The 2022 fall season brought with it numerous honours for the Western Mustangs, including four team championship banners, five coach of the year awards and one national Power Cheerleading Association banner win for the cheer team.
Here are some of the top team results so far this year:
The Mustangs cross-country women’s team finished in third place in team standings at the OUA provincial championships, held on Oct. 29 at Thames Valley Golf Course in London, Ont. The men’s team finished in fourth place.
The women’s cross-country team were fourth in team standings at the U SPORTS National Championships in Halifax, N.S. on Nov. 12. The men’s team finished seventh in team standings at the nationals.
The Mustangs football team won the Yates Cup, the OUA provincial title banner, at home on Nov. 12, in a decisive and snowy victory over the rival Queens Gaels.
Western also received three major awards at the annual OUA Football Awards in early November and head coach Greg Marshall was named OUA football coach of the year.
Keon Edwards, a fourth-year King’s University College student, won the 2022 Larry Haylor Award, for OUA’s most valuable player, rushing for over 1,000 yards in the regular season. Daniel Valente Jr., a fourth-year King’s student, won the President’s Award for outstanding stand-up defensive player.
Although the Mustangs weren’t in the national championship game, Western did host a successful sold-out Vanier Cup on Nov. 26.
Rylie Grogan, a fourth-year student at Brescia University College, won the individual gold medal at the 2022 OUA golf championship (women’s division) on Oct. 16 in Ottawa. The Mustangs women’s team also won silver in the team competition.
For the second year in a row, the women’s lacrosse team brought home a bronze medal from the OUA championship, beating Guelph 11-5 on Oct. 22 at the University of Toronto. Four Mustangs were named OUA all-stars at the conclusion of the event.
The women’s rowing team finished top of the standings at the OUA provincial championship with 486 points, for a gold medal finish (with Queen’s the next closest school at 258 points). On the men’s side, it was a silver medal performance for the Mustangs at the OUA provincial championship in St. Catharines, Ont. on Oct. 29 as they finished with 402 total points, just behind the Brock Badgers. At the nationals on Nov. 5 and 6 in St. Catharines, the women’s rowing team placed second and the men’s team placed fifth.
The women’s softball team walked away from the 2022 Canadian Collegiate Softball Association national championship with a silver medal after losing to St. Clair College in the finals on Oct. 9 at Windsor. The Mustangs also took silver at the Ontario University Softball championships on Oct. 23 in Waterloo, Ont.
Men’s rugby head coach Ian McLeod was named OUA coach of the year, leading the team to a 5-1 record in just his second season with the program.
Although the women’s and men’s soccer teams didn’t make it through to the provincial finals, head coach Martin Painter was named OUA coach of the year (west) for the third time in the women’s program and three Mustangs were named first team OUA all-stars.
The women’s tennis team won the OUA gold medal with 4-3 win over Toronto on Oct. 22 in London, Ont. Lauryn Son was named OUA rookie of the year and Chantal Forristal and Maciek Gebczynski were named OUA coaches of the year.
For the fourth straight season and 23rd time in program history, the Mustangs were OUA men’s tennis champions.
