Calgary Standouts at World University Games

The 2025 Winter World University Games recently took place in Turin, Italy.

The International University Sports Federation (FISU) held the multi-sport games between January 13th and January 23rd.

Canada collected nine medals at the event, including one gold, two silver medals and six bronze.

Several athletes from Calgary universities helped power the Canadians to the podium. Here’s a look at the standouts from five of the different sports:

Forward Colson Gengenbach scored the winning goal in a 3-1 victory over Slovakia to help the men’s hockey team secure Canada’s only gold medal at the games. His second-period tally proved decisive. The men’s hockey team has now won six titles, including four since 2007, at the World University Games. Gengenbach had eight goals and 11 points over seven games for Canada in January. The 24-year-old has played for the University of Calgary Dinos since 2021. Max Howell of the Dinos was the head coach for Team Canada. Robbie Fromm-Delorme of Mount Royal University (MRU) played forward for the team.
Mount Royal University sent a trio of women’s hockey players to Italy, including forward Aliya Jomha, defender Alex Spence and goaltender Kaitlyn Ross. Canada suffered a stunning 2-1 overtime loss to Czechia in the final, despite firing 52 shots on net. The result was a silver medal for the Canadian women. University of Calgary product Sydney Mercier scored the lone goal for Canada against Czechia. Meanwhile, Ross had a shutout in the tournament opener, Jomha had three goals and an assist in the tourney, and Spence scored a goal in the semifinal game versus Japan.
The Dinos sent a team of five cross-country skiers to the event, including Sienna Brennan-Raab, Sarah Cullinan, Stella Duncan, Robin Mason and Noah Weir Chaba. Mason and Weir Chaba were part of a men’s team that finished seventh in the 4 x 7.5 km relay, while Duncan and Cullinan were on a women’s squad that finished eighth in that event.
The University of Calgary also sent five athletes to compete in the biathlon, including Danika Burke, Zachary Grappolini, Anna Perry, Lance Sekora and Aliah Turner. Turner had the best Canadian result by finishing in 26^th place, while Perry finished 10^th overall in the single-mixed relay, competing with Liam Simons (UBC Okanagan).
In snowboarding, Aleksas Valadka (University of Calgary) finished in fifth place in the men’s Super-G. He was also 19^th in the men’s alpine combined. Valadka’s alpine skiing teammates from the Dinos showed well in other events. Mikayla Wunsch was 17^th in the women’s combined slalom and Lauren Wayland was 21^st in that event.

A tip of the cap to Dr. Ryan Shields – from the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Kinesiology – who represented Canada as the Chief Medical Officer at the games.