Perry Bergson

It didn’t take long for Tristin McTavish to realize she wasn’t in Hamiota anymore. The 19-year-old pitcher recently completed her freshman season at Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, N.D., and had to come to terms with a gruelling schedule as she juggled softball and academics. “In the off-season, we wake up at 5:30 and go to the gym,” McTavish said. “I didn’t have class until 9 so I would hang out in my room for a bit then go back to class.

When one of Manitoba’s original karate practitioners Philip Dingman died in 2023, Scott Middleton was bereft. The Brandonite had been Dingman’s student, and after his sensei’s death, he hoped to take solace in the bread crumbs Dingman had left in his writings. When Middleton discovered there were no words to read and that all of his influential teacher’s knowledge was gone, he was determined not to follow the same path.

There was a point when Connor Martin was wondering if he would ever earn a victory in a college baseball game. As it turns out, he’s won a lot more than that. The 19-year-old farm kid from Nesbitt returned to Valley City State University for his second season, and after a tough start, was named all conference and the Frontier Conference’s pitcher of the year. “I’m going to be honest, I didn’t really expect it,” Martin said. “I didn’t realize what my stats looked like at that time.