The TRU WolfPack women’s soccer team may have found the player to replace graduating defender Blair MacKay.

TRU head coach Tom McManus announced Tuesday that centre-back Megan Baird of Cloverdale has committed for the 2013 Pacific Western Athletic Association season. Baird has been playing for the TSS U19 elite program in Richmond as well as with her high school team, the Clayton Heights Night Riders.

“She plays at central defence where Blair MacKay played,” McManus said in a news release. “She is excellent in the air, very composed on the ball, great first touch and distributes very well. I have watched her for a year now and she will be a strong addition.”

MacKay graduated after helping the WolfPack to a provincial championship in October and a fourth-place finish at nationals.

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Another South Kamloops Titans athlete has committed to the WolfPack badminton team.

Ali Hines, who graduated from South Kam in June, will join the WolfPack in September. She currently is in Ghana, teaching in a town called Akim Achaise.

While with the Titans, she played under Ross Perkin, who now coaches at TRU with his son, Alex.

“Ross Perkin was one of my badminton coaches at South Kam when I was on the team from Grade 8 to 12,” Hines said, in a news release. “I’m excited to have him as a coach at TRU as he knows my strengths and weaknesses as a player.”