London, ON -  After a year away from competitive sport, Western Mustangs student athletes, coaches and staff were more than ready to get back this fall, and the results have been impressive. The Western Mustangs regular season is wrapping up for Fall Sports, and Mustangs Teams have brought home some hardware.
 
Provincial Banners have already been won by the Mustangs Women's Golf Team (OUA Champions), Women's Rowing Team (OUA Champions), Women's Softball Team (OWIFA Champions), Mustangs Football Team (Yates Cup - OUA Champions), and Men's Tennis Team (OUA Champions). Photos are all included in collage above.
 
As well, several of our other Mustangs teams medalled at their Provincial Championships including: Women's Tennis won silver at the OUA provincial championship; Men's Rowing won bronze at the OUA provincial championship; Women's Lacrosse won bronze at their OUA provincial championship; and Women's Soccer were the silver medalists at the OUA Championships, losing in penalty kicks at home in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd, and then headed out East for the U SPORTS National Championships. Men's Baseball also attended their provincial championship and qualified for the bronze medal game, which got rained out.
 
In addition, the Mustangs Football team had a dominating win over the St. FX X-Men at the Mitchell Bowl (U SPORTS Semi-Final) at home on Saturday, Nov 27. This win secured them a berth in the 2021 U SPORTS National Vanier Cup.
 
And then on Saturday, December 4 in Quebec City, Mustangs Football won the National Championship U SPORTS Vanier Cup over the Saskatchewan Huskies, in a thrilling (and cold) 27-21 victory. "I'm extremely proud of this group, everything we have been through. I am just so happy we got here and got this done," said Mustangs Head Coach Greg Marshall "The fact that we got through this pandemic, and we are the champions speaks to the resiliency of our team and I could not be happier or prouder of this group,"


 
In addition, our Cross-Country Women's team took Silver (2^nd) and the Men's team Bronze (3^rd) at their OUA Championship and the Women's team went on to also capture Silver (2^nd) at the U SPORTS National Championship in Quebec on Nov 20; Women's Rowing came in 3^rd Nationally, and Men's and Women's Tennis teams both also came in 3^rd in their National Championships.  
 
Head Coach of the Mustangs Cross Country team, Guy Schultz, talked about how proud he was of his team's results. "Both the Men's and Women's teams were ranked high nationally going into this competition. Coming off a year with no competition, that was impressive in and of itself. But for the Women to top their ranking, coming in 2^nd overall at this national competition, is absolutely incredible. I am so proud of this group of athletes for their drive to succeed, their support for each other, and their passion for the sport."


 
In addition, Men's Golf, Men's Lacrosse, Men's Rugby, Women's Rugby, Men's Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee and Water Polo have seen strong transitions back to their sports. Congratulations to all our teams for their hard work and success this season.
 
Several Western Mustangs coaches have been recognized provincially and nationally so far this year. Jeff Pacheco– with Mustangs Women's Field Hockey – won OUA Coach of the Year AND U SPORTS Coach of the Year; Katherine Baer– with Mustangs Women's Rugby – won OUA Coach of the Year; Mustangs Head Coaches Cameron Cross & Anthony Glavanic were named OUA Coaches of the Year for Men's Tennis; And Charles Fitzsimmons was named Women's Golf Coach of the Year by the OUA.



Pacheco's team went from just two wins in 12 games played in 2019 to a stellar 5-2-1 record this time around. "To be named by my fellow coaches means a ton, they know the commitment it takes to find wins in this league." said Pacheco "This accolade is associated with the level of play the team produced game after game, it means we found a level of expectation that we want to continue with year over year."

The Mustangs also won some top student awards, with Mustangs Football Deointe Knight winning the National U SPORTS J.P. Metras Award for Most Outstanding Lineman of the Year; Jordyn Orlando won Most Valuable Player in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Russell Division for the 2021 Women's Rugby season; Evan Hillock, the rookie Mustangs Football quarterback who performed incredibly well this year won OUA rookie of the year for football; Chloe Coutts received the award for OUA Rookie of the Year for Women's Cross Country; Matt Oliver won OUA Male Player of Year for Men's Tennis; And Justine Bryson and Ashton Cross were named OUA East Rookies of the Year in Tennis.


 
Some other exciting news - the Western Alumni Association made a substantial investment into the Western Mustangs stadium facilities donating $1.4 million, and the stadium has been renamed the Western Alumni Stadium (formerly TD Stadium). Of the $1.4-million donation from the Alumni Association, $1 million will be allocated for maintenance and regular upkeep of the renovated stadium grounds over the next 10 years, while $400,000 will be used for renovations of the newly named Alumni Lounge. This includes window replacement to improve sightlines of the football field, replacing the flooring, increasing the seating capacity and updating the audio-visual equipment. The new name for the stadium and lounge will be in effect for 10 years.
 
Regular seasons for Mustangs Basketball (Women's and Men's), Hockey (Men's and Women's) and Volleyball (Women and Men's), Badminton, Curling, Fencing, Figure Skating, Ringette, Squash (Women's and Men's), Swimming, Table Tennis, Track & Field (Bob Vigars Season Home Opener), Wrestling, and a number of our other 46 teams are now underway, and they have seen great success early on in their seasons. Mustangs Women's Basketball and Mustangs Women's Volleyball teams are each undefeated so far in the regular season, as is Ringette. All these teams will continue their quest for a championship in January 2022.
 
Regular season home games are free for students with valid Western ONECard. Visit our website or follow us on social for available ticketed events. Volleyball, Basketball and Hockey are also available to stream on oua.tv.
 
Watch for more in-depth features on our award-winning coaches and championship winning teams next week, December 13-17 on www.westernmustangs.ca or on social @WesternMustangs