Now in his fourth season at Quest University in Squamish, Justin Tryon has seen his team go from losing all 18 games in a season to being in contention for a spot at Nationals.
Tryon, who hails from Qualicum Beach, is in his senior year and his team, the Quest Kermodes, hasn’t been in the PACWEST league all that long. During his first year with the team, they would lose 18 games and finish 0-18. Fast forward three years later and Quest currently sits second in the PACWEST at 6-1, one game behind the VIU Mariners.
“This is a team that’s come a long way,” Tryon said. “Being here when we lost all our games that first season and then won just one game the next year, that was tough. But we’ve gone on to win back-to-back bronze medals at the Provincials, which speaks volumes to the turnaround we had as a team. We’re hoping to make it Gold this year though and I think we have the team to do that.”
Returning home for his winter break, Tryon has been keeping loose, visiting friends and family and taking part in the annual KSS Alumni Basketball Tournament, where he gets to be reunited with old teammates over the two day span.
“It’s always nice to come back home, real nice,” Tryon said. “At first, going away to school at Quest was great because I wanted to get off the Island. But now, as I get a little older, I have more of an appreciation for this place. So the return visits are always nice.”
Quest features a program that sees all of it’s students graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Arts & Science. It’s something that Tryon has gotten used to and has built his courses during his time there towards a potential future in business.
“That’s what I’d like to do, something with business,” Tryon said. “It’s a different learning experience because Quest is nothing like other Universities. You have the block system here, which gives you a month to focus on one course. “
Being that it’s his last season and year at Quest, Tryon hopes to see things end well on the hardwood for himself and the Kermodes. Last year, Quest hosted the National championship tournament, which the host team was a part of. Though they didn’t win a medal, the learning experience was enough to find out what it takes to get there and come away with a medal.
“We’ve got a solid team this year,” Tryon said. “I think that we have the potential to make Nationals again this year and make some noise. We beat Langara before the Christmas break and they won the whole thing last year, so that just goes to show where we are as a team. With VIU sitting in front of us, it’s going to be a big test when we play against them but it’s also going to tell us where we stand as a team. We’ve come a long way in the time I’ve been here but we’ve still got that last little bit to go, and that’s gold at the nationals.”