This weeks Lakehead Thunderwolves RBC Athletes of the Week are Chris Whitley of mens hockey and Loriana Costanzo of womens track and field.
Male: Chris Whitley: Mens Hockey: Oshawa, Ontario.
The senior General Arts student from Oshawa, who was 15-0 in the regular season, had a tough start to his squads OUA quarter final playoff series when he suffered his first loss of the OUA season Thursday night against Laurier by a 5-4 score in Waterloo. However, Whitley took a deep breath and then backstopped the Thunderwolves to two consecutive home wins to take the series 2-1 and move on to the next round.
In Saturdays win; Whitley was on fire; turning aside 34 of 36 Laurier shots; many of the spectacular variety as he led the Wolves to a very hard fought 3-2 win. Sunday was more of the same, though he got some offensive support from his teammates and the Wolves won 7-3. However, Whitley was again at the top of his game and stopped 16 of 18 Laurier shots in the third period; many fired at him during a succession of Lakehead penalties.
Female: Loriana Costanzo: Womens Track; Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Costanzo put in a very strong effort for the Wolves at the OUA Track and Field Championships on Saturday in Windsor. The junior Kinesiology student finished a very respectable 11th in the womens 1000 metres race (first in her heat) and also helped lead the Wolves 4 x 800 metres relay team to a 6th place finish and the 4 x 400 metres relay team to a 9th place finish.