Player Profile

<p>Fifth-year student and rugby player Brad Sears can’t get enough of St. Thomas University. After graduating last year with a major in anthropology and minor in sociology, he decided to return to explore another career path. Sears has always wanted to be a teacher, so he is currently completing his teachables to pursue the education [&hellip;]</p>

<p>This is Nikita McCartney&#8217;s first year at St. Thomas University, but it&#8217;s definitely not the first time the midfield from Berry Mills, N.B. has hit the field. She started playing soccer a decade ago at age seven. STU won McCartney over after a recruitment officer visited her high school, Harrison Trimble, in Moncton. “I liked [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The men’s soccer team has gained a lot of new players this year, but Geoffrey Mullen is one who coaches and fans can&#8217;t seem to take their eyes off of. The first-year student from small-town Kentville, Nova Scotia is excited to be playing for the Tommies. “I’m hoping by playing here at STU I can [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Although the gold medal game didn&#8217;t end the way she hoped, Kelty Apperson holds fond memories of her experience with Team Canada at the 2017 Winter Universiade. After more than two weeks overseas, the Tommies women&#8217;s hockey captain returned to Fredericton from Almaty, Kazakhstan early on Thursday, Feb. 9. Just in time for St. Thomas [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Kristina Kocsis was six or seven years old the first time she was on skates. She began playing hockey not long after. More than a decade later, after competing at elite levels throughout her childhood and teenage years, the third-year Tommies women’s hockey defender had to step away from her favourite game. Along with her [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Jon &#8216;Judo&#8217; Williams is a 28-year-old martial arts competitor who says the sport helped him develop confidence to keep the fight on the mat and out of the streets. Williams wanted to be a mixed martial arts fighter because he was being picked on and believed training would toughen him up. Williams started training different martial arts at [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Lauren Henman said that it’s a huge honour for her to have been chosen as October’s Coors Light Athlete of the Month. “I owe all of my success so far this season to my team and coaches,” she said. “I’m just really happy we’re doing so well this year.” In October, Henman averaged one point [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Meghan MacAfee was voted by her peers as Coach of the Year at the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association women’s rugby banquet. “I was really happy to get (the award) because it was voted by the other coaches in our league which was really, really, kind and generous of them,” MacAfee said. “We hear a lot [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A St. Thomas University women’s rugby player won athlete of the week earlier this year and has been named Tommies Coastal Graphics Athlete of the Month for September. Taylor Dube, a fourth-year psychology and criminology major won the award for having a strong showing on the field. The 22-year old totaled 63 points and is [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Jon Gionet grabs the chalk and scrubs it on his hands. His vision narrows and he tunes everything else out. All of his training has come down to this one throw. He grabs the 16 pound shot put, turning it over in his hands. His rival just had a big throw before him, but he’s [&hellip;]</p>

<p>There may be no &#8216;I&#8217; in team, but Lorena Ellis could probably get away with saying it as the only member of STU&#8217;s new women&#8217;s wrestling team. “I am the team right now,” said Ellis. “I’m sort of like a guinea pig.” This is the first year St. Thomas has had a wrestling team, and whether [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Nick Brown had just finished his first weekend as a defender with the STU Tommies soccer team. He was fitting into the squad well when he was hit with some tough news. Doctors told him he had a slight detachment in his retina again, and heading the ball would increase the chance of detaching it further. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>When Jordan Bachynski changed his Twitter handle to @BLOCKshynski at the end of March, it fit like his size 14 basketball shoes. He didn&#8217;t come up with the nickname himself. The 7&#8217;2&#8243; Bachynski just finished up his fourth season playing basketball for the Arizona State University Sun Devils and in his final year averaged an [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The annual athletics banquet gives STU&#8217;s athletes a chance to shine after everything is said and done. And shine is what Kelly Vass and Jason Cannon did. Jason Cannon finished his second year on the men’s volleyball team and was named Male Athlete of the Year for his excellent play. He helped make his team [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Just because he&#8217;s a professional hockey player doesn&#8217;t mean Yuri Cheremetiev doesn&#8217;t have homework. The STU student signed with the Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional Hockey League on March 14. Cheremetiev was contacted by FireAntz head coach Emery Olauson, dropped everything, and spent a full day travelling to North Carolina to join the team. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Athletes coming out as gay has been a hot topic recently. Michael Sam, a high-profile football player, recently came out. His performance throughout the season earned him a spot on the All- SEC team. Jason Collins, the first openly gay NBA player, just signed a new contract with the Brooklyn Nets. But Mitchell Peardon, a St. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Lindy MacDonald is in her first year at St. Thomas, but this isn’t her first year playing ACAA basketball. Two years ago MacDonald would have been lacing up her Nikes as a part of STU basketball&#8217;s biggest rivals. Next Saturday the St. Thomas women’s basketball team will play against the Holland College Hurricanes. Both teams [&hellip;]</p>

<p>When you enter the St. Thomas men and women’s hockey teams dressing rooms at the Grant Harvey Centre, you’ll see freshly cleaned practice jerseys and socks placed in the center of the stalls; skates stacked on the rack in the corner of the room; and in the middle, a tub of clean laundry. Most hockey [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Playing in the AUS all-star game at the beginning of November, Jonathan Groenheyde felt pretty good about his performance. And then he got the call. Groenheyde was selected to play on the Canadian national hockey team at 2013 Winter Universiade, the university world&#8217;s answer to the Olympics. &#8220;I&#8217;ve never represented my country on any level, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The path that led Brittany Gilliss to the Tommies basketball team is far from simple. She&#8217;s played for a number of different teams at various levels, ranging from one of the biggest high schools in New Brunswick to one of the smallest. “The first time I ever touched a basketball was in fifth grade. My [&hellip;]</p>