Coach Ken McMurray announces retirement
After five seasons guiding the Kodiaks women’s basketball team, head coach Ken McMurray is stepping away.
Since taking over in 2021-22, McMurray guided the Kodiaks to 43 wins and was named Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) South Coach of the Year in his first season.
“Basketball has given me so much, from my days as a player to more than 40 years of coaching,” McMurray says. “Finishing my career with the Kodiaks women’s program has been especially meaningful.”
Assistant coach Deanna Simpson, who stepped down as head coach prior to McMurray’s appointment, will once again lead the program.
Kodiaks’ perfect season honoured in Hall of Fame
The Kodiaks 2016-17 women’s basketball team was inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame May 8 – recognizing a dream season where they went 21-0 in league play, followed by conference and national championships. Including tournament wins in the U.S. against Division II and junior college competition, the Kodiaks were 38-0 on the season.
“There were a lot of things that made this team special,” says then-head coach Brad Karren, who capped off his post-secondary coaching career that season with the titles.
“I had most of these players for a few years and we were building towards the point of winning.”
Karren was named Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) coach of the year while Sunder West was named to the ACAC first all-star team, the ACAC championship most valuable player, CCAA championship MVP and to the CCAA All-Tournament Team. Teammate Logan Moncks was named ACAC regular season MVP and to the CCAA All-Tournament team while Emma Lowry was named a first-team all-star in the ACAC regular season, ACAC championship and to the CCAA All-Tournament team.
Rounding out the Kodiaks’ roster were assistant coaches Deanna Simpson, John Lowry and Ali Cameron, and players Jaclyn Heggie, Leah Ekubazgi, Amanda Lee, Shantaya Strebel, Jinan Daqqa, Rebecca Lowry, Shayna Mathison, Brianne Hergott, Amy Arbon and Vienna Tamminen.
Hosannah lets his game do the talking
Nathaniel Hosannah doesn’t need to be the loudest voice in the gym to make an impact.
Since joining the Kodiaks men’s basketball program last summer, the second-year Business Administration – Management student from Tacoma, Wash., has brought quiet leadership and a consistent, high-motor presence on both ends of the court.
He says his approach to the game is grounded in accountability and perspective – values shaped early in life by his mother Desiree. She was adopted at a young age and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. From there, she forged her own path, becoming a lawyer, running her own firm and serving as a judge.
“She made her future 10 times better than what her past was,” Hosannah says. “That’s inspiring.”
Growing up in predominantly white school environments, Hosannah says his mother was clear about what it would take to succeed. “You have to do the same work as everybody else and then do more to be seen,” she told him.
Hosannah says that advice gave him “a work ethic that could never be replaced.”
Now, with a strong season behind him – that included ACAC South Second Team All-Conference honours, being named an ACAC Tournament All-Star and later to the CCAA All-Tournament team, finishing top five in scoring, third in rebounds and leading the national tournament in steals – Hosannah is focused on continuing his development.
He plans to train with United Prep Canada this summer.
Medal momentum: Kodiaks shine at championships
It was a spring season full of hardware for the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks.
The indoor track team delivered a historic performance at the 2026 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Indoor Track and Field Championship March 7-8 in Edmonton. The Kodiaks women captured the ACAC team championship with 73 points, marking the first indoor track championship banner in women’s program history, while the men’s team finished fourth overall with 52 points in a competitive field.
The Kodiaks also medaled in several individual competitions, including: gold for Hallee Pilling, Hana Oikawa, Paighton Kumson and Hazel Baumbach in the women’s 4x200-metre relay; gold for Pilling, Oikawa, Katrina Michel and Kate Block in the women’s 4x400-metre relay; silver for Kumson and bronze for Oikawa in the women’s 300 metre; bronze for Khloe Jankowiak in the women’s 3,000 metre; silver for Owen Boucher, Wayne Bauluck, Shaun Geusebroek and Ethan Grasmeyer in the men’s 4x400-metre relay; silver for Boucher in the men’s 50 metre; and bronze for Grasmeyer in both the men’s 1,500- and 3,000-metre races.
The Kodiaks men’s basketball team put together an impressive run at their conference championship that same weekend, opening with a 75-61 comeback win over NAIT before knocking off host and top North Division team Lakeland 86-67 in the semifinal. In the gold medal game, the Kodiaks battled back from an early deficit and traded runs with Keyano but ultimately fell just short, 86-79, to earn silver. Levi Balderson led all scorers at the tournament. He and Nathaniel Hosannah, who played every minute, were named ACAC Tournament All-Stars. The Kodiaks’ strong showing also secured a wild-card berth to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national championship March 18-21 in Nanaimo, B.C. where they finished fifth.
The men’s volleyball team made program history on Feb. 28, battling past the Northwestern Polytechnic Wolves in five sets to earn an ACAC bronze medal. The Kodiaks men’s volleyball team has previously celebrated a silver-medal finish. Following the bronze medal match, Ben Dyck was recognized for his outstanding weekend performance, earning Tournament All-Star honours.
And the men’s and women’s futsal teams punched their tickets to the ACAC championship with strong finishes at the final South Regional tournament of the season. The women rebounded from an opening loss with back-to-back wins, scoring 16 goals across their final two matches. The men remained unbeaten on the weekend, earning two wins and a draw. Both teams capped their seasons with competitive showings at championships in Medicine Hat March 20-22, highlighted by midfielder Khloe Jankowiak earning South All-Conference honours for the women’s team.
