The University of Victoria Vikes golf teams begun to kick things into high gear as they prepare to host the national championships this spring.

The Vikes headed south to San Diego this week for a pair of tournaments. The UVic men went to the California State UniversitySan Marcos Invitational and came away with an impressive second overall finish against some of the top ranked NAIA schools in the U.S.

UVic was led by Edmonton native Darren Hupfer, who shot a three-round total of 218, good for third overall in the individual race. Hupfer helped his cause with a second-round 68 at Shadowridge Country Club. Hupfer finished three shots back of individual champion Ryan Ellerbrook of Point Loma Nazarene. Two other Vikes cracked the top 10. Carson Kallis of Red Deer finished tied for seventh with rounds of 77, 71 and 75, while teammate James Holland of New Minas, N.S., was ninth, shooting rounds of 77, 72 and 75.

Point Loma Nazarene won the overall team title, while CSU-San Marcos was third.

Next up for the Vikes is the Point Loma Smee Builders Invitational March 3-6 near San Diego.

The UVic women took part in the Super San Diego Championship and finished fourth overall.

Megan Woodland led the way for the Vikes, shooting rounds of 79 and 82 to finish tied for fifth in the individual rankings. Woodland was five shots back of tournament medallist Laura Howard of Cal Poly.

UVic will host the Golf Canada National University Championships from May 27 to June 1 at Cordova Bay Golf Course.

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Some of the best tennis players in the world will be at UBC this weekend when Canada takes on France in Davis Cup World Group action and Sportsnet has added some Victoria flavour to their TV broadcast.

Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence CEO Robert Bettauer will be providing the colour commentating for all the action, which includes Canadian stars Milos Raonic and Daniel Nestor going up against the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils.

Bettauer has an extensive history with tennis at the national level as Director of Tennis Development for Tennis Canada. As an athlete Bettauer won several national tennis titles and was a member of Canada's Davis Cup team, while also holding an ATP Tour world ranking in singles and doubles for a number of years. Bettauer has also provided television commentary and analysis on tennis for more than 25 years at the Rogers Cup, Olympics and Davis Cup tournaments.

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Hundreds of rowers invaded UVic on Sunday for the annual Monster Erg indoor rowing competition.

Victoria City Rowing Club members dominated the junior events, with Allie de Large winning the junior girls division and Emily Lerhe finishing fourth. In the junior B event, Gemma Kerr and Caileigh Filmer finished first and second, while Antonia Frappell tied for third place. At 13, Frappell was competing up a level. For the Junior A men, it was Nicholas Frappell and teammate Lachlan Palmer finishing fourth and fifth respectively for the Vic City club.

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The Podium of Life Ski Academy at Mount Washington is starting to pay dividends.

The program, which offers regular school in the morning and skiing in the afternoon, produced numerous medallists at last weekend's B.C. Freestyle Skiing competition at Silverstar Mountain near Vernon.

Todd Heard led the way on the men's side with three gold medals, while Donnie Ottosen caught the eyes of the judges with impressive rail rides and jumps to win consecutive golds in slope style. On the women's side, Hannah Benischeck reached the podium twice and Mei Pond won a gold medal.

bdrewry@timescolonist.com