TORONTO – The year 2016 was a memorable one for the Ryerson Rams and, as per tradition at this time of year, we are counting down our Top Ten Moments from the calendar year. Starting Monday, December 19 we will be counting down the Top Ten with a new moment until we reach the number one slot on December 31.
So much happened in 2016 that we kick things off with our Honourable Mentions:
1. Rams continue careers in professional leagues
Nine Rams who finished their five-year careers at Ryerson in 2016 have signed professional contracts, a record high for the school in a given year.
For the first time ever, when the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) held their selection draft in August, the Ryerson Rams were represented. Former Rams captain Jessica Hartwick and all-time leading scorer Melissa Wronzberg were both selected by the Brampton Thunder. Both players have cracked the roster in their rookie season, with Hartwick playing in 12 games and Wronzberg in three.
Five Rams basketball players are playing their first professional seasons overseas with four in Europe and one in Africa. Aaron Best is in the Lithuanian Division 1 league while Kadeem Green is playing in Morocco for Wydad Athletic Club Casablanca. On the women's side, Siki Jez is in Holland playing for the HPC Royal Eagles and Mariah Nunes is in Spain with Oviedo Club Baloncesto.
Men's volleyball player Robert Wojcik has signed with Chemie Volley Mitteldeutschland playing in the 2nd Bundesliga in Germany.
Men's hockey graduates Brian Birkhoff and Troy Passingham have continued careers in the professional leagues as well. Birkhoff is playing for Amals SK in Division 2 in Sweden while goaltender Passingham played eight games in the Federal Hockey League in Danville, Illinois before moving to the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) to play for the Macon Mayhem.
2. Rana and Clarke win FIBA Americas silver
Ryerson's men's and women's basketball head coaches were both at the helm of the Canadian Junior National teams this summer as Team Canada competed at the FIBA Americas tournament in Valdivia, Chile.
Carly Clarke won silver as she led the U18 women's junior national team to a 4-0 record before dropping the gold medal game to team USA. The silver medal finish guarantees the Canadians a spot in the FIBA U19 Women's World Championship in Italy.
A few days later it was
Roy Rana's turn to bring home the silver as he too led the Canadians to a 4-0 record before losing to the USA in the gold medal game. Rana's squad qualified for the FIBA U19 Men's World Championship in Cairo, Egypt.
Stay tuned on Monday as we begin the Top Ten countdown!
TOP TEN MOMENTS OF 201610. Rams hire first full-time female coach in U Sports men's hockey in Kori Cheverie
August 12 was a special day in 2016 and in U Sports men's hockey history as the Rams announced the hiring of
Kori Cheverie who became the first female hired in a full-time role on a men's hockey team in Canada.
Cheverie is a perfect fit for the Rams, coming from a U Sports playing career at St. Mary's in Halifax where she was an Academic All-Canadian. She brings both the technical side of the game and the support for academic success.
So far, so good for Cheverie and the Rams as the men's hockey team sits atop the OUA standings at the holiday break with a 13-2-1 record.
9. Record number of hours donated back to communityThe 2015-16 season was record setting in terms of the amount of community service hours the Rams student-athletes donated back to the Toronto community. Throughout the course of last athletic season, the Rams donated nearly 3,000 hours of community service, an increase of 17% from the previous season.
The Ryerson Athletics Volunteer Experience (RAVE) program has helped student-athletes take more ownership in creating team volunteer initiatives. By April of 2016, the Rams had executed 19 team initiatives and a group of eight student-athletes had developed a program to travel to Peru for a humanitarian trip where they helped build a new playground for children.
8. Men's volleyball wins first OUA medal in 10 years
For just the second time in program history, the 2015-16 men's volleyball team advanced to the OUA championship game and brought home the provincial silver medal.
The Rams posted a 14-6 regular season record and was ranked as high as No. 8 in the country. In the postseason, Ryerson defeated Western to reach the OUA Final Four where they beat Queen's in the semifinal to punch their ticket to the OUA championship game as well as the program's first trip to the national championship.
Ryerson couldn't topple OUA powerhouse McMaster in the final and finished with the silver medal. The Rams season continued in Hamilton a week later at the national championship where they lost to the eventual CIS champions and the RSEQ conference champions.
7. Women's volleyball wins first OUA medal in 14 years 
The Ryerson Rams women's volleyball team ended a 14-year medal drought in 2016 when they reached the Final Four tournament and captured the OUA silver medal in early March.
