GUELPH, Ont. – Throughout the 2021-22 season, the University of Guelph Department of Athletics will be highlighting various members from our Gryphon varsity programs as part of our "BioSteel Gryphon Athletes of the Week" series. This week's edition features Kiana Gibson (women's cross country) and
Alex Williamson (men's rugby), both of whom played key roles in helping their respective teams take home OUA titles this past weekend.
Kiana Gibson (Women's Cross Country)
Kiana Gibson's outstanding senior season continued this past weekend at the 2021 OUA Cross Country Championships in London, where the 21-year-old Ottawa native finished 1st overall to help lead the Gryphons women's cross country program to the overall team title.
For the Gryphons women's cross country team, it marked an OUA-record 18th conference title in program history and first since 2016. Gibson's impressive time of 29:40 in the 8km race skyrocketed her to a first-place podium finish, where she stood alongside fellow Gryphon Olivia Roussel (29:47) who finished with silver. For Gibson, it marked the third time this season she had earned a first-place finish in the individual results, with the arts and sciences major also claiming individual gold at both the Don Mills Open (Oct. 2) and Marauder Invitational (Oct. 30) earlier this season. Gibson's performance on Saturday in London was part of a dominant team effort from the Gryphons women's cross country team, who placed five runners in the top seven and finished 41 points clear of the next closest school (Western) in the overall team standings. Gibson becomes the first Gryphon athlete this season to be named Athlete of the Week on more than one occasion, with the Ottawa native having also earned the weekly honour back on October 25.
Alex Williamson (Men's Rugby)
Alex Williamson earns the title of BioSteel Gryphon Athlete of the Week following his amazing performance in the OUA men's rugby gold medal match on Saturday (Nov. 6).
After being forced to sit out over a month due to injury, Williamson announced his return to the Gryphon lineup in a big way, scoring a team-high three tries for the Gryphons in their 37-28 victory over the Queen's Gales on Saturday night at Nixon Field in Kingston. The 3rd-year winger and criminal justice major helped the Gryphons men's rugby team secure the program's their 4th OUA men's rugby title (andfirst since 2016), while also helping the Gryphons men's rugby team pick up their first win in Kingston in 47 years (with the last time the Gryphons defeated the Queen's Gaels in Kingston coming back in 1974, when the Gryphons won their first OUA men's rugby title). Williamson and the gryphons will now prepare for a return to Nixon Field in late November when they will compete in the 2021 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship (Nov. 24-28).
"Gryphon Athletes of the Week" for 2021-22
| Name |
Sport |
Date |
| Kiana Gibson |
Women's Cross Country |
Nov. 8, 2021 |
| Alex Williamson |
Men's Rugby |
Nov. 8, 2021 |
| Mark Wilson |
Men's Lacrosse |
Nov. 1, 2021 |
| Kennedy Feasby |
Women's Rugby |
Nov. 1, 2021 |
| Kiana Gibson |
Women's Cross Country |
Oct. 25, 2021 |
| Ian Vidovich |
Men's Soccer |
Oct. 25, 2021 |
| Jacqueline Giles |
Women's Golf |
Oct. 18, 2021 |
| Connor McKinney |
Men's Rugby |
Oct. 18, 2021 |
| Venessa Mazur |
Women's Soccer |
Oct. 11, 2021 |
| Justin Allen |
Men's Golf |
Oct. 11, 2021 |
| Lucas Doros |
Men's Soccer |
Oct. 4, 2021 |
| Hannah Beaumont |
Women's Rugby |
Oct. 4, 2021 |
| Olivia Rizakos |
Women's Soccer |
Sept. 27, 2021 |
| Mitchell Ubene |
Men's Cross Country |
Sept. 27, 2021 |
| Emily Power |
Women's Lacrosse |
Sept. 20, 2021 |
| Cam MacLeod |
Men's Lacrosse |
Sept. 20, 2021 |
