Bangen enters TRU Athletics Hall of Fame, WolfPack athletes receive awards

Making program history as the first member of the Pack to earn first-team Canada West All-Star honours, Rumo had a fantastic 2023-24 campaign.

The centre back from Courtice, Ont., started all 14 conference games and routinely shut down some of the most prolific strikers in the country.

Legendary head coach Terry Bangen became the second-ever inductee in the coach category of the TRU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Coming to Kamloops in 1976 to take over the reins as the men’s hockey coach and assistant athletic director of Cariboo College, Bangen became one of the most decorated coaches in the institution’s history over the next 11 seasons.

Under his guidance, the team captured nine British Columbia Colleges Athletic Association (BCCAA) conference championships, including six straight from 1983 to 1988.

Bangen and his Cariboo College squad also earned a pair of second place finishes at the 4-West championships (a competition between the top collegiate teams from B.C. to Manitoba) while also qualifying for a then-record five-straight trips to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national hockey championships from 1984-1988.

Earning the CCAA Coaching Award of Excellence in 1987, Bangen also served as athletic director of the University College of the Cariboo Sun Demons in 1994-1995.

Leaving UCC to become the head coach of men’s hockey at McGill University in 1995-1996, Bangen went on to accumulate many accolades throughout a legendary coaching career.

An assistant coach, assistant general manager, director of player personnel and senior advisor in the WHL for over 20 seasons, he captured three Memorial Cup titles with the Kamloops Blazers.

He spent time as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks while also capturing gold with Hockey Canada and the 1994 La Copa Mexico and the 1996 IIHF World Junior Championship.

In total, Bangen spent 22 years working for post-secondary athletic institutions in Kamloops.

Caylah Lemon of women’s soccer and Patrick Izett of men’s soccer earned the Cliff Neufeld Leaderships Awards.

Sam Elgert of men’s volleyball and Ema Palkovicova of women’s volleyball earned the Dr. Roger H Barnsley Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards.

Rounding out the major award winners were Kate De La Mare of women’s basketball and Walker Sodaro of men’s volleyball, who claimed the Newcomer of the Year Awards.

Emily Clark of women’s soccer and Tyler Schilling shared honours as winners of the Director’s Award.

Both finishing their WolfPack careers this season, Clark and Schilling are outstanding student-athletes from the Kamloops area that worked hard day-in-and-day-out to support their teammates.

Dylan VanSpankeren of men’s volleyball was named the recipient of the Tyler Lowey Award.

Presented to a member of the ‘Pack who has shown remarkable resilience in their career, winners of the Tyler Lowey Award have faced a great deal of adversity and continued to compete for the WolfPack or returned to compete after overcoming a significant injury or obstacle.

Honoured with the WolfPack Appreciation Award was Omid Raoufian.

Never once missing a varsity game in this three years with the Pack, Raoufian was a standout public address announcer for TRU who went above and enhance the WolfPack gameday experiences.

The event also featured Canada West and U SPORTS All-Stars/All-Canadians and award winners, along with fifth-year athletes who were also honoured at the celebration.

Team MVPs include Carter Spencer (baseball), Daniel Bost (men’s basketball), Kelsey Cruz (women’s basketball), Maria Banman (cheer), Patrick Izett (men’s soccer), Raiya Rumo (women’s soccer), Jadyn Patrick-Johnston (swimming), Corbin Ockerman (men’s volleyball) and Brooklyn Olfert (women’s volleyball).

— TRU SPORTS INFORMATION

by Marty Hastings

Bangen enters TRU Athletics Hall of Fame, WolfPack athletes receive awards

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