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The dreaded 鈥淚鈥� word, as in injuries, is bound to crop up at some point in long sports seasons. It is now upon the Victoria Royals like a fog bank rolling over the breakwater.

The University of Victoria Vikes basketball teams split in their sa国际传媒 West regular-season openers on the road Friday, with the women winning and men losing against their University of Winnipeg Wesmen counterparts.

They know the stakes. And they know they need to perform to avoid an epic disaster for the Canadian rugby program.

Whatever that Quebec connection is the Victoria Grizzlies have, it鈥檚 working. The trio of J茅r茅mie Bucheler and brothers Alex and Charlie Campbell worked out together in the same gym over the summer in Montreal.

The conference is called sa国际传媒 West but it might as well be the Wild West when it comes to basketball. Below the established favourites 鈥� and indeed those teams are overwhelmingly favoured 鈥� there are few certainties.

There might not be a vault big enough to contain all the medal bling Thursday night at the Victoria Conference Centre.

Young athletes will be running in the footsteps of past champions, such as Olympians Cam Levins, Zach Whitmarsh and Debbie Scott, when the Island high school cross-country championships take place today at Beaver Lake Park.

The new 27,000 square-foot indoor bubble at the Bear Mountain Tennis Centre, covering four of the centre鈥檚 eight clay courts, is envisioned to house everything from sa国际传媒鈥檚 future pro stars to duffers of all abilities.

Former North American Soccer League and Swansea City pro Brian Hughes, who later found success on the sidelines as head coach of the University of Victoria Vikes team, has died at age 80.

sa国际传媒 The University of Victoria Vikes recorded the upset of the season in sa国际传媒 West鈥檚 women鈥檚 soccer by knocking off the U Sports nationally top-ranked Trinity Western Spartans of Langley 2-1 at Centennial Stadium.