*** GryphFAN Connected is an annual year-in-review magazine published by the Gryphons Department of Athletics, highlighting the major stories from each season. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2019-20 edition of GryphFAN Connected has been postponed, but individual stories and features from this past season will be posted to gryphons.ca each Wednesday during the month of August ***
GUELPH, Ont. – During the 2019-20 season, over 700 University of Guelph students earned the right to wear the Gryphon logo and represent the Guelph Gryphons while competing at the varsity level. When it comes to the athletic accomplishments from this group, the list of achievements is a long one, with 51 student-athletes achieving U SPORTS All-Canadian status and 104 student-athletes earning OUA All-Star status during the 2019-20 campaign.
But the list of championship titles and on-field accolades tends to pale in comparison to the lasting impact our Gryphon student-athletes have made in the greater Guelph community. From cancer awareness initiatives, to supporting Bell Let's Talk programs, to sustaining fundraising efforts for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Guelph, there is no shortage of engagement when it comes to our Gryphon student-athletes giving back to their community.
Kiana Gibson, a student-athlete with the Guelph Gryphons women's cross country and track teams who will be entering her fourth-year in 2020-21, is a perfect embodiment of how our Gryphon athletes not only strive for excellence in their athletic and academic pursuits, but how they also are committed to devoting their time and efforts to bettering the Guelph community around them.
Kiana Gibson's third year at the University of Guelph was a memorable one to say the least. After helping lead the Gryphon cross country team to silver medal finishes at both the OUA and U SPORTS Cross Country Championships, the Ottawa native turned her attention to the indoor track season, where she was part of a pair of unforgettable championship titles with the women's track and field program, with the Gryphons repeating as both OUA and U SPORTS champions.
Throughout the 2019 cross country season, Kiana played a key role for the Gryphons, earning OUA Second Team All-Star status after finishing 10th overall in a field of 91 runners at the OUA Cross Country Championships.
Indoors, Kiana was part of a U SPORTS-record performance in the women's 4x800m relay, teaming with fellow Gryphons Jenna Smith, Sadie-Jane Hickson and Dana Earhart to capture U SPORTS gold while establishing a new national record in the process with a time of 8:43.30. That gold medal performance marked the second time in a two-week span that Kiana had earned a trip to the podium at a championship meet, with the 20-year-old also having claimed a bronze medal in the women's 1,500m at the OUA Track and Field Championships in Toronto. But the medals and team titles were not the only noteworthy accolade for the arts and sciences major (with specializations in nutritional and nutraceutical sciences as well as international development). In the fall of 2019, Kiana Gibson became the first member of the Guelph Gryphons women's cross country team in seven years to be named the recipient of the OUA's community service award. The honour was much deserved.
Entirely out of her own initiative, Kiana Gibson founded a
MealCare chapter at the University of Guelph in 2019. MealCare is a national organization dedicated to both reducing food waste and tackling food insecurity by redistributing leftover food from campuses across the country to those in need.
Kiana worked diligently with U of G's Hospitality Services to save recoverable food from dining halls. This food is now weighed, labeled, and delivered to the Student Food Bank, located on campus, and various homeless shelters across the Guelph community. Since donations began in February 2019, MealCare Guelph has diverted over 10,000 pounds of food away from landfill and instead to food-insecure individuals. Kiana has invested hundreds of hours into donating food, recruiting like-minded volunteers, applying for grants,
creating a social media presence and establishing new community partnerships for MealCare Guelph.
"There have been so many students, faculty and support staff at the University who have helped make this happen, I'm just really excited to be able to showcase MealCare and what we've accomplished so far as a team," says Gibson, who in 2020-21 is set to return to U of G for her fourth year.
Outside of her academics and athletics, Kiana has also volunteered with the Arrell Food Institute's "Feeding 9 Billion" initiative, which provides educational resources surrounding food security and climate change. This summer, Kiana undertook a volunteer position at Lakeside Hope House, a poverty relief centre in Guelph.
Every week, she helps pack grocery boxes, which are delivered to low-income individuals as a way to provide community food support during the pandemic.
"I cannot say enough about Kiana's appetite to take on new challenges," says Kyle Boorsma, who recently wrapped up his fifth season as a coach with the Gryphons cross country program. "Kiana is an exemplary Gryphon student-athlete, leading the way in the classroom, on the track and cross country courses, and in the community."
During the school year, Kiana shifts her focus to the Gryphons Student-Athlete Mentorship program ("S.A.M. Program") where she was paired with first-year Gryphon student-athletes to help them navigate academic and athletic challenges. Each week, Kiana dedicated five hours to individual meetings with 12 mentees, providing them with study strategies, emotional support, mental health resources and any other guidance they require.
She is set to once again return to her role as a "S.A.M." mentor during the 2020-21 season.
All of the volunteering and additional commitments make for a busy schedule, but it is an approach that Gibson says is well worth the work.
"For me, I really just want to come out of my university experience having done more than just compete in my sport. When I am running, I definitely have fun and feel that Gryphon Pride, but I also feel like it's important to do your best to make a mark on the institution you're attending.
This is the place that will help set you up for the rest of your life. And the work with MealCare or the S.A.M. program, these are all things that bring me fulfillment in different ways than I get from competing in my sport. So it's definitely worthwhile when it doesn't feel like work."
