Suns Out, Stangs Out

Alex McComb
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  • Sports
  • Updated Weekly

The school year might be over, but the purple and white never rest. Suns Out, Stangs Out is your summer pass to the lives of Western’s most elite student-athletes and celebrated alumni. Join us on Radio Western as we trade the jerseys for tank tops, diving into the Mustang experience both on and off the field. From locker room stories and legendary games to what life looks like after the final whistle, we’re catching up with the stars who helped solidify Western's blue-blood reputation.

Episodes

  1. 4d ago

    Eat to compete: Aja Gyimah on Western U volleyball career, diet and nutrition for athletes, and food misinformation

    Western Mustangs volleyball alum and current HelloFresh Senior Strategic Product Manager Aja Gyimah joins host Alex McComb to revisit her playing days in purple and white and trace how they shaped a career built around food. She covers a match she will never forget, a European team trip with "unique" accomodations, her pivot from varsity athlete to registered dietitian, founding Compete Nutrition, her time as a founding member of the Canadian Black Registered Dietitians Association, presenting on RED-S to Volleyball Canada coaches and what health innovation looks like inside HelloFresh today. Chapters: (00:00) Cold open (00:23) Welcome to Episode 9 (00:54) Growing up in Scarborough and discovering volleyball (01:56) The recruiting pitch that brought her to Western (03:03) Learning to eat like an athlete from scratch (04:48) Team trip to Europe: blow-up mattresses and toast with sprinkles (06:50) That OUA playoff match vs. McMaster (09:24) The community that came from Western varsity sports (11:31) Staying in touch with teammates (13:41) Leaving the athlete life and getting into nutrition (15:29) Grad school practicum with the Carleton women's hockey team (19:13) Nutrition, performance and body image as a varsity athlete (21:33) The origin story of Compete Nutrition (24:00) The "Eat to Compete" philosophy (25:51) Biggest nutrition misconceptions: young athletes vs. corporate clients (29:54) The Canadian Black Registered Dietitians Association and editing Good Eats cookbook (33:02) From Compete Nutrition to Senior Strategic Product Manager at HelloFresh (35:19) Presenting on RED-S at the 2024 VNL coaching symposium (38:33) How cultural background shapes sports nutrition (40:46) Busting nutrition myths: fruit, smoothies and diet culture (42:23) How diet culture and misinformation have shifted in 10 years (44:08) Advice for current student-athletes and everyday listeners (45:46) What's next at HelloFresh (46:37) Summer in Amsterdam and closing thoughts

  2. Aug 10

    Linebacker to lab coat: Jeff Brooks on concussion research after a football career at Western U

    Jeff Brooks used to strap G-Force trackers onto host Alex McComb's helmet after Jeff's own Western U football career. Years later, he's back — not on the field, but as one of the leading voices in concussion research to come out of the Mustangs program. In this episode, Jeff opens up about his own playing days, including a hit he now recognizes as a likely undiagnosed concussion, before taking us inside the six-year study that tracked over 127,000 head impacts across 63 Western football players. He explains what a "hammer and nail" kickoff study revealed about the most dangerous play in football, why reaction times don't fully bounce back between seasons, and why he thinks CTE — while real and serious — is more preventable than people assume. It's a conversation about football, brain science and what it means to protect the next generation of athletes, from a guy who's lived it on both sides of the research papers. Chapters:(00:13) Welcome back Jeff Brooks (00:41) From DB to linebacker (02:32) Choosing Western out of London Central (03:38) Balancing school, football, and research (05:34) Funniest Mustangs locker room memories (08:14) The play (and games) that still stick with him (10:46) Coaches and teammates who left a mark (15:34) A hit he sees differently now, knowing what he knows (17:50) How he got into concussion science (21:34) The idea of a "hit count," like a pitch count (23:45) 127,000 head impacts, 63 players: the 2022 study (26:13) How the research was actually conducted (30:43) Reaction times: what a season of hits does to the brain (34:00) The "Hammer and Nail" kickoff study (36:57) Rethinking kickoffs in U Sports and beyond (42:31) Working with coaches and parents on the findings (44:51) Developing brains vs. adult brains (46:43) Is there an ideal age to start hitting? (50:00) The biggest misconception about CTE (53:11) What's next: flag football, wrestling, and the female athlete research gap (55:33) Summer plans

  3. Jul 6

    Breaking in: Joy SpearChief-Morris on track career & journalism pivot

    Alex sits down with Western track and field alum turned journalist Joy SpearChief-Morris for Episode 6 of Suns Out Stangs Out. Joy opens up about transferring from UBC to Western, the phone call with her brother that changed her path, and battling laryngitis and injuries just to break the school 60-metre hurdles record at the OUA conference championships in February 2017. The conversation moves through her international career (NACAC, FISU Games, chasing Tokyo), her time with AthletesCAN and what it means to carry the title of "retired Team Canada athlete." Joy also traces her unexpected pivot into journalism — from a master's in political science to covering the Olympics for CBC and reporting for the Globe and Mail — and what it's like asking questions from the other side of the microphone.

