Women's Rugby All-Stars Announced

October 21, 2008 (HALIFAX, NS) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2008 women's rugby all-star team as selected by the conference's head coaches following regular season play.

The undefeated, ten-time defending Atlantic conference champion StFX X-Women (6-0-0, 1st place) took home a total of ten all-star awards, including league scoring leaders Courtnay Malcolm, Ghislaine Landry, Lisa Gauthier and Kim Armstrong, who finished first, second, third and fourth respectively in conference scoring this year.

Malcolm's 135 points in 6 games led the entire CIS and set a new conference mark for points scored in a season. Landry, the reigning CIS Player of the Year and 2006 CIS Rookie of the Year, scored a record 22 tries and finished with 112 points. Ghislaine has now scored an impressive 54 tries in her three year career (18 career regular season games) and is the all-time conference scoring leader with 272 career points. Malcolm's 37 conversions this season are also a new single-season conference record, smashing her own mark of 15 which she set last year.

The second-place Saint Mary's Huskies had two players selected as all-stars (Megan MacIsaac and Ashley Aker) as did the UPEI Panthers (Cassie MacKenzie and Kaitlin Richard). Andrea Lafleur of Acadia (2-4-0, 3rd place) was the lone selection for the Axewomen after finishing fifth in conference scoring this season with 30 points.

A total of five first-year players cracked this year's squad, while Calgary's Tanya and Tamara Boiteau of StFX, along with UPEI's Cassie MacKenzie are the only all-stars in their fifth in final year of eligibility.

The 2008 Atlantic University Sport women's rugby all-stars are as follows:

Loose Head Prop - Mary Giles, StFX (4th year - Cole Harbour, NS)
Tight Head Prop - Kim Armstrong, StFX (4th year - Barrie, ON)
Lock - Megan Pritchard, StFX (3rd year - Ottawa, ON)
Lock - Jamee George, StFX (1st year - Brandon, MB)
Scrum Half - Cassie MacKenzie, UPEI (5th year - Cornwall, ON)
Fly Half - Ghislaine Landry, StFX (3rd year - Toronto, ON)
Inside Centre - Kaitlin Richard, UPEI (3rd year - Summerside, PE)
#8 - Tanya Boiteau, StFX (5th year - Calgary, AB)
Hooker - Tamara Boiteau, StFX (5th year - Calgary, AB)
Full Back - Lisa Gauthier, StFX (1st year - St. Bernadin, ON)
Openside Flanker - Megan MacIsaac, Saint Mary's (2nd year - Souris, PE)
Blindside Flanker - Julie Emmerson, StFX (1st year - Moncton, NB)
Blindside Winger - Courtnay Malcom, StFX (3rd year - New Glasgow, NS)
Openside Winger - Ashley Aker, Saint Mary's (1st year - Windsor, NS)
Outside Centre - Andrea Lafleur, Acadia (1st year - Mount Uniacke, NS)

The 2008 Subway Atlantic University Sport Women's Rugby Championship game is being held this Saturday, October 25th in Antigonish, NS at 2pm. The StFX X-Women will be hosting the Saint Mary's Huskies with the winner advancing to the CIS Women's Rugby Championship being hosted by the University of Lethbridge, October 30th to November 1st.

Saturday's championship game at StFX will be available via webcast. Visit www.goxgo.ca for more information.

Courtesy John Keefe, Atlantic University Sport