GUELPH, Ont. – Shania Van Herk (women's swimming) and Zarko Ubiparip (men's volleyball) have been named Gryphon Muscle MLK Athletes of the Week for the period ending Feb. 9, 2020.
Shania Van Herk (Women's Swimming)
Fifth-year swimmer
Shania Van Herk takes home Athlete of the Week honours after a strong showing at the 2020 OUA Swimming Championships in Toronto.
The human kinetics major took home a pair of bronze medals from the conference championship meet, earning a bronze in the women's 50m backstroke, as well as another bronze in the women's 200m medley relay.
The Cedar Springs, Ontario native posted a time of 28.71 in the women's 50m backstroke, making her the fastest female Gryphon ever in that event (breaking a decade-old school record). In the relay, Van Herk teamed with Samantha Anderson, Sasha Kennedy and Meaghan Kearney to reach the podium in the 200m medley relay, helping the Gryphon women finish 4th in the overall team standings out of 11 schools.
Van Herk, who was named a team captain prior to the start of the 2019-20 season, will cap off her varsity swimming career in Victoria, B.C. as she is one of five Gryphon swimmers who have currently qualified to compete at the 2020 U SPORTS Swimming Championships (Feb. 20-22 at the University of Victoria).
Zarko Ubiparip (Men's Volleyball)
The Gryphons men's volleyball team picked up perhaps their biggest win of the season this past Saturday (Feb. 8), with a thrilling five-set victory at home over the Brock Badgers. Helping lead the way was Guelph's talented outside hitter,
Zarko Ubiparip, a Kitchener native who is now in his third season with the Gryphons men's volleyball program.
Ubiparip racked up a team-high 24.0 points (19 kills, 2 aces, 3 blocks) in a memorable night that saw the talented 6-foot-5 left side record an impressive .469 hitting percentage. For Zarko, it marked the latest performance in what has been an outstanding 2019-20 campaign, with the management, economics and finance major ranking 4th in the OUA with 172 kills on the season.
The Gryphons currently boast a 9-5 record, good for 2nd-place in the OUA West standings (behind only No. 2-nationally ranked McMaster). The Gryphons have three games remaining on their regular season schedule, all of which will come on the road, beginning with a trip to Kingston for visits to RMC (Feb. 14) and Queen's (Feb. 15). With a win Friday night versus RMC, Guelph would secure a double-digit win season, something they have done just one other time in the past nine seasons (2016-17 the team went 12-5 in the regular season before capturing an OUA bronze medal).
2019-20 GRYPHON ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
| Period Ending: |
MALE: |
FEMALE: |
| Feb. 10, 2020 |
Zarko Ubiparip (Men's Volleyball) |
Shania Van Herk (Women's Swimming) |
| Feb. 2, 2020 |
Alexander Chaves (Men's Wrestling) |
Hannah Little (Women's Wrestling) |
| Jan. 27, 2020 |
Mikkel Aagaard (Men's Hockey) |
Jayden Sparks (Women's Wrestling) |
| Jan. 20, 2020 |
Ryan Valentini (Men's Hockey) |
Burke Bechard (Women's Basketball) |
| Jan. 13, 2020 |
Tommy Yanchus (Men's Basketball) |
Shyvonne Roxborough (W Track and Field) |
| Jan. 5, 2020 |
Connor Bramwell (Men's Hockey) |
Aurore Beaulieu (Women's Hockey) |
| Dec. 2, 2019 |
Marc Stevens (Men's Hockey) |
Jade Ziebarth (Women's Volleyball) |
| Nov. 24, 2019 |
Keenan Dowell (Men's Basketball) |
Shania Van Herk (Women's Swimming) |
| Nov. 18, 2019 |
Mikkel Aagaard (Men's Hockey) |
Voneta Davis (Track and Field) |
| Nov. 11, 2019 |
Mitch Ubene (Men's Cross Country) |
Miranda Lantz (Women's Hockey) |
| Nov. 3, 2019 |
Gideon Dresser (Men's Volleyball) |
Burke Bechard (Women's Basketball) |
| Oct. 27, 2019 |
Mitch Ubene (Men's Cross Country) |
Katherine MacMillan (Field Hockey) |
| Oct. 20, 2019 |
Mitch Talbot (Men's Rugby) |
Sidney Evans (Field Hockey) |
| Oct. 13, 2019 |
Justin Allen (Men's Golf) |
Julia Schell (Women's Rugby) |
| Oct. 6, 2019 |
Erik Hermanns (Men's Soccer) |
Venessa Mazur (Women's Soccer) |
| Sept. 29, 2019 |
Alex Zis (Men's Soccer) |
Kate Knafelc (Women's Soccer) |
| Sept. 23, 2019 |
Josiah Dixon (Golf) |
Cameron Ormond (Women's Cross Country) |
| Sept. 16, 2019 |
Aria Keshoofy (Men's Rugby) |
Victoria Hinchliffe (Women's Soccer) |
| Sept. 8, 2019 |
Dylan Clark (Baseball) |
Katherine MacMillan (Field Hockey) |
| Sept. 1, 2019 |
Moses Kafeero (Men's Soccer) |
Sayan Ladhani (Women's Soccer) |
* green signifies OUA Athlete of the Week
* red signifies U SPORTS Athlete of the Week
