmer Ashley Ko secures high placings for her team
For first-year student Ashley Ko, her transition to university life has included a long distance move from British Columbia to Hamilton. Along with the pressures of adjusting to university life, she also has had to adjust to being a student-athlete.
She is a part of the McMaster swim team and specializes in mid-distance swimming. Despite the move and the adjustments that come with it, Ko has found the transition to university to be easier than expected.
“I'd say the transition was pretty smooth. I mean, obviously, you get kind of into the groove of it during welcome week. I kind of got a glimpse after the first week. Obviously, I find that it's a lot less stressful because I feel like I have so much more time to myself. I also have a bunch of time to study and just like me time in general, it's a lot more flexible than high school,” said Ko.
I'd say the transition was pretty smooth. I mean, obviously, you get kind of into the groove of it during welcome week, I kind of got a glimpse after the first week. Obviously, I find that it's a lot less stressful because I feel like I have so much more time to myself. And I also have a bunch of time to study and me time in general . . . it's a lot more flexible than high school.
Ashley Ko, first-year swimmer
McMaster women's swimming team
An contributor to this ease of transition has been the McMaster swim team’s emphasis on team performance and less of a focus on individual performance. There is also an emphasis on balancing school and sport, which Ko recognizes that head coach Grey Fairley cares greatly about.
“I think that's why swimming here is so nice because they value your health and schedule, they know you want to do good in school. So in essence, it's also flexible in that way as well,” said Ko.
Ko’s smooth transition to university swimming can be seen already in her opening results of the season. In her first meet, Ko was able to finish first in the 200-metre freestyle and the 100-metre backstroke.
In the team’s second meet of the year on Sept. 28 at Niagara University, Ko was able to keep up this momentum. She finished first in the 100-yard backstroke, the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley.
With five first place finishes already this season, Ko has high aspirations for both herself and the team. She sees each meet with the Marauders as a chance to pick up points and chance to check in on her improvements as she has aspirations to compete beyond the university level.
“Well, honestly, my end goal is actually beyond university. It's to trial at national trials. And that's where I want to be my best. But that is after U Sports, and I think getting some of my goal times at U Sports would be good for us and ultimately I want to score points for McMaster. I think I just want to show that McMaster is a good team and I think that's one of the goals. Winning individually and as a team,” said Ko.
Well, honestly, my end goal is actually beyond university. It's to trial at national trials. And that's where I want to be my best. But that is after U Sports. And I think getting some of my goal times at U Sports would be good for us and ultimately I want to score points for McMaster. I think I just want to show that McMaster is a good team and I think that's one of the goals. Winning individually and as a team.
Ashley Ko, first year swimmer
McMaster women's swimming team
The Marauders swim team will continue their season at the Brock invitational on Oct. 20. Ko hopes to continue with her high form as the season progresses, for both the Marauder's as a team and her future swimming career.
Despite a strong in the national competition, McMaster women's curling feel short of their aspirations
After placing second in the Ontario University Athletics championships, the McMaster University women’s curling team took their game to U Sports nationals hosted in New Brunswick from Mar. 12 to Mar. 16 by the University of New Brunswick.
The team was led by head coach John Gregory after an accomplished previous season with the Marauders.
This year’s roster was composed of a vast array of players in various years. Veteran athletes, including sixth-year Madelyn Warriner and third-year Anastasia Cornea, were paired with three sophomores, Clara Dissanayake, Evelyn Robert and Sydney Taylor, to round out the team.
Warriner, Cornea, Dissanayake and Robert all have previous U Sports experience.
Following last year’s fifth-place finish in the U Sports competition, the team was looking to improve their performance and finish with better results.
Following last year’s fifth-place finish in the U Sports competition, the team was looking to improve their performance and finish with better results.
As the U Sports tournament started off, the Marauders opened with a tough loss against the University of Waterloo on Mar. 12. However, the team would redeem themselves on the second day of the tournament with a win against Mount Allison University and the OUA title holders Laurentian University.
The third day of the competition saw McMaster splitting their games, winning against the host team, the University of New Brunswick, but losing against Dalhousie University.
The team's final matches in the nationals would see the Marauders face an ultimatum. After their loss to the University of Alberta, the team would need a win against the University of Victoria to advance to the tournament’s semifinals.
The Marauders were unable to do so, with their loss of 7-5 against the Victoria Vikes ending the team's season as they finished fifth to end the tournament.
The Marauders were unable to do so, with their loss of 7-5 against the Victoria Vikes ending the team's season as they finished fifth to end the tournament.
