Ryan Pottruff took care of a little local business before jetting off to China this week.
Pottruff, a second-year defenceman out of Woodstock, Ont., was named Pronghorn Male Athlete of the Week after guiding the Horns men's hockey team to a weekend split with University of Calgary Dinos. His four-point effort, including a power play goal and three assists, was the offensive spark in Saturday's 5-2 victory that clinched a Canada West playoff spot for the Pronghorns.
On the season, Pottruff leads all Canada West defencemen in scoring with five goals and 15 assists. Pottruff, along with Horns' forward Dustin Moore, is now off to Harbin, China, as the duo will represent Canada at the World University Games. The pair will miss this weekend's final two games of the Canada West regular season (Friday and Saturday home tilts against University of Alberta) but will return for the start of playoffs, Mar. 6.
The Pronghorn Female Athlete of the Week is Horns' hockey forward Shelby Ballendine. The second-year, Quesnel, B.C. native finished off the Canada West season with a pair of excellent games. In the Horns' weekend split with the UBC Thunderbirds, Ballendine scored four times and added two assists.
Saturday afternoon, Ballendine scored once and added an assist in the Horns' 6-4 loss to the T-Birds. In her final game of the season, Ballendine recorded her first career hat trick in a 7-3 win over the T-Birds.
Ballendine led the Horns in scoring this season with 12 goals and five assists.