Michael Ivanov (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON) of the men's track and field team, Madalyn Weinert (St. Catharines, ON) of the women's basketball team and Michael Matas (London, ON) of the men's basketball team have been named the Brock University Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, Jan 12.
Ivanov bested all challengers at the Can-Am Classic in Windsor to claim gold in the pole vault, and, with the result, he moved back up to the No. 1 ranking in U SPORTS in the event. The third-year jumper qualified for the U SPORTS Championships with a successful attempt of 4.85-metres, clearing the auto standard by two centimetres. No one in the country has been able to come close to that mark with the next-best jump being 4.76m from Sherbrooke Vert et Or's Édouard Lavoie-Beaulieu. Impressively, Ivanov overcame a former U SPORTS champion in Brennan Seguin who won the pole vault in 2023 with the Guelph Gryphons and Nojah Parker, a former outdoor national pole vault champion, to win the event. He also competed in the long jump, placing ninth with a jump of 6.77m.
Weinert was effective on both sides of the floor this past week as she earned two double-doubles to give her a total of seven on the season. In the Badgers' decisive 69-54 win over the York Lions on Wednesday, Jan. 15, Weinert played 37 of 40 minutes, scoring a game-high 24 points and grabbing 14 rebounds which was also a game high. The Medical Sciences major shot an impressive 11-for-12 (92 per cent) from the free-throw line and was 40 per cent from the field (6-for-15). On Sunday, the Badgers took on the No. 10 TMU Bold and Weinert matched her total from the contest with the Lions, scoring 24 points to once again lead all scorers. The fourth-year guard shot 41.7 per cent from the field (10-for-24) and added 15 rebounds which was another game high, putting up seven more than the Bold's Kait Nichols. Over the week, Weinert had eight assists, six blocks and four steals, showing off her versatility.
In an outstanding career-high performance, Matas came off the bench to help lead the Badgers to a 74-66 victory over the No. 5 ranked team in the country, the TMU Bold, on Sunday. The fourth-year forward earned 28 points, besting his previous career high of 17 which he achieved against this same TMU team on Nov. 11, 2023. Matas was perfect from the free-throw line, going 10-for-10 while also shooting 50 per cent from both the field and the three-point line. The Economics major was 8-for-16 from the field and 2-for-4 from beyond the arc and added six rebounds in just 27 minutes played. On Wednesday, Matas scored four points, and added four rebounds as the Badgers defeated the York Lions 71-37 in convincing fashion.