With the final result mirroring their performance from the previous year, the team will likely look to improve in the off season to achieve their podium finish dreams in next year’s U Sports.
After a year of rebuilding their team, Marauders women's ultimate frisbee ended their successful season with a national title
The McMaster University women's ultimate frisbee team has just concluded another great season for themselves. For the third season in a row, the team was able to capture the national title, crowning them the number one team in this year's Canadian university tournament.
The Marauders went into this season full of confidence, as they won themselves the national title in the year prior. However, the team had experienced a high level of turnover for the roster with several key players graduating, including captains Jessica Gao and Safeena Shanjani, both of whom had helped lead the team to last year's national title.
The team's offseason rebuild seemed to be productive, with the Marauders welcoming seven rookie players, including new captains, Katie McMullen and Allison Couwenberg.
The team's offseason rebuild seemed to be productive, with the Marauders welcoming seven rookie players.
McMaster was able to secure their bid to the national championship tournament in this year's Eastern tournament on Oct. 2. The team was able to clinch a third-place finish at the tournament, as they beat University of Guelph, Carleton University, University of Waterloo and McGill University.
This year's national championship began on Oct. 14 in Brampton. The Marauders started their national campaign facing off against McGill University. They clinched a close win with a score of ten to eight.
The final game of the tournament was played on Oct. 15, with the Marauders taking the national championship home, per fourth year player Mackinley Szumlanski, the team won 9-8 against Laval University. The Marauders were also able to bring home a major individual accolade with Katie McMullen being named the tournament's most valuable player, ending a great year and captaincy.
The final game of the tournament was played on Oct. 15, with the Marauders taking the national championship home, per fourth year player Mackinley Szumlanski, the team won 9-8 against Laval University.
With a strong roster and three years of national experience, the team will likely believe in themselves to grab a fourth title.
C/O McMaster Sports
As the Cross Country season ends, there is a lot to be proud of and a lot to look forward to
Over the past couple of months, the cross country and track teams have been finding significant success through several points in their season. Previously, Alex Drover, a fourth-year cross country veteran, won the first Athlete of the Week award of the season in recognition of his exceptional performance at an Ontario University Athletics competition, where he placed first overall.
On Nov. 20, the cross country team took part in the nationwide U Sports Cross Country/Track Nationals. This year, the event took place in Quebec City, at the historic Plains of Abraham. The competition featured numerous turns and hills, which made the race very challenging for the schools involved.
Throughout the Cross Country Nationals, the best performer for the McMaster Marauders was Andrew Davies. Davies finished just short of fourth place in the men's eight kilometre race, with an impressive time of 24:38, which had him 10.5 seconds off the winner of the race, Mitchell Ubene, of the Guelph Gryphons.
Although Davies did miss out on the podium for the 8k race, he did not miss the chance to end up at the podium with the rest of the team, as the Marauders ended up third on the podium, earning themselves a bronze medal with a collective score of 79 points. The only schools to place above the Marauders were the hosts, Université Laval Rouge et Or and Guelph Gryphons, finishing first and second respectively.
Davies, the best runner among the Marauders at the nationals, and his teammate, Max Turek, were both awarded an All-Canadian Bid for their amazing performances in Quebec.
Although the overall results of the Marauders were impressive, Davies did express some level of disappointment with the final results.
“Although we did make the podium, I can’t say that I was particularly happy with our performance as a whole. I personally think that we could have won the whole nationals. We definitely have the potential to do so, but it just wasn't our day,” said Davies.
When asked about his achievement of earning an All-Canadian bid, Davies suggested that he expected to win it based on his strong performance in the race.
“I sort of knew that I was going to get it because I was near the top in the first team. My personal performance was good that day so I saw it coming. Obviously, I am honored to get something like this and it does mean a lot to me,” said Davies.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the runner and his ability to train were mixed. The lockdowns had both physical and mental impacts and changed the way he trained and performed later on.
“To be honest, COVID-19 did not have a massive training effect on me. I was still able to train alone, since we are runners and we don't need partners to do so. If anything, it did sort of help me physically stay in shape because there was no pressure of any race coming up, so I had more time to prepare for whatever was coming next,” explained Davies.
However, Davies did state that the pandemic did have a toll on his mental wellbeing and created a lot of difficulty for his training and mental preparation.
“It was a very rough period for all of us because there was consistent cancellation of events every now and then and it was tough for us to keep up. I personally did not know when to expect any competitions to come back and it was all on one big loop for a year and a half. Especially in the winter, there was literally nothing going on and it had a huge toll on me,”
Andrew Davies
When asked about the future, Davies explained he is certain that there is much more potential within the team and that they could return even stronger next year.