  4. Jun 15

    Living life twice: Sam St. Croix on transition from Western U soccer to NSL's Halifax Tides

    This week on Suns Out Stangs Out, we're joined by Sam St. Croix, a Western Mustangs women's soccer alumna and rookie goalkeeper for the Halifax Tides in the Northern Super League. Sam shares the story of growing up in Port Lambton, Ont., how basketball was actually a bigger deal to her growing up and what ultimately drew her deeper into goalkeeping. She reflects on her time at Western — including how her first year in 2020 laid the foundation for who she is as a player — and draws some striking parallels to her debut NSL season in Nova Scotia with the Tides. We also talk about the veterans in Halifax who've gone out of their way to welcome her, what it meant to meet Canadian soccer icon Diana Matheson and why a career in teaching is just as much a part of her future plans as soccer. A thoughtful, honest conversation about growing up, finding your sport and trusting the process at every level of the game. Host: Alex McComb Follow the show on Instagram: @sunsoutstangsout Follow Alex on Instagram: @alexmmccomb Follow Alex on X: @alexmmccomb

    Living life twice: Sam St. Croix on transition from Western U soccer to NSL's Halifax Tides

  5. Jun 8

    Flag football's long road to U Sports: Olivia Ghosh-Swaby goes deep on the fight for her sport

    Flag football is finally getting its moment in Canadian collegiate sport — and this week's guest has been one of the people building toward it for years. Olivia Ghosh-Swaby is a Western Mustangs women's flag football alumna, one of the architects behind OWIFA's rise as a premier collegiate flag football league in Canada, and works with Football Ontario driving partnerships across the country. We talk about the news that U Sports is bringing flag football in 2027 ahead of the LA 2028 Olympics, the long road to getting flag football into the collegiate conversation, her stories from Western, how OWIFA became what it is today, and the relationships she's helped build across Canadian flag football. Host: Alex McComb Follow the show on Instagram: @sunsoutstangsout Follow Alex on Instagram: @alexmmccomb Follow Alex on X: @alexmmccomb

  6. Jun 1

    Lifting curses & teams: Michael Jones on his Western volleyball career, not jinxing matches and playing for Team Jamaica

    Michael Jones didn't just play volleyball at Western — he built a reputation, chased Olympic dreams and spent his summers learning the NBA from the inside. In episode three of Suns Out Stangs Out, the men's volleyball alumnus joins us to reflect on his Mustangs career and the team curse that haunted the program until spring 2025. He takes us to the summer of 2023, when he represented Jamaica at the Paris 2024 Olympic qualification tournament. And beyond the court, Michael opens up about his studies at the Ivey Business School, and his three summers as an NBA Summer League intern and what that path has taught him about life after sports. It's a wide-ranging conversation about competition, identity, and figuring out what comes next. Host: Alex McComb Follow the show on Instagram: @sunsoutstangsout Follow Alex on Instagram: @alexmmccomb Follow Alex on X: @alexmmccomb

  7. May 25

    Oars to Entrepreneur: Nicole Baranowski on her Hairstrong brand and rowing at Western U

    In this episode of Suns Out Stangs Out, we sit down with Nicole Baranowski, who transitioned from a national-champion rowing career at Western University to founding Hairstrong. We dive into her journey as a Mustang student-athlete: from 4 a.m. wake-ups for practice to how an undergrad project became an athletic hair brand and a solution. Connect with Nicole & Hairstrong: Website: ⁠hairstrong.ca⁠ Instagram/TikTok/Facebook: @hairstrongband Host: Alex McComb Follow the show on Instagram: @sunsoutstangsout Follow Alex on Instagram: @alexmmccomb Follow Alex on X: @alexmmccomb

  8. May 18

    Owen Urquhart on pandemic basketball, Toby Fournier friendship and Western U's mysterious brown bag

    OUA All-Rookie and Western Mustangs men's basketball forward Owen Urquhart joins Alex McComb for the first episode of Suns Out Stangs Out to talk about the 2025-26 U Sports basketball season, his friendship with Duke's Toby Fournier at Crestwood prep, a Mustangs rookie bromance and the mysterious brown bag tradition at Western University. Host: Alex McComb Follow Alex on X: @alexmmccomb Follow Alex on Instagram: @alexmmccomb Follow the show on Instagram: @sunsoutstangsout

  • 8 Episodes

About

The school year might be over, but the purple and white never rest. Suns Out, Stangs Out is your summer pass to the lives of Western’s most elite student-athletes and celebrated alumni. Join us on Radio Western as we trade the jerseys for tank tops, diving into the Mustang experience both on and off the field. From locker room stories and legendary games to what life looks like after the final whistle, we’re catching up with the stars who helped solidify Western's blue-blood reputation.

Information

  • Creator
    Alex McComb
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Alex McComb
  • Show Website
    Suns Out, Stangs Out