For its eight-year history, Quest University鈥檚 varsity athletics program has had two very different chapters.
As a fledgling program, it started off slow and did not meet with great success on the basketball court and soccer pitch.
The past four years have been a different story, according to athletic director and men鈥檚 basketball coach Sean Shook.
This last year in particular, the program racked up three bronze medals in the playoffs and more wins than ever.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the most we鈥檝e had in the eight years I鈥檝e been here,鈥� he told the student athletes, coaches and supporters who had gathered at Quest for the annual awards night on April 19.
For the first four years, the program鈥檚 teams ended up with 52 wins, no medals and no appearance in national championship events.聽
From 2013 to 2016, though, the program has taken off, with the Kermodes almost tripling their win total, taking home 10 medals for teams and earning three berths in national events.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excelling both on the field and off the field,鈥� Shook said.
Much of the awards night evening was spent honouring the student-athletes for their individual achievements in competition and in the classroom.
Both of the top athletes of the year came from the Kermodes鈥� basketball team. Miriam Baumann was named top female athlete after a season in which she led a rebuilding women鈥檚 team to a bronze at the PacWest tournament. She was fourth in league scoring and was tops in rebounding by a wide margin with 13.33 boards per game.
On the men鈥檚 side, Theo VandenEkart helped the Kermodes to a number five national ranking as well as staging a late comeback in the bronze game. Over the course of the season, he was third in league scoring and 10th in assists.
Both Baumann and VandenEkart had already been named 2016 CCAA Basketball All-Canadians for the season.
The athletic program also recognized women鈥檚 soccer coach Craig Smith as the coach of the year after he led the team to the bronze for the league. In his speech, the coach was to the point, happily sharing the credit for the team鈥檚 success.
鈥淵ou can only work with what you鈥檝e got,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just an award for one.鈥�
The university also handed out awards recognizing more than 30 student athletes who earned a grade point average of 3.0 or higher in the classroom.
Of these, two were singled out as the top academic performers: Natalie Douglas of the women鈥檚 soccer team and Denzel Laguerta of the men鈥檚 basketball team.
Near the end of the festivities, Laguerta had a chance to thank coaches, mentors and teammates.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of overwhelming right now,鈥� he admitted, adding, 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 imagine being in another place.鈥澛�
He also talked about the pride of being a student athlete at Quest and what an 鈥渁mazing experience鈥� it had been.
鈥淲e鈥檒l do you proud when we鈥檙e off in the real world,鈥� he said.
Quest also recognized many other student athletes, including graduating seniors, those who had been named PacWest athletes of the week, all-stars or rookies of the year, as well as the club athletics rugby team.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e doing is recognizing the value of our varsity athletics but also our club athletics,鈥� said Quest mathematics tutor and awards MC Richard Hoshino.
