By Martin Cleary
If you were to write a headline to summarize the National Capital sports scene in 2024, here’s a suggestion: The Year of the Woman.
The evidence is overwhelming.
Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and tennis partner Erin Routliffe became the first Canadians to win a season-ending WTA Final championship, the women’s doubles crown, and Dabrowski also won an Olympic mixed doubles bronze medal.
Ivanie Blondin was a true workhorse on the long-track speed skating oval with 11 World Cup and Four Continents medals (four gold, five silver, two bronze) and one gold and two silver medals at the world single-distance championships.
Audrey Leduc broke the long-standing Canadian women’s 100- and 200-metre sprint records in athletics, made her Summer Games debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics and was named the U Sports female athlete of the year.
Brianna Hennessy won Canada’s first-ever medal in paracanoe at the Paris Paralympics and was selected to carry the maple leaf at the Closing Ceremonies.
Carleton University Ravens guard Kali Pocrnic was named the U Sports women’s basketball championship tournament MVP and the Ravens’ Dani Sinclair was selected U Sports women’s coach of the year.
The Ottawa Hockey Club, now nicknamed the Charge, hit the ice for the first time in the Professional Women’s Hockey League. The Ottawa Rapid FC has become a member of the upcoming Northern Super League.
But a list like this wouldn’t be complete without the high-profile curling team skipped by Rachel Homan and supported by Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes.
Team Homan had an unprecedented season in 2023-24, winning its fourth Canadian championship, a second world championship gold medal, two more Grand Slam events and posting a win-loss record of 67-7.
If you thought it would be impossible for Homan’s rink to better or come close to that fabulous feat, think again. At the halfway point of the curling season, Team Homan has won the Pan Continental title, recorded 40 wins against only two losses, is riding a 23-game winning streak and has captured an additional Grand Slam to increase its record to 17 career titles.
The latest Grand Slam victory may have been one of the hardest as Team Homan needed two extra-end victories to qualify for the Kioti National final, where Homan chipped out an Anna Hasselborg rock for two in the eighth end and a third consecutive one-point victory.
After sweeping its four pool games – defeating Chelsea Carey of Winnipeg 8-3, Christine Black of Halifax 6-3, Stefania Constantini of Italy 7-3 and Isabella Wrana of Sweden 11-6 – Team Homan trailed early and late against Hasselborg. But Homan put up her third deuce on the scoreboard in the eighth end to spark another Grand Slam celebration in St. John’s, NL.
“Unbelievable,” Homan told sportswriter Jonathan Brazeau. “It was definitely a different way to win it in the end. We had two battles and come-from-behind wins in the quarters and semis. We’re just trying to keep playing better in the playoffs and trying to manage those misses a little bit more.
“It has been a dream year and ending it with a win feels amazing going into the holidays,” added Homan, whose team record in 2024 alone was 75-5. “But we’ve got more work to do coming into the New Year. Hopefully, we can keep this going in the New Year.”
Hasselborg stole one in the first end before Homan scored two in the second end. In the third end, Hasselborg managed two for a 3-2 advantage, but another two points by Homan in the fourth gave her a 4-3 lead.
Hasselborg scored one in the sixth end and stole another point in the seventh. Using the hammer, Homan delivered her final stone to tap out Hasselborg’s counting rock for two and a 6-5 win.
Homan trailed throughout most of the first five ends of her semifinal against defending champion Eunjung Kim of Korea. Down 5-2, Homan counted two in the sixth end and stole two in the seventh for a 6-5 lead. Kim forced an extra end in the eighth scoring one. Homan, however, counted one in the extra end for the win.
In the quarterfinals, Homan and Japan’s Sayaka Yoshimura traded the lead several times in the first seven ends before Homan delivered a tying single in the eighth and stole one in the extra end to reach the semifinals.
The third National victory was worth $42,000 for Team Homan, which benefited from the coaching guidance of Jennifer Jones, Paul Webster and Matt Hamilton. Team Homan recently lost its new coach Brendan Bottcher, when he accepted an offer to join Brad Gushue’s men’s rink. Jones, Webster and Hamilton took turns on the coaches’ bench.
3,000-METRE BRONZE AGAIN IN BEIJING FOR ISABELLE WEIDEMANN
Ottawa’s Isabelle Weidemann matched her 2022 Beijing Olympic performance, when she won the bronze medal in the women’s 3,000 metres during the World Cup stop in China’s capital.
