January 24, 2012

CIS Top Ten Tuesday (#17): New national leaders in hockey, track and field

Photo credit Thomas Kolodziej

OTTAWA (CIS) – There are new national leaders this week in Canadian Interuniversity Sport hockey and indoor track and field.

In hockey, Wilfrid Laurier moves ahead of McGill on the women’s side, while McGill takes over from UNB in the men’s ranking. In track and field, Western Ontario (women) and Windsor (men) are the new teams to beat.

In other CIS sports, Regina (women’s basketball), Carleton (men’s basketball), UBC (women’s volleyball) and Trinity Western (men’s volleyball) all maintain their No. 1 status.

In women’s hockey, reigning CIS champion McGill (12-1-1) was stunned by Carleton (5-4-3) on Sunday - 4-3 in a shootout – marking the Ravens’ first win over the Martlets in 65 lifetime meetings. McGill, which falls to No. 2 in the new Top 10, had been ranked No. 1 in nine of the first 10 coaches’ polls this season and in 71 of 73 polls dating back to November of 2008.

Meanwhile, Laurier (19-0-1) defeated Windsor 3-0 and Western 5-2 to remain the only team in the country without a regulation loss in conference play. The Golden Hawks, who were second in each of the past six weekly polls, had last topped the national ranking in February of 2006.

In men’s hockey, defending University Cup champion UNB (14-5-2) lost 5-1 to fourth-ranked Moncton and 8-7 to UPEI over the weekend, and has now dropped four of its last five games. The Varsity Reds, who slide to No. 3 in the new media poll, had been No. 1 for 21 consecutive ranking periods dating back to December of 2010.

McGill (17-2-2) edged Carleton 1-0 in a shootout on Friday in its lone outing of the past week. The Redmen, who move up to No. 1 for the first time since February of 2006, had spent the last eight weeks in second place behind UNB.

In basketball, the Regina women and Carleton men both remained undefeated in regular season action last week.

On the women’s side, the Cougars improved to 13-0 with home wins against No. 10 Fraser Valley, 78-61, and Trinity Western, 65-52.

In men’s hoops, the Ravens moved to 15-0 with a trio of dominating victories over Ottawa, 74-34, Queen’s, 96-64, and Royal Military College, 120-38.

In women’s volleyball, top-ranked UBC (13-1) was solid on home court against No. 6 Manitoba (9-5). The Thunderbirds swept a Friday-Saturday doubleheader 3-0 and 3-1.

In men’s volleyball, Trinity Western improved to a perfect 14-0 in Canada West action thanks to 3-2 and 3-0 victories over No. 10 Winnipeg (6-10).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Regina (13-0) / 444 pts (37) / (1)
2. Windsor (13-2) / 407 / (2)
3. UBC (10-2) / 368 / (3)
4. Saskatchewan (9-4) / 326 / (4)
5. Alberta (11-3) / 296 / (5)
6. Ottawa (13-2) / 266 / (7)
7. Carleton (10-5) / 214 / (6)
8. Acadia (9-1) / 195 / (8)
9. Brock (11-4) / 131 / (9)
10. Fraser Valley (10-4) / 105 / (10)

Other teams receiving votes: Toronto (79), Concordia (26).

MEN’S BASKETBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Carleton (15-0) / 516 pts (44) / (1)
2. Lakehead (12-2) / 473 / (2)
3. UBC (10-2) / 426 / (3)
4. StFX (9-2) / 384 / (4)
5. Saskatchewan (9-4) / 339 / (5)
6. Wilfrid Laurier (12-2) / 301 / (6)
7. Alberta (10-4) / 244 / (8)
8. Concordia (7-0) / 207 / (9)
9. Victoria (11-3) / 195 / (7)
10. Fraser Valley (9-5) / 121 / (10)

Other teams receiving votes: Windsor (59), UPEI (25), Ottawa (24).

WOMEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Laurier (19-0-1) / (2)
2. McGill (12-1-1) / (1)
3. Calgary (14-4-0) / (3)
4. StFX (14-3-0) / (4)
5. Moncton (13-2-1) / (6)
6. Guelph (15-4-1) / (5)
7. Alberta (10-3-7) / (7)
8. Saskatchewan (14-4-2) / (8)
9. Queen’s (11-6-3) / (9)
10. Montreal (9-4-1) / (10)

MEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. McGill (17-2-2) / 158 pts (12) / (2)
2. Western Ontario (18-2-2) / 127 (1) / (4) *
3. UNB (14-5-2) / 127 (1) / (1)
4. Moncton (15-6-0) / 107 (1) / (7)
5. Acadia (15-6-1) / 106 (1) / (6)
6. Alberta (15-5-2) / 94 / (5)
7. Saskatchewan (15-5-2) / 85 / (3)
8. Manitoba (14-4-2) / 65 (1) / (9)
9. UQTR (17-5-1) / 31 / (NR)
10. Saint Mary’s (13-7-2) / 13 / (10) *

Other teams receiving votes: Lakehead (13), UPEI (7), UBC (2).

* Western Ontario (over UNB) and Saint Mary’s (over Lakehead) were awarded the higher ranking based on number of higher-placed votes.

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Western Ontario 89 pts / (2)
2. Saskatchewan 80.5 / (5)
3. Guelph 79.25 / (1)
4. Windsor 75.5 / (3)
5. Calgary 69.5 / (4)
6. Alberta 56.5 / (7)
7. Ottawa 37 / (8)
8. Toronto 36.5 / (6)
9. York 35 / (9)
10. Victoria 28 / (NR)

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Windsor 112 pts / (2)
2. Guelph 88 / (1)
3. Ottawa 77 / (3)
4. York 60.5 / (4)
5. Western Ontario 54 / (5)
6. Laval 39 / (6)
7. Regina 35 / (7)
8. Toronto 30 / (9)
9. Saskatchewan 29.5 / (10)
10. Sherbrooke 28.5 / (9)

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)

1. UBC (13-1) / 60 points / (1)
2. Saint Mary’s (12-0) / 55 / (T3)
3. Trinity Western (10-4) / 52 / (7)
4. Alberta (9-5) / 47 / (T3)
5. Winnipeg (12-4) / 44 / (2)
T6. Manitoba (9-5) / 39 / (5)
T6. Montreal (8-3) / 39 / (6)
8. Laval (7-4) / 32 / (8)
9. York (11-1) / 28 / (9)
10. Dalhousie (9-3) / 24 / (10)

Next highest vote getters: Calgary (19), Ottawa (15), McGill (13), Toronto (5.5), Thompson Rivers (4).

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Trinity Western (14-0) / 250 pts (25) / (1)
2. Manitoba (13-1) / 221 (1) / (2)
3. Laval (14-0) / 192 / (4)
4. Alberta (10-4) / 191 / (3)
5. UBC (8-6) / 141 / (5)
6. Western Ontario (13-1) / 132 / (6)
7. Calgary (9-5) / 104 / (7)
8. Brandon (9-7) / 74 / (8)
9. McMaster (11-2) / 67 / (9)
10. Winnipeg (6-10) / 30 / (10)

-CIS-