“I think that we can do even better next season. Although some of our runners won't be eligible, many of our best athletes will be staying for another year. There are also some younger runners who have a lot of potential. So, I see us excelling over the next couple of years for sure,” said Davies.
Although the nationals are over for this year, there will be plenty of opportunities for the track and cross country athletes to show their worth next year, when the new season will bring plenty of excitement for all involved.
After falling to the Queen’s University Gaels for the Ontario University Athletics Forsyth Cup, the McMaster men’s volleyball team are headed to the U Sports Men’s Volleyball Championships, but not exactly where they would like to be.
For the first time in seven years, the Marauders are heading to nationals, not as OUA champions. Although surely grateful that they still get to compete at the national level, the disappointment is still there. After a change in OUA men’s volleyball structure, the men’s team had to play their final game on the Gaels’ home court, despite being the number one seed.
The close matchup saw the Marauders and Gaels play five sets. After ending the first set 19-25, the Marauders bounced back strong, winning the second and third set 25-19 and 25-23, respectively. Unfortunately, the Gaels were in the comfort of their own home and were able to outscore the Marauders in both the fourth and fifth set, 16-25 and 13-15.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu1vUPwhaJ8/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
This result landed the Marauders ranked seventh place going into nationals in Quebec City this weekend. Not only is this McMaster's lowest seed at the national tournament since Mac hosted in 2007, but their first opponents are also their longtime rivals, British Columbia’s Trinity Western University Spartans.
The number two seeded team has faced Mac several times in the national playoffs, and for the last four years, they have outplayed Mac. For First Team All-Star left side Andrew Richards, this is the last Canadian university volleyball championships he will ever play in. So hopefully the Marauders will be able to shake the curse and come out victorious against the Spartans.
First serve is scheduled for this Friday at 6:00 p.m.
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By: William Li
On Feb. 11, Uighur activist Rukiye Turdush’s presentation at McMaster University about China’s mass internment of Muslims was disrupted by student protestors.
Controversially, these students had rallied not only to protest the event, but to coordinate with the Chinese Embassy.
The Washington Post reports that this coordination went beyond ordinary consular services: in addition to sending photos, the students say they were requested to search the talk for any university officials or Chinese nationals.
This is alarming, as it represents an attempt to harass and intimidate Turdush into silence. It is also disturbing because the Chinese government has no business collecting information about political events on campus.
It is important to remember that the Chinese Communist Party currently runs an authoritarian government with absolute control of China, including its foreign embassies. The regime also has a long history of violently crushing dissent.
Most notably, at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, thousands of students were massacred with tanks and machine guns. Lawyers, activists and even Nobel laureates are regularly imprisoned for criticizing the Communist Party. Today, China also uses internet censorship and a social credit system to neuter any challenge to Party rule.
The incident with Turdush shows that similar political repression is not something distant and foreign; it is something that happened on campus and continues to happen.
One of the most overlooked victims here are the Chinese international students. This is especially true if photos are being sent to the Chinese Embassy. This essentially creates a system of fear in which students surveil each other, reporting to officials any deviance from the Communist Party line.
For international students seeking a liberal education in Canada, where our academic freedom would let them develop skills in independent-thinking that may be frowned upon in China, these hopes are dashed.
Instead, they are kept on a tight leash. Any deviance from Party-approved behaviour risks a report to the embassy, and resulting repercussions back home such as endangering family members or losing job and business opportunities.
Despite being on Canadian soil, these students will never get to fully experience basic freedoms that Canadian citizens take for granted. If Chinese students cannot speak freely, or even attend a political event, without risking state punishment, then this prevents any real discussion about Turdush’s presentation or any issues affecting them.
Even worse, this kind of political repression is being advanced by McMaster Students Union-ratified clubs.
In a statement written in Chinese, the McMaster Chinese Students and Scholar Association, McMaster Chinese News Network and McMaster Chinese Professional Society condemned Turdush and confirmed they contacted the Chinese Consulate in Toronto.
The McMaster English Language Development Student Association, an affiliate of the faculty of humanities, and the McMaster Chinese Graduate Students Club also signed the statement.
This statement was not directed at Turdush, nor any non-Chinese students. Rather, for the international students who can read Chinese, the thinly-veiled threat was crystal clear: promote the Communist Party line on political issues, or you will be reported to the Chinese consulate.
This is deplorable. MSU-ratified clubs and affiliates of the university should not be surveilling McMaster students and reporting their activities to foreign governments.
