Campus Life

Nicol, Van Buskirk earn Horns' award

Swimmer Jeff Nicol and women's hockey player Amy Van Buskirk had storng weekends in Canada West action, earning Subway Pronghorn Athlete of the Week honours.

Nicol, competing at the Canada West swimming championships in his home pool, rose to the challenge and captured the Horns' first two Canada West swimming medals in five years.

Saturday, the second-year swimmer earned a bronze medal in the 100-metre breaststroke with a time of one minute, 4.04 seconds. Nicol then hit the pool for his best event, the 200m breaststroke. Ranked second in the conference heading into the meet, Nicol lived up to his ranking and claimed the silver medal.

Nicol also finished fourth in the 50m breaststroke and was a member of the Horns' medley relay team that placed sixth. As a result, Nicol has qualified for the CIS swimming championships to be held at the University of Toronto, Feb. 18-21.

On the women's side, second-year defenceman Van Buskirk picked an opportune time to score her first career CIS goals this past weekend, helping the surging Horns women's hockey team earn three of a possible four points versus the visiting UBC Thunderbirds.

In Friday night's series opener, Van Buskirk scored with 25 seconds left in the third period to force overtime in a game that the Horns eventually lost 3-2 in a shootout. Still, the goal earned the Horns a valuable point in the race for a Canada West playoff spot.

The next night, Van Buskirk's power play goal capped a Horns' three-goal first period explosion in a 4-1 victory over the T-Birds.