Labonté and Bielby named as McGill athletes of the year
MONTREAL – Charline Labonté, the Canadian Olympian goaltender from Boisbriand, Que., and Steven Bielby, a swimmer from Pointe Claire, Que., were named female and male athletes of the year, respectively, at the 32nd annual McGill intercollegiate sports awards gala held at the McGill Sports Centre, Thursday.
Labonté, a physical education junior, and Bielby, an electrical engineering freshman, received the Gladys Bean and Stuart Forbes trophies, respectively, as the student-athletes who brought the most credit to the University by reason of their athletic achievements. Both were also announced as Team MVPs and each received a gift, courtesy of Adidas Canada.
Chantal Gauvin of Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., and Ken Morin of St. Prosper, Que., who both captained their respective hockey teams to conference titles, received the Muriel Roscoe and Richard Pound trophies, respectively, awarded to graduating athletes for proficiency and leadership.
Hockey’s Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., received the Uldis Auders memorial trophy as the top sophomore in any sport, who best combines academics with athletics.
The national champion hockey Martlets and Eastern champion lacrosse Redmen received the Martlet Foundation and Harry Griffiths trophies, respectively, as the varsity team and sports club of the year.
Labonté, 26, who was unable to attend the awards gala as she is currently playing for Canada at the IIHF world championships in Finland, becomes the third Olympian – and only the third hockey player – to merit the Bean trophy, joining swimmer Andrea Nugent (1993) and goaltender Kim St-Pierre (2003). The 5-foot-8 all-Canadian backstopped the Martlets to their second consecutive CIS national title, posting a 35-2-0 record overall, with 14 shutouts, a 1.06 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage. The 35 wins between the pipes matched her own school record for most wins by a goaltender in a season. Labonté is the fourth hockey player to garner the Bean trophy since its inception in 1992.
Bielby, a 5-foot-7 middle distance specialist with the Redmen swim team, is only the third freshman ever to earn male athlete-of-the-year honours at McGill. The 19-year-old became the first male in McGill history to win three individual gold medals at a CIS championship meet and was voted CIS rookie of the year. He established three McGill and three Quebec university records while winning the 1500-metres (15:22.71), the 400 individual medley (4:11.42) and the 400 freestyle (3:49.73). His performance at Nationals earned all-Canadian honours and qualified him for the 2009 Universiade Summer Games in Belgrade, Aug. 1-12. Bielby, who enrolled at McGill last fall out of John Abbott College, is the 12th swimmer to win the Forbes trophy since it was first presented in 1948.
Gauvin, a 24-year-old marketing senior who patrols the Martlets blueline, is expected to graduate this spring with a career record of seven goals and 36 points in 143 contests. A member of the McGill Varsity Council and a co-founder of the McGill chapter of Right to Play, she initiated Operation Nez Rouge on campus and has been actively involved as a volunteer with a number of organizations that cater to mentally and physically challenged youths. Gauvin is the 10th hockey player to win the Roscoe trophy since it was first presented in 1949.
Morin, a 24-year-old industrial relations senior, also earned the Bobby Bell trophy as MVP of the hockey Redmen. The 6-foot, 190-pound defensive stalwart, who logged more than 40 minutes of ice time on a number of occasions, scored 13 goals and 69 points in 159 career contests with the Redmen. He served on the Varsity Council and Student Athletics Council and helped organize a varsity athletes food drive for the needy. Morin was also a key organizer of two major sporting events, namely the 2008 Corey Cup hockey game before 5,400 at the Bell Centre and the 2008 “Fill the Stadium” football game, which drew over 6,000 fans to Molson Stadium. Morin is the sixth hockey player to capture the Pound trophy since it was introduced in 1992.
Doucet, a 5-foot-9 centre on the Redmen, is a physical education sophomore with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.72 out of 4. A recipient of a Quebec Foundation recruitment bursary in 2007, he has earned CIS Academic All-Canadian honours and merited a spot on the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll since joining enrolling at McGill. On the ice, he had 16 goals and 29 points in 41 games overall this season. Doucet is only the second hockey player to win the Auders trophy since it was introduced in 1982 in memory of Uldis Auders, a former quarterback with the Redmen, who did in a tragic mountain-climbing accident in Nepal.
The hockey women, coached by Peter Smith, earned the Martlet Foundation trophy, sponsored by Adidas Canada, for the third time – all in the last three years. They posted a perfect 18-0 record in the Quebec league and went 36-0 against Canadian university opponents en route to becoming only the second McGill varsity team in any CIS sport to capture back-to-back national championships. Including non-conference games against NCAA teams, the Martlets established a team record for wins with a 40-2-0 mark overall and were ranked No.1 the entire season in the weekly Top 10.