Her fastest 3,000-metre time this season, 4:02.02, put Weidemann fourth in the World Cup long-distance standings.
“I feel I’m starting to find my racing legs a little bit,” Weidemann said in a Speed Skating Canada press release. “I think tactically last weekend, I really messed up. I had a cross-over problem, and I was really upset afterwards, feeling that I let myself down.
“This weekend, I wanted to be aggressive and showcase everything that I’ve been working on over the summer, and not let those little tactical things get in the way of my performance.”
Fellow Gloucester Concordes product Ivanie Blondin appeared to win the silver medal in the women’s mass start, but was later disqualified as officials determined body contact between her and Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida impacted another skater.
Canadian Valérie Maltais of La Baie, PQ, benefited from Blondin’s penalty as she climbed one place into second.
HISTORIC NCAA WOMEN’S TENNIS DOUBLES WIN FOR MÉLODIE COLLARD
Mélodie Collard of Gatineau and Elaine Chervinsky of Baltimore made University of Virginia Cavaliers sports history, when they won the school’s first NCAA women’s doubles tennis championship in Waco, Texas.
Collard, a product of Tennis Outaouais Performance, and Chervinsky more than earned the championship as all five of their matches went the three-set maximum.
In the final, they defeated Olivia Center and Kate Fakih of UCLA 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
“It’s so rare to win a national championship during your university career,” Collard told Le Droit. “Plus, we made history in the doubles program. It’s completely crazy. It’s my greatest career achievement.”
CARLETON, OTTAWA SHARE COLONEL BY CLASSIC HOCKEY TITLES
Gio Morneau scored the game-winning goal at 5:10 of overtime to give the Carleton University Ravens a 5-4 decision over the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the Colonel By Classic men’s OUA hockey game.
Morneau finished with two goals and one assist, while Nick Mccarry counted three assists for the Ravens, who are in seventh place in the OUA East standings with nine wins, eight losses, one overtime win and one overtime loss.
Andrew Belchamber led the Gee-Gees with two goals and one assist. Ottawa is fourth in the East Division at 10-7-2-1.
In the Colonel By Classic women’s game, the Gee-Gees defeated Carleton 4-1 on the strength of a pair of goals by Alyssa Biesenthal, who is fourth in OUA goal scoring with eight.
The lead-up to the Colonel By Classic games saw Reese Belton score twice as Carleton turned back Ottawa 6-3 in men’s action, and Gillian Warren and Reece Mepham notched two goals each as the Ottawa women downed Carleton 7-1.
RAVENS, GEE-GEES CLASH ON BASKETBALL COURT WEDNESDAY
The first half of the OUA basketball season comes to an end this week in a big way as the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees travel to Carleton University on Wednesday to face the Ravens with the women’s game at 6 p.m. and the men’s match at 8 p.m.
Carleton is in first place in the East Division for both men and women with respective records of 9-1 and 10-0, while Ottawa is second in the women’s standings at 10-1 and the men are third at 9-2.
The Ravens women’s team travelled to Thunder Bay for its only weekend game on Saturday and outscored the Lakehead University Timberwolves 82-37. Tatyanna Burke sparked the Ravens with 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Meanwhile, the Gee-Gees women’s squad posted back-to-back wins, defeating the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 67-39 and edging the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold 65-63.
Emily Payne, the top-ranked field-goal shooter in the OUA at 55.2 per cent, paced the Gee-Gees with 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Natsuki Szczokin converted two free throws with 58 seconds remaining in the game to give the Gee-Gees their narrow win over the Bold. Szczokin hit all eight of her free throws in a 15-point performance, which also included five rebounds and three assists.
After leading 40-26 at the break, the Carleton men’s team struggled after halftime as Lakehead held the upper hand in the second half, 50-27, which triggered a 76-67 victory on home court for the Timberwolves.
Augustus Brazdeikis was Carleton’s leader with 16 points and four rebounds.
The Gee-Gees men’s team had a 59-point second half to roll past Toronto 96-77 and followed with an 86-64 win over Toronto Metropolitan.
Jacques-Melaine Guemeta combined for 43 points, 13 rebounds, seven steals and four assists in the two wins, while Anki Choudhary recorded 20 points, three rebounds and two steals against the Bold.
