Countdown to the 17th Annual BLG Awards

TORONTO (CIS) - The countdown is on for the 17th Annual BLG awards honouring the top Canadian Interuniversity Sport female and male athletes for the 2008-09 season.

Official website: www.blgcanada.com/blgawards

After 16 successful years in Calgary, the BLG awards are coming to Toronto for the first time ever. On Monday, April 27, 2009, the eight national nominees will be honoured, with one female and one male winner receiving a $10,000 post-secondary grant in front of more than 1,000 BLG guests at the John Bassett Theatre, in the Toronto Metro Convention Centre.

The awards show will premier on TSN on Saturday, May 16, at 2 p.m.

Starting today with the nominees from Atlantic University Sport, CIS will highlight one female and one male finalists daily during the week leading up to the awards gala.

2009 BLG awards: Atlantic University Sport female nominee
Ghislaine Landry
St. Francis Xavier University
Sport: Rugby
Year of eligibility in 2008-09: 3
Academic program: Human Kinetics
Hometown: Toronto, Ont.

After only three seasons at StFX, Ghislaine Landry is already one of the most decorated players in the short history of CIS women’s rugby. Last fall, the five-foot-four fullback was named CIS MVP for the second straight campaign, becoming only the second player to receive the honour twice since women’s rugby was added to the CIS program in 1998. The CIS rookie of the year in 2006 and a two-time CIS championship all-star, Landry has been named AUS MVP and a CIS all-Canadian each of her three seasons at StFX. She has led the X-Women to three AUS titles in three years, to their first Monilex trophy as national champions in 2006, as well as CIS silver in 2008.

In 2008, Landry set AUS records for most points (35) and tries (7) scored in a single game and most tries in a single season with 22 in six matches, while finishing with the second best single-season point tally (112) in AUS history. She is the AUS career leader in points (272) and tries (54) and has scored at least one try in each of her 18 regular-season contests with the X-Women, including 15 multiple-try games.

Landry helped Canada claim the silver medal at the 2008 world university rugby sevens championship in Spain. A highly-touted prospect for the senior national team, she has represented Canada at five international competitions over the past few years as a member of the Under-19 team and the senior rugby 7s squad. Born and raised in Toronto, she is the younger of two girls and played numerous sports through high school including soccer, volleyball, basketball and rugby.

“Whether it is game time, practice time or gym time, Ghislaine’s leadership, dedication and work ethic inspire her teammates to be better players,” says StFX head coach Mike Cavanagh. “She is an invaluable contributor to our team on both offence and defence and has unbelievable natural ability and talent in the sport of rugby. She is small in stature but has the biggest heart.”

Other female nominees:
Quebec Student Sports Federation: Charline Labonté (Boisbriand, Que.), hockey, McGill
Ontario University Athletics: Lindsay Carson (Cambridge, Ont.), cross country & track, Guelph
Canada West Universities Athletic Association: Annamay Pierse (Edmonton), swimming, UBC

2009 BLG awards: Atlantic University Sport male nominee
Marc Rancourt
Saint Mary’s University
Sport: Hockey
Year of eligibility in 2008-09: 4
Academic program: Commerce
Hometown: Gloucester, Ont.

One year after being denied a CIS scoring title by BLG award winner Rob Hennigar of UNB, Marc Rancourt made sure he put his stamp on the 2008-09 men’s hockey season. In his fourth university campaign, the six-foot-one, 200-pound left-winger finished first in the country in both assists (41) and points (57) en route to becoming only the second Saint Mary’s player in history and the first since 1982-83 to claim the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan trophy as CIS MVP. The Huskies’ captain recorded at least one point in 26 of 28 conference outings, including 16 multiple-point matches and a 19-game point-streak to open the schedule, ending the year with the best tally by a SMU skater since Craig Teeple amassed 60 points in 1991-92.

A first-team AUS all-star each of the past three campaigns, Rancourt was named to the first CIS squad for the first time this season, following a second-team all-Canadian nod in 2007-08. After guiding the Huskies to second place in the Atlantic conference standings with a 20-7-1 mark, the 24-year-old led all scorers in the AUS playoffs with 10 points in seven games as Saint Mary’s captured its first conference title since 2001-02 and a first berth in the CIS University Cup championship in seven years.

