November 1, 2022 – Thunder Bay, ON

Lakehead Athletics is pleased to announce its Thunderwolves RBC Athletes of the Month for October. Honoured this month are: Chume Nwigwe, Men’s Basketball; Bekah Hara, Women’s Volleyball; Lily Gruber-Schultz, Women’s Basketball; Christian Cicigoi, Men’s Hockey; Connor MacIntosh, Men’s Cross Country Running; Katherine Lucas, Women’s Cross Country Running; Erin Clayton, Women’s Wrestling; Chase Birch, Men’s Wrestling; Noah Connell, Men’s Nordic Skiing; and Alex Scheifele, Women’s Nordic Skiing.

Chume Nwigwe, Men’s Basketball, 4th year Political Science, Mississauga, ON

Through the preseason Chume has taken on a bigger leadership role and helped set and exemplify the standards of our program. He currently holds averages of 8 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 1.5 APG while shooting 51.5% from the field and 41.2% from 3. 

Bekah Hara, Women’s Volleyball, 4th Year Kinesiology, Ajax, ON

Bekah has led this team through many challenges over the course of the last few years and continues to be a huge source of encouragement, commitment, and leadership on the women’s volleyball team. She leads both on and off the court and has already made a huge impact this season towards the teams 5-3 winning record. She has passed consistently, progressed in her attacking, and has already racked up a large number of digs. We are proud of our captain Bekah and can’t wait to see what she brings to the OUA this season. 

Lily Gruber-Schultz, Women’s Basketball, 5th year, Masters of Social Justice, Grand Marais, MN

During the first 5 games of the season, Lily has done whatever it takes to help her team be successful.  Lily has used her talent and experience to lead the team through their pre-season games. Lily is averaging over 30 minutes a game and leading the team in rebounding at 11.4 RPG.  She is also contributing 8.4 PPG, 1.8 APG, and 1.6 steals per game. 

Christian Cicigoi, Men’s Hockey, 1st year Education, Thunder Bay, ON

Christian currently with a 3-1-1 starting record while posting a very strong 2.17 GAA and .942 SV%. Christian is the first goalie in program history to earn a shutout in his first game. Aside from the numbers, Christian has been playing exceptionally well. Giving our team a chance to win every time he’s been in the net. Christian has great practice habits and a great work ethic. His preparation has set him up to have this strong start 

Chase Birch, Men’s Wrestling, 2nd year Kinesiology, Kenora, Ontario. 

Chase placed 2nd in the 82 kg weight class at the McMaster invitational. Chase won by fall over Austin Murphy (U of Guelph), won by tech fall over Harry Hadjiadamou (York University), won by tech fall over Connor Walash (York University), before losing his final match to Lukas Geske (Western University). 

Erin Clayton, Women’s Wrestling, 4th year Nursing, Gorham, ON 

Erin placed 3rd in the 67 kg weight class at the McMaster invitational. Erin won her bronze medal match by fall over Mel Morrish (Algoma University) at 2:47 of the first round. Erin is continuously improving and we’re excited to see her compete for the rest of the season.

Noah Connell, Men’s Nordic Skiing, 1st year Science, Whitehorse, YT

Hailing from Whitehorse and new to our team this year, Noah has made an immediate impact on our program with his professionalism and dedication to hard work.  He shows up to every workout ready to improve and has shown leadership characteristics through the example he sets in both preparation and execution.  We will look for big things from Noah this season and throughout his career as a Thunderwolf.

Alex Scheifele, Women’s Nordic Skiing, 2nd year Education/Biology, Owen Sound, ON

Alex came to our program last year as an athlete who was relatively new to high-level training and racing.   In her short tenure as a member of our team she has shown tremendous improvement on the trails while contributing immensely to a positive team culture.  Alex is fearless in training and committed to personal improvement but also brings an infectious sense of fun and enjoyment with her arrival to each session.  She has been an overwhelming addition to our team and to our program and we look forward to what the winter has in store for her on the trails.

Katherine Lucas, Women’s Cross Country, 4th year Mathematical Physics, Pickering, ON

In what started off as a string of bad luck for Katherine, she clawed her way back from injuries to recently complete her best race as a Thunderwolf to date; Katherine finished 79th at the Marauder Bayfront Open, also earning a new personal best time over 8km. We’re very proud of the grit and grind attitude that Katherine has had over the past few months. There have been many set-backs, but Katherine has managed to get back into the swing of things and achieve all-time bests and pave the way for a new generation of Lakehead Cross-Country women.  

Connor MacIntosh, Men’s Cross Country, 4th year Education, Thunder Bay, ON

In his final year, Connor has been leading the way for our younger squad. Improving by leaps and bounds this year, Connor is proving he belongs amongst the OUAs best. With a 23rd place finish at the Vigars & Salter Western Invitational, followed by an amazing 9th place at the Marauder Bayfront Open – Connor has knocked tons of time off of his previous 8km Cross-Country personal-best and peaking at the perfect time to help our team qualify for the USports Cross-Country Championships. We are lucky to have Connor lead the way for our young guys and model a professional attitude towards being a student-athlete with Lakehead University. 

Congratulations to all of the Lakehead Thunderwolves varsity athletes who went above and beyond this month on being named the RBC Athletes of the Month for October!