REESE ROSE SECOND, DAVID SHTEYNGART THIRD AT SKATE CANADA CHALLENGE
Defending champion David Shteyngart of the Gloucester Skating Club finished third in a close battle of the Three Davids in the men’s junior singles competition at the Skate Canada Challenge in Winnipeg.
David Bondar of Richmond Hill, ON, won with 209.47 points, while David Howes of Winnipeg was second at 198.73 points and Shteyngart took the bronze medal with 197.41 points. Shteyngart was second in the short program and third in the free-skate final.
Gloucester’s Reese Rose placed second in the women’s junior singles at 142.38 points. She was fourth in the short program and fifth in the free-skate program.
Calgary’s Lia Cho, 12, won the women’s junior title with a Canadian record 186.50 points, which surpassed the three-year-old mark set by former Gloucester skater Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary at 179.92 points.
“I was very proud of both Reese and David,” Gloucester Skating Club coach Darlene Joseph wrote in an email. “They are both gearing up for nationals and their training and performances are on the rise as well.
“I am pleased with the progress they are making and how they are continuing to improve and develop into all-round, excellent skaters and competitors. They are both looking forward to competing at nationals.”
Gloucester had four other skaters at Skate Canada Challenge: Monica Finlay, senior women, 25th; Mila Marleau, junior women, 21st; Sophia Mekki, junior women, 24th; and Jonathan Morevec, junior men 17th.
TWO OTTAWA LIONS TEAMS EARN NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY BRONZE
A pair of Ottawa Lions Track and Field teams earned bronze medals at the Athletics Canada cross-country running championships in London.
The boys’ U18 team of Saul Taler, ninth in 19:26.5, Daniel Cova, 27th in 19:52, Charlie Mortimer, 32nd in 19:56, and Noah Mansouri, 33rd in 19:57, finished the six-kilometre race in third place.
The Lions’ girls’ U16 team ran the four-kilometre course and also finished third. The counting runners were Laila Lebel, 24th in 15:52, Riley Daniels, 40th in 16:21, Isla Kittmer, 41st in 16:22, and Alexandra Harris, 49th in 16:34.
LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST
· Valérie Grenier of St. Isidore, PQ, who crashed during a World Cup super-G 10 months ago in Cortina d’Ampezzo and needed knee and shoulder surgeries, stormed back onto the World Cup women’s alpine ski circuit by tying for ninth place in a giant slalom at Killington, Vermont. This week’s racing at Mont Tremblant, PQ, has been cancelled because of a lack of snow.
· Gatineau’s Antoine Cyr had only one race during the opening World Cup cross-country skiing stop in Ruka, Finland, and was a 28th in the 20-kilometre men’s mass start. Katherine Stewart-Jones of Chelsea, PQ., was 42nd in the women’s 10-kilometre interval and 45th in the 20-kilometre mass start. Ottawa’s Pierre Grall-Johnson was 55th in the men’s sprint classic.
· Shilo Rousseau of Ottawa raced the anchor leg as Canada placed 14th out of 19 countries in the women’s 4×6-kilometre relay at the World Cup biathlon stop in Kontiolahti, Finland.
· Canada finished eighth in the opening HSBC SVNS Series women’s rugby tour stop in Dubai, losing the seventh-place game 24-22 to Japan. After placing third in its pool at 1-2, Canada lost its quarterfinal 39-0 to Australia. Pamphinette Buisa of Gatineau scored the final try in Canada’s 38-12 pool win over Brazil. Ottawa’s Maya Addai also played for Canada.
· The Ottawa Black Bears scored the only nine goals of the first half and surged to an 11-5 upset win over the Toronto Rock in their National Lacrosse League debut at the Canadian Tire Centre. Forward Nathan Grenon of Stittsville was on the Black Bears’ roster, but didn’t record any stats.
Martin Cleary has written about amateur sports for over 52 years. A past Canadian sportswriter of the year and Ottawa Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement in Sport Media honouree, Martin retired from full-time work at the Ottawa Citizen in 2012, but continued to write a bi-weekly “High Achievers” column for the Citizen/Sun.
When the pandemic struck, Martin created the High Achievers “Stay-Safe Edition” to provide some positive news during tough times, via his Twitter account at first and now here at OttawaSportsPages.ca.
Martin can be reached by e-mail at martincleary51@gmail.com and on Twitter @martincleary.