Varsity Athletics | 1/14/2025 2:00:00 PM

York University Lions men's wrestler Ali Dahcha and women's track & field athlete Sophia DiMarino have been named York athletes of the week for the period ending Jan. 12.

Dahcha, a rookie from Mississauga, Ont., finished third in the men's 90kg division at this weekend's Brock Open. The commerce – management major won five of his six matches on the day, including beating Ryan Barney of Lakehead in Round 1. After losing the quarter-final match, he was victories in his next four matches, including over Austin Murray of Guelph in the consolation semi-final and his Murray's teammate Jayden Harrison in the bronze medal bout to procure his second straight podium placement.

Dahcha will look to continue his solid start to his U SPORTS career when he and the Lions head to Guelph to compete in the Guelph Open on Sunday.

DiMarino a first-year runner from Vaughan, Ont., earned her second consecutive silver medal in the 600m at the Can-Am Classic in Windsor this past weekend. The arts, media, performance & design major ran the race in 1:34.33, improving on the personal best she set last week and qualifying for the OUA championships in the process. DiMarino was also part of the Lions gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team along with Hillary Ojo, Alexandra Quaidoo and Alesandra Di Giovanni. The quartet ran a season-best 3:58.26 to secure the victory.

DiMarino and the Lions runners will compete at the Fred Foot Classic hosted by the Toronto Varsity Blues next weekend.