Chris Barrett
Men’s rugby
Last weekend, winger Chris Barrett scored one try early and added two conversions in the men’s rugby team’s 19-8 playoff win over Western Saturday.
Head coach Peter Huigenbos said Barrett’s efforts during the game gave the Gaels the momentum they needed.
“His early try against Western in the semifinal really set the tone for the first half for Queen’s,” he said. “It was a play where Western was attacking and looked like they were going to score and Chris stepped up and intercepted the pass. Once he has it, no one’s catching Chris.”
Huigenbos said Barrett has really developed as a rugby player in the past two years.
“He’s always a threat any time he touches the ball,” he said. “This year has been no different, but he’s really improved his defence. He’s really been able to stop other teams from scoring on his wing.” Barrett said the victory was thanks to the team’s cohesiveness and tenacity on defence.
Barrett said his early success most likely motivated the team.
“I scored the first try off an interception when they were almost at our goal line,” he said. “Having us score at the beginning of the game probably provided some pretty big momentum.”
Barrett said his interest in rugby started in high school.
“Rugby is really big at my high school in Vancouver,” he said. “I started playing at the beginning of grade 12, and then I played for B.C. and then they talked about opportunities for me playing for Canada which really interested me in the sport.”
Barrett, who is in his second year, explained that playing rugby for Queen’s was part of his decision to attend this school.
“I wanted to play sports at university,” he said. “I knew I had the option to play rugby and this is a great school to play for.”
A multi-talented athlete, Barrett said originally he was set to play basketball for Queen’s and only switched just before his first season.
“I was going to play basketball [until] June when I told the basketball coach I was going to play rugby and the rugby coach I was going to play rugby.”
With the OUA championship game against the McMaster Marauders coming up this Saturday in Markham, Barrett said it will be important to be mentally and physically prepared.
“I’m getting lots of rest this week. I got a little bit injured last weekend,” he said. “[I’m trying to] stay healthy, mentally prepare for that final game and practice all week. We watched a video of McMaster the other night, so we know what to expect. We’re ready for anything.”
—Julie Stewart-Binks
Women’s four
Women’s rowing
It was trust in each other that pushed the women’s lightweight four rowing team to first place, despite last-minute changes to their lineup at the Canadian University Rowing Championship in Fort Langley, B.C.
Kristine Matusiak,Catherine Moores and Charly Thivierge-Lortie—who rowed together with Rebecca McWatters at the OUA championships—were joined by Caylen Heckel and coxswain Ashley Niblett in B.C. last weekend.
The five rowers have been alternating throughout the season, Matusiak said. But McWatters, a PhD student, was ineligible for the Canadian championships.
“It happens every year that we have changes in the lineup, but it speaks to the depth of our program that we still were able to hold onto the first place,” said Matusiak, who’s in her fourth year at Queen’s and hopes to continue rowing wherever she does her master’s degree. “I know that we’re some of the best technically and I really think that one of the biggest themes on the lightweight team this year was that we really trust each other,” she said, adding that the team often works out together twice a day during the rowing season.
“It’s always ended up working out for us performance-wise, so it’s just a standard that we have,” she said.
Teammate Catherine Moores said the women’s four had a steep learning curve in the week leading up to the race.
“There’s a lot of things to smooth out—a lot of work to be done to get everyone to come together both in the way they row, but also mentally,” she said.
“When you’re pushing yourself that hard, you really need to know that everyone else in the boat is as well.”
The women’s team placed second overall behind the University of Western Ontario, who they beat at the OUA championships a week earlier.
Women’s lightweight coach Ian Trimble said this is the third year Queen’s won the Canadian championship race in the lightweight four.
“They’re all very determined athletes—strong technically, strong physically and probably the strongest mentally that I’ve ever coached,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of snags throughout the year, but they’ve overcome them.”
Trimble said the women’s eight team—which included all four rowers from the four—had to change boats at the last minute during two races this season.
“They don’t let it get to them, so they still go strong and do well,” he said.
“They are an exceptional group of athletes. I’m lucky to have coached them.”
—Kerri MacDonald
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