Antigonish, NS—The StFX Department of Athletics honored its 2015-16 U SPORTS Academic All-Canadians Thursday morning at their annual celebratory breakfast. This year there was a record-high 73 Academic All-Canadians, those student-athletes who have achieved an 80% average or above while consuming a year of eligibility competing for a varsity team. The number was an increase from the 61 Academic All-Canadians in 2014-15.
"It is important that we pause to celebrate the amazing accomplishments of our student-athletes," comments StFX Director of Athletics & recreation Leo MacPherson.
"These Academic All-Canadians have mastered the ability to balance a demanding varsity sport commitment, their tremendous community outreach activities, and achieve excellence in their academic endeavors. Their achievements are remarkable."
Out of the possible 292 eligible student-athletes who consumed U SPORTS eligibility by participating on a varsity team at StFX during the 2015-16 season, 25% achieved CIS Academic All-Canadian status, including 34 male and 39 female student-athletes.
There were 37 first-time Academic All-Canadians, 20 student-athletes who received the honor for the second time in their career, and 13 student-athletes who were three-time Academic All-Canadians. Recent X-Men graduates Cole Grbavac (hockey), Trevor Kwan (soccer) and Lee Wesselius (cross country) earned the distinction of being the only three StFX student-athletes who were four-time U SPORTS Academic All-Canadians.
This year marked the inaugural presentation of the Athletics Director's awards for academic achievement, presented to the top StFX male and female academic student-athletes. The 2015-16 recipients were Hana Marmura from the X-Women cross country team and Eric Locke form the X-Men hockey team.
The 2015-16 Academic All-Canadians were honored at a celebratory breakfast at the McKenna Centre where they received a certificate from U SPORTS along with a gift from the Department of Athletics. All student-athletes were encouraged to invite a faculty member to accompany them to the breakfast. The breakfast was held in conjunction with StFX Athletics Faculty Appreciation Week.
The complete list of 2015-16 StFX Academic All-Canadians is as follows:
Gabby Bergh, Soccer Bridget Brennan, Track & Field
Chloe Brennan, Soccer Elise Brennan, Soccer
Joanne Callow, Rugby Schyler Campbell, Hockey
Nathan Chiarlitti, Hockey Michael Clarke, Hockey
James Comeau, Football Alex Cyr, Cross Country
Pascale Daigle, Hockey Taylor Dale, Hockey
Calvin DeWolfe, Cross Country Jasmine DeZeeuw, Cross Country
Jagger Dirk, Hockey Scott Donald, Cross Country
Lisa Downey, Hockey Craig Duininck, Hockey
Liam Elbourne, Soccer Kelsey Ellis, Soccer
Nick Favero, Cross Country Warren Ferguson, Track & Field
Sam Gan, Football Claire Gibbons, Soccer
Nic Gillen, Soccer Alex Gosse, Soccer
Cole Grbavac, Hockey Nicole Halladay, Hockey
Shannon Hatch, Basketball Jon Heidebrecht, Football
Ben Herringer, Soccer Matt Jemmett, Football
Kristoff Kontos, Hockey Trevor Kwan, Soccer
Natalie Lesco, Rugby Lindsay Lessard, Basketball
Eric Locke, Hockey Heidi MacDonald, Cross Country
Olivia MacDonald, Cross Country Mary MacDonald, Soccer
Nicole MacDonald, Soccer Catharine MacKeigan, Rugby
Hana Marmura, Cross Country Bronson Maschmeyer, Hockey
Jake McKenna, Track & Field Ariana Orasanin, Hockey
Brittany Parks, Soccer Hayden Peters, Football
Jenna Pitts, Hockey Hailey Pollock, Track & Field
Hannah Pollock, Track & Field Kara Power, Hockey
Angus Rawling, Cross Country Tristen Ross, Basketball
Amy Rowe, Soccer Victoria Sandre, Cross Country
Cole Suart, Soccer Alex Taylor, Soccer
Kim Taylor, Basketball Natneal Tecle, Soccer
Colin Thompson, Track & Field Mary Catherine Thompson, Track & Field
Heather Tillsley, Hockey Kevyn Timmons, Soccer
Mark Tremaine, Hockey Jordan Tyrrell, Track & Field
Erin Visser, Soccer Katie Walsh, Soccer
Jayme Ward, Rugby Jessica Warrener, Track & Field
Ryan Washburn, Track & Field Lee Wesselius, Cross Country
Marco Zanchetta, Soccer
Hana Marmura (cross country) and Eric Locke (hockey) are presented with the Athletic Director Awards for Academic Achievement as the top 2015-16 StFX female and male academic student-athletes. Director of Athletics & Recreation Leo MacPherson made the presentations.