Durham College is pleased to share that its Durham Lords men’s baseball team claimed the National College Baseball Championship gold medal on October 26 in Toronto, defeating the Thompson River Wolfpack in an exciting extra-inning contest, 2-1.The win marks the second national championship in program history, previously claiming the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association national title in 2011.

A near storybook ending to the career of head coach Sam Dempster, who announced his retirement for the conclusion of the 2019 season earlier this fall, the bench boss has led the program since its inaugural season in 1992. Earlier this season Dempster recorded his 400th career win, he led the Lords to a winning conference record for the 24th time over 28 seasons, and to an Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA)  silver medal for the third time in seven years; in addition to the national gold.

First-year power-hitter and 2019 OCAA batting champion Fernando Suarez Muniz was named the championship MVP after driving in the Lords first run of the championship final with an RBI double off the left field fence, before crossing the plate himself in the eighth inning for the game-winning run.

A stellar season for the Lords, after a 2-6 start they would rebound to record 11 straight wins and eventually claim the provincial silver as host of the 2019 OCAA baseball championship, qualifying them for the National College Baseball Championship. Durham lost their first game of the national tournament, but would go on to pick up wins over the Lionel-Groulx Nordiques, John Abbott Islanders, and 2019 OCAA champion Humber Hawks, en route to the championship win over the Thompson River Wolfpack.

Durham College held its 49th annual athletic banquet on April 4, recognizing the achievements of DC’s student athletes over the past year and naming Ashley Black and Brandon Halliburton as 2018-19 athletes of the year.

Black delivered another exceptional year in the pitching circle with the Lords softball program and was named the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) pitcher of the year, OCAA all-star, OCAA championship MVP, and the Canadian Collegiate Softball Association (CCSA) national all-star en route to national silver for the Lords this season. Halliburton became the first Durham men’s basketball player to be named a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Canadian since 2010-11, was named an OCAA east first team all-star and was the fourth player in DC men’s basketball history to surpass 1,000 career points.

Other female MVPs included Madison Haigh, Victoria Browne, Emily Glendinning, Cory Lapointe and Althea Boncheff, while male MVPs included Cody Kraemer, Reagan Manley, Malcolm Hooper, Tyler Krabi, Colin Reilly and Josh Taylor.

In addition, this year marked the first year of competition for the Durham Lords Esports teams. Individual game MVPs included Rocket League’s Luke Logan, Hearthstone’s Mitchell Bizjak, League of Legends’ Eric Jones, Overwatch’s Calvin Lapp, Super Smash Bros. Melee’s James Mullins, CS:GO’s Austin Waite and Heroes of the Storms’ Owen Campbell.

Marie Stasiuk of the women’s basketball team and Daniel Cooper of the men’s rugby team were named the freshmen athletes of the year, while team leaders Caleigh Coels of the women’s softball team and Lucas Pichl of the men’s volleyball and golf team were the recipients of the Bonnie Ginter-Brown overall leadership awards, recognizing athletes who have gone above-and-beyond in a leadership role within their team and the greater community.

The women’s softball team was named the team of the year after winning their fourth consecutive OCAA banner, becoming the first OCAA program to capture 20 total banners and the first women’s softball team to win their fourth in a row. The season also saw long-time head coach Jim Nemish record his 500th career win while the team had five players selected as OCAA all-stars, one major OCAA award winner, an OCAA championship all-star and the OCAA championship MVP. The team also captured a CCSA national silver, their first national medal since 2012, while also having two players selected as national all-stars.

The women’s volleyball team won this year’s #DC4DC award, recognizing a combination of academics, strength and conditioning, volunteer work and support for fellow Durham Lord teams.

The Durham College (DC) men’s rugby team captured the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship banner on November 17, defeating the Georgian College Grizzlies 21-15.

The provincial banner marks the first in program history as the Durham Lords returned to conference play this season, having last played in the OCAA in 1996.

“At the beginning of the season we didn’t know what to expect, but we had a good group of guys and we just worked really hard all season,” said Lords head coach John Watkins. “It’s only year one but this really bodes well for rugby at DC.”

Breaking away for several strong runs and scoring the Lords second try of the match, John Stewart was also named Lords player of the game during the championship.

“Today was unreal,” said the Sports Business Management student about winning the gold medal. “I was saying to some of the other guys after the game that I’ve never actually won anything in rugby before so this is really special, it’s a huge moment.”