The Rams posted a 13-6 regular season record to finish 2nd in the OUA East division behind only undefeated Toronto. In the playoffs, Ryerson knocked off rivals Queen's to reach the Final Four for the third time in team history. There, the Rams beat Western, the top seed in the West, to reach the OUA championship game for just the second time ever. Ryerson fell victim to Toronto's perfect season and settled for the provincial silver medal.
The silver medal was just the second medal in women's volleyball history and first since the 2001-02 season. The result allowed the Rams to gain big-game experience in preparation for hosting the upcoming U Sports national championship on home court from March 17-19, 2017.
6. Boskovic named U Sports Rookie of the Year After garnering six of the past eight years of OUA East Rookie of the Year awards, the Rams finally earned national recognition this fall when first year standout defender Robert Boskovic was named the U Sports Rookie of the Year.
The first Ram to ever win the Lou Bilek Award, Boskovic's height, ability to win balls, and composure in the backfield all contributed to Ryerson holding claim to the top defensive unit in the OUA, allowing a league-low eight goals against in 2016.
In addition to the national rookie of the year honours, the Mississauga, Ont. native was named a U Sports First-Team All-Canadian to go along with his OUA conference honours.
5. Pingue-Giles named CIS Player of the Year 
History was made on March 16, 2016 when women's basketball player Keneca Pingue-Giles became Ryerson's first female, in any sport, to win CIS Player of the Year honours.
Pingue-Giles had a dominant season to earn the top accolade in CIS women's basketball. She finished second in the OUA and seventh in the CIS in scoring with 17.6 points per game, first in the country in steals with 4.2 steals per game, and fifth in the OUA with 4.1 assists per game.
Getting it done at both ends of the floor, Pingue-Giles made individual history with her accomplishments, which included becoming the first Rams women's basketball player to be named a CIS First-Team All-Canadian, and carried her team to their best result.
4. Men's basketball repeats as national bronze medalists 
A year removed from hosting the national championship on home court and winning the school's first national medal, the Rams men's basketball team had an incredible regular season and returned to the national championship in 2016, this time in Vancouver, B.C.
With expectations to win as high as ever, the Rams survived a scare from the host UBC Thunderbirds in the national quarter-final, winning 109-101 in overtime. Ryerson found themselves in a familiar position, back in the national semifinal, but unfortunately suffered the same result as a year prior – a loss, this time to Calgary, to force them to play for bronze instead of the ultimate prize.
Despite the disappointment, the Rams rebounded for a seven point win the next day to win their second straight CIS bronze medal. The team became the first at Ryerson to win two straight medals at the national tournament.
3. Women's basketball posts best result for Ryerson at a national championship
The Ryerson Rams women's basketball team made history on March 20, 2016 when they became the first Rams team, in any sport, to appear in a national championship final.
Ryerson entered the CIS Final 8 tournament as the fifth seed but proved they were better than that. The Rams defeated the No. 4 seeded Regina Cougars by three points in the quarter-final to advance to the championship side of the bracket. Next up the Rams faced the top-seeded McGill Martlets and put in a dominant effort to win 87-72 to advance to the title game. There, Ryerson battled with the Saskatchewan Huskes but eventually fell short in the end.
The national silver medal is the best result for any team in school history.
2. Basketball programs bring home Ryerson's first OUA banners 
After years of competing in the Ontario University Athletics conference, 2016 was finally the year Ryerson won their first titles. In a matter of minutes, the Rams went from zero banners to two championships as both basketball programs struck gold.
The women's team traveled to the nation's capital for the OUA Final Four where they knocked off the defending champion Windsor Lancers in the semifinal to reach their second straight championship game. This time around, the Rams emerged victorious, defeating the host Ottawa Gee-Gees to capture the Critelli Cup.
The men earned the right to host the Wilson Cup Final Four championship at home on Coca-Cola Court where the Rams also defeated Windsor in the semifinal to reach the title game. Ryerson then took on powerhouse Carleton and defeated the Ravens by five to capture the Wilson Cup.
March 12 will go down as one of the most historic nights in program history.
1. Record number of Rams student-athletes honoured for academic successIn the span of one academic year, the number of Ryerson Rams student-athletes named CIS Academic All-Canadians increased from 22 to 48, marking a new record number of academic winners in 2016.
In addition to the 48 CIS award winners, 28 others received the OUA Academic Achievement Award, bringing Ryerson's total number of academic winners to 76.
As one of the main goals in the Athletics mission statement, enriching the academic experience and developing the whole student is extremely important to the Rams. The success of our student-athletes in the classroom will always be our main goal and lands in this year's No. 1 moment of 2016.
