THUNDER BAY - The Westgate Tigers are sending off an extremely talented bunch to the world of university athletics.
Nine athletes officially announced their post-secondary commitments at the school’s athletics awards ceremony.
“We’ve had a few over the years, but never a group quite like this,” athletic director Curtis Michaluk said. “It’s really nice to see.”
The group’s decisions are split: three students choosing to stay local and play for the hometown Lakehead Thunderwolves, three heading elsewhere in Canada, and three heading to the U.S.
Maggie MacGillivray is one of the new Thunderwolves who will be wrestling for the varsity squad in the upcoming year. She’s hoping to make an immediate impact.
“It’s definitely going to be a growing process,” MacGillivary said. “I feel like I expect myself to bring a couple wins to the table.”
Lakehead will also welcome a pair of women’s volleyball recruits from Westgate, fresh off their NWOSSA championship in the winter.
Alyssa Aune, and Payton Kooistra have known each other since kindergarten and have been teammates for the same amount of time. They’re excited the friendship will extend beyond high school.
“I wanted to stay with my friends and family, and I’ve played with coach Chris Green before,” Aune said. “I’ve practiced with the team, I like the atmosphere, so I know that was my best option.
“It’s nice to have someone on the court, and know someone who can help me out,” Kooistra said.
Kayla and Keyra Gallo are also quite familiar with each other.
The twins spent a good deal of their high school careers in the gym either at Westgate, or Lakehead University. In the fall they’ll take their talents to Sault Ste. Marie to play basketball for Algoma University.
“It’s really hard finishing off the high school season because we made so many friends, and got so much help coaching,” Keyra said. “Algoma is great fit athletically, and education-wise, so we’re excited.”
The twins don’t envision getting tired of one another any time soon.
“At first it was like, ‘We’ll each do our own thing’, but in the end we decided to stick together,” Keyra said.
“I knew all along we were going to go the same place,” Kayla responded. “Even though we talked about different places we knew we were going to do it together.”
Eight of the nine Westgate athletes are female, including Alexis Anderson who is going to the University of Manitoba for soccer, Karadyn Kiviaho who is going to Ashland, Wisconsin for hockey, and Ellen Svane who is going to Plymouth, New Hampshire for hockey.
The lone male, Cory Pharand, will be attending Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa for volleyball.