The lacrosse squad, under head coach Tim Murdoch, was honoured with the Griffiths trophy for the first time ever, as the non-funded club that best combines good performance with solid administrative proficiency. They finished second of six teams with a 7-3 record in the Eastern Conference of the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association, then captured the Eastern title and reached the league championship game, posting a best-ever 11-5 record overall.
McGill Athletics & Recreation also paid tribute to 84 league all-stars, 16 all-Canadians and five conference championships won during the 2008-09 intercollegiate season and presented commemorative plaques to the MVPs of 49 varsity teams (see list below).
====================================================
McGILL's 2008-09 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARDS ====================================================
Badminton: Anna Durrant (2nd time; Kelowna, BC) & Thomas Grace (Ottawa, Ont)
Baseball: Benjamin Fax (Chevy Chase, Maryland)
Basketball: Anneth Him-Lazarenko (Ste. Dorothée, Que) & Moustafa El Zanaty (Montréal, Que)
Cheerleading: Kaylea Howarth (Chicago, Illinois)
X-Country Running: Melanie Myrand (Pointe Claire, Que) & Graydon Snider (Ottawa, Ont)
Curling: Patrick Cawley (Hudson, Que)
Cycling: Victoria Bain (Toronto, Ont) & Mathieu Boudier-Reveret (Montréal, Que)
Fencing: Adam Levin (Waterford, Conn.)
Field Hockey: Camille St. Cyr (Richmond, BC)
Figure Skating: Ciara Ball (Uxbridge, Ont)
Football: Matt Connell (2nd time; St. Bruno, Que)
Golf: Victoria Kayser (2nd time; Neuenrade, GER) & Aidan Brownlie
Hockey: (tie) Charline Labonté (Boisbriand, Que) & Ann-Sophie Bettez (Sept. Iles, Que); & Ken Morin (St. Prosper, QC)
Lacrosse: Amie Enns (Mississauga, Ont) & Brendan Farrer (Oakville, Ont)
Rowing: Jennifer Leavitt (Etobicoke, Ont) & Brent Hopkins (Montreal, Que)
Rugby: Mandy Mongeon (Ile. Bizard, QC) & Michael Davis (Mississauga, Ont)
Sailing: Lucy Erickson (3rd time; Surrey, BC) & Ches Upham (Alpeng, Mich.)
Skiing (alpine): Megan Kidston (100 Mile House, BC) & Eli Sheiner (Nepean, Ont)
Skiing (Nordic): Tereza Jarnikova (Prague, Czech Republic) & Eric Zhao (Ann Arbour, Mich.)
Soccer: Vanessa Salasky (2nd time; Norfolk, VA) & James Scholefield (2nd time; Senneville, Que)
Squash: Christiane Farrah (Westmoorings, TRINIDAD) & Aadam Tejpar (Vancouver, BC)
Swimming: Danielle Hetherington (Richmond Hill, Ont) & Steven Bielby (Pointe Claire, Que)
Synchro Swim: Krystina Antonecchia (Beaconsfield, Que)
Tennis: Mary Zhao (St. Lambert, Que) & Adrien Dupont (Montreal, Que)
Track & Field: Katherine Elmore (Pittsburgh, PA) & David Faille (St. Hilaire, Que)
Volleyball: Jennifer Thompson (4th time; Rosemere, QC) & Ryan Brant (Vancouver, BC)
Wrestling: Ian Vogel (South Salem, NY)
=============================================
McGILL's 2008-09 MAJOR ATHLETICS AWARDS =============================================
D.Stuart Forbes Trophy (male athlete of the year): Steven Bielby, Swimming, Pointe Claire, Que.
Gladys Bean Trophy (female athlete of the year): Charline Labonté, Hockey (W), Boisbriand, Que.
Muriel Roscoe Trophy (proficiency & leadership): Chantal Gauvin, Hockey (W), Dollard des Ormeaux, Que.
Richard Pound Trophy (proficiency & leadership): Ken Morin, Hockey (M), St. Prosper, Que.
Harry Griffiths Sports Club of the Year Trophy: Lacrosse (M)
Martlet Foundation Varsity Team of the Year Trophy: Hockey (W)
Uldis Auders Trophy (most outstanding sophomore): Guillaume Doucet, Hockey (M), Anjou, Que.
-30-
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation, Room 225 B
McGill University
475 Pine Avenue W.,
Montreal, QC
H2W 1S4
CANADA
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
514-398-1956 (Fax)