The championship contest between the Durham Lords and Georgian Grizzlies began in favour of DC, but just past halftime Georgian found themselves ahead by one point with 10 minutes remaining. Facing adversity, the Lords battled for possession in the closing minutes, winning the ball back and securing a game-winning try in the 76th minute.

“We definitely exceeded expectations, but it came with hard work,” said Watkins. “Moving forward, hopefully after today, rugby players in the Durham Region will think about coming to DC for our rugby program.”

The Durham Lords women’s softball team reached a pair of milestones on October 20 by winning the 2018 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship. Durham College (DC) not only became the first program to win a 20th OCAA league sport championship, it also became the first women’s softball team to win four straight OCAA gold medals.

The Lords went undefeated in the four-team championship, defeating Humber College 8-3 before defeating St. Clair College twice by scores of 4-1 and 6-2.

“The girls played well and when you have eight freshmen come in and everyone gets on the same page like they did, that is something special,” said DC head coach Jim Nemish. “They never wavered all year and all weekend, leading to a positive result.”

Lords player Ashley Black was also named OCAA Pitcher of the Year on Thursday and was awarded championship MVP, while Emily Glendinning was named a championship all-star after throwing a complete game of her own against St. Clair.

“This this was a complete team effort from the outfield, to the infield, to our role players off the bench,” said Nemish. “Everyone wanted to do their best for each other and that’s special. I’m proud of the girls and what they accomplished this season.”

In the first match played on Vaso’s Field since it was upgraded with artificial turf, the Durham College (DC) women’s soccer team walked away with a win against the St. Clair Saints on August 25.

The new FIFA-certified infill artificial turf is the first of its kind to be installed at a post-secondary school in Canada and offers an improved playing surface for varsity and intramural sports leagues and community recreation groups using the multi-sport facility.

“Today was a special day and I feel honoured that the DC women were the first team to play a match on the field and did the school proud in our victory,” said head coach Alex Bianchi. “This is a tremendous facility we now have, the field surface is really, really good and will serve present and future players very well. This facility is second to none and I’m excited to call this field ours.”

Lords players Vanessa Juras, Madison Haigh, and Shae-Lynn Young each contributed to the win with goals against the Saints, giving DC an easy 3-0 victory, and Jenna King earned the clean sheet for the Lords with seven saves.

Durham College (DC) is pleased to share that it has been named host of the 2019 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) men’s soccer national championship. Held at Vaso’s Field at the Oshawa campus Wednesday, November 6 to Saturday, November 9, 2019.

“It’s an exciting time for the school, the program and the players,” said head coach Dave Ashfield. “We got back to the national championship for the first time in 18 years last season and feel like we’re building a great, winning culture again at Durham. We want to show that to the nation and also show our top college players our newly renovated Vaso’s Field, which will be amongst the best facilities in the country.”

The upgrade to Vaso’s Field, which is scheduled to be completed in August, will feature on-site change rooms and the conversion from natural grass to a FIFA-certified sports field with artificial infill turf by AstroTurf Inc., making it the first in Canada with the new product. In addition, the current lighting system will be replaced with new energy efficient LED stadium lighting.

The eight-team tournament will feature conference champions from the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST), Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC), OCAA, Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) and Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) as well as two wildcard teams and the host Lords.

“We are very proud to be hosting our 15th CCAA national championship in our school history,” said Ken Babcock, director, Athletics, DC. “A highly committed host committee is dedicated to making this prestigious event memorable for all.”

For more information on the 2019 CCAA men’s soccer national championship, please visit the Durham Lords website.

Durham College (DC) will score a winning goal when FIFA-certified artificial turf is installed at Vaso’s Field, offering an improved playing surface for varsity and intramural sports leagues and community recreation groups using the multi-sport facility.

Scheduled for installation this fall, the leading-edge infill artificial turf is the first of its kind to be installed at a post-secondary school in Canada. The renovation will also include new energy-efficient LED stadium lighting, eight change rooms, varsity team rooms, a press box with television broadcasting capabilities, a VIP viewing box and bleachers that will accommodate up to 500 fans.

All the upgrades will allow the campus to accommodate more major provincial and national events, even in the rain.

This project is coordinated by the DC Athletics department in conjunction with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Durham College Students Inc. and the UOIT Student Union.

Vaso’s Field is named in honour of Vaso Vujanovic, a legendary soccer coach who led the Durham Lords to multiple provincial championships. The Lords are a member of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association and the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association