A gold-medal winner with Team Canada at the 2007 Winter Universiade in Italy under SMU head coach Trevor Stienburg, Rancourt ranks fifth on the Saint Mary’s all-time scoring list with 175 points (52-123-175) in 109 conference games. He moved to Halifax following a solid major junior career with the OHL’s Belleville Bulls, for whom he played from 2001-02 to 2004-05, tallying 78 points in 68 outings in his final season. The commerce student also excels in the classroom and was the AUS nominee for 2008-09 Dr. Randy Gregg award that recognizes excellence in hockey, academics and community involvement.

“After 12 years behind the Huskies’ bench, I feel comfortable saying that Marc could be one of the most skilled players to have played in the CIS,” says Saint Mary’s head coach Trevor Stienburg. “He was part of the team that won gold at the 2007 FISU games, this season led the country in scoring, captured both the AUS and CIS player of the year, was the captain of our AUS championship team, a Dean’s list student three consecutive years, and this year is both the President’s Award Winner and Male Athlete of the Year at our university. Any one of these is incredible… to accomplish them all is exceptional and begs for recognition.”  

Other male nominees:
Quebec Student Sports Federation: Étienne Légaré (St-Raymond, Que.), football, Laval
Ontario University Athletics: Francesco Bruno (Toronto), soccer, York
Canada West Universities Athletic Association: Joel Schmuland (Calgary), volleyball, Alberta

BLG AWARD WINNERS

2007-08: Laetitia Tchoualack (Montreal - volleyball), Rob Hennigar (UNB - hockey)
2006-07: Jessica Zelinka (Calgary - track & field), Josh Howatson (Trinity Western - volleyball)
2005-06: Marylène Laplante (Laval - volleyball), Osvaldo Jeanty (Carleton - basketball)
2004-05: Adrienne Power (Dalhousie - track & field), Jesse Lumsden (McMaster - football)
2003-04: Joanna Niemczewska (Calgary - volleyball), Adam Ens (Saskatchewan - volleyball)
2002-03: Kim St-Pierre (McGill - hockey), Ryan McKenzie (Windsor - cross country & track)
2001-02: Elizabeth Warden (Toronto - swimming), Brian Johns (UBC - swimming)
2000-01: Leighann Doan (Calgary - basketball), Kojo Aidoo (McMaster - football)
1999-00: Jenny Cartmell (Alberta - volleyball), Michael Potts (Western Ontario - soccer)
1998-99: Corinne Swirsky (Concordia - hockey), Alexandre Marchand (Sherbrooke - track)
1997-98: Foy Williams (Toronto - track & field), Titus Channer (McMaster - basketball)
1996-97: Terri-Lee Johannesson (Manitoba - basketball), Curtis Myden (Calgary - swimming)
1995-96: Justine Ellison (Toronto - basketball), Don Blair (Calgary - football)
1994-95: Linda Thyer (McGill - track & field), Bill Kubas (Wilfrid Laurier - football)
1993-94: Sandra Carroll (Winnipeg - basketball), Tim Tindale (Western Ontario - football)
1992-93: Diane Scott (Winnipeg - volleyball), Andy Cameron (Calgary - volleyball)

About the BLG awards

The BLG awards were established in 1993 to recognize the top female and male athletes from universities affiliated with CIS. The awards are based on athletic accomplishments, outstanding sportsmanship and leadership.

Each of 52 CIS schools selects one female and one male athlete of the year. From these nominees, one female and one male athlete are chosen within each of the four regional associations: Atlantic University Sport, Quebec Student Sports Federation, Ontario University Athletics, and Canada West Universities Athletic Association. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have competed in a CIS sport for a minimum of two years and cannot be a previous recipient of a BLG award.

Nominees receive a commemorative gold ring, and winners are presented with a trophy and a $10,000 scholarship to attend a Canadian University graduate school. Winners are selected by the Canadian Athletic Foundation, a not-for-profit Board established for the purpose of administering the BLG Awards and protecting the integrity of the selection process. The CAF Board of Trustees consists of 23 members from six Canadian cities representing 11 major corporations from across the country who are committed to ensuring that Canadian University athletes receive the recognition they deserve.

About Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

With more than 750 lawyers, intellectual property agents, and other professionals working in six major Canadian cities, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP is the largest Canadian full-service business law firm.  BLG provides bilingual legal and intellectual property services in virtually every area of law, and represents a wide range of regional, national and multinational organizations. For further information, visit www.blgcanada.com.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, and 32 World University Championships. CIS is proud to support the 2015 Edmonton Summer Universiade bid. For further information, visit www.universitysport.ca.