They should not propagate an environment where fear of surveillance prevents students from speaking out. They should not masquerade as safe spaces for international students if they have a hidden agenda to allow authoritarian regimes a backdoor to covertly monitor their citizens abroad.
There is also evidence that this problem is not unique to McMaster. The Chinese government has actively tried to influence academic institutions in several liberal democracies, particularly with its Confucius Institutes.
The MSU needs to investigate if these clubs have violated the Clubs Operating Policy by reporting political activity on campus to the Chinese government, through negatively affecting students’ ability to conduct their lawful affairs (5.1.1.1), interfering with other clubs’ activities (5.1.1.2) or failing to fully disclose connections to bodies outside of the MSU (4.2).
Declining to take action would betray anybody who feels surveilled, muffled or repressed by the Chinese government, and tarnish the MSU’s reputation as a safe and inclusive union that puts students’ interests first.
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By: Graham West
On Feb. 23, Ben Zahra placed silver in the U Sports 76-kilogram wrestling championships, but for Zahra, silver isn’t quite where he wanted to be. Although his performance earned him his fourth Pita Pit Athlete of the Week, the third-year commerce student had aspirations of topping the podium in Calgary.
The second-place finish is the second time Zahra medaled at U Sports, winning bronze last year in a convincing bronze medal match. Even though the tournament just ended, the third-year wrestler is already looking forward to training hard to achieve his goal of finishing first.
“Next year I really want to win U Sport, it’s my big goal,” Zahra said. “I was hoping to do it this year, but I had a really tough competitor from Brock [University] so it didn’t really go as well as I wanted it to, but I’m still ok with a silver. It’s good progression because last year I came third.”
Injuries were something bothering Zahra on his way to capturing silver, making his journey to the podium at the national championships and improve his finish from last year that much more impressive. Battling through the mental and physical limitations of injury made his road to nationals even more difficult.
“This year it was a little different because I was struggling with injuries a little bit, I had a rib injury and a lower back injury that I was dealing with,” Zahra said. “Last year my body felt great, it was really healthy, but this year I had to adjust my practices accordingly because I couldn’t do a lot of stuff everyone else was doing.”
🤼 | RECAP
Ben Zahra bettered his 2018 showing by winning silver, while Connor Quinton claimed bronze at the @usportsca Wrestling Championships in Calgary. #GoMacGo https://t.co/mfaD1TuIHb
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) February 25, 2019
One of Zahra’s main motivations on the mat is performing well for his team. Even though wrestling is an individual sport, they place as a team based on their combined performances. This plays an important role for when they’re competing, as it increases their support for each other, always being there to cheer each other on and make each other better.
“There’s this team aspect to it where if you win, you contribute to your team's overall total points and then at the end of the tournament, there's a team title for men, women and overall,” Zahra explained. “So when you’re wrestling, it’s in the back of your head and you have a lot of your teammates cheering you on, so you almost do it for them more than yourself.”
“Ultimately, it is an individual sport and you’re wrestling for yourself,” Zahra added. “But it makes the wins that much sweeter when you do it for your team and you help contribute to your team’s score.”
Zahra has been a perennial Pita Pit Athlete of the Week for the Marauder’s after he claimed his fourth title on Feb. 25. Recognizing athletes who have had notable performances every week, Zahra has regularly been named to the spotlight despite being in a sport that does not always get a lot of attention.
“It’s nice to get a free pita out of it, but I don’t really wrestle for that,” Zahra said. “It’s nice to get recognition but it’s not why I do it. I love the sport, it’s something I’ve done my whole life and those little things are nice, but overall I try not to pay too much attention to them.”
Wrestler Ben Zahra and @macwbball guard Sarah Gates are the @PitaPitCanada @mcmasteru Athletes of the Week, after their efforts this past weekend. #GoMacGo
READ ⬇️https://t.co/kThE2cWtX3
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) February 25, 2019
Zahra knows he does not want his wrestling career to end with university athletics as the star wrestler has his sights set on the Olympics.
“[Club] Nationals this year are in Saskatoon. I’m competing up a weight class which should be good, I’m excited,” Zahra said. “It’s actually the qualifying year for the Olympics… so this year is what gets you on the seating platform for next year’s Olympic trials. It should be a really competitive nationals for us.”
Zahra has been one of McMaster’s best wrestlers during his time here and is well on the path to getting gold at next year’s championships. With possibly a trip to the Olympics in the near future, Zahra will be a name to watch in the Marauders community as he continues to dominate the mat.
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