2022-2023 BioSteel Athletes of the Week
MARCH 13
Sprinter Katie Manor and high jumper Thomas Sénéchal-Becker are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Manor ran the first leg of the Gee-Gees women’s 4x400m relay team at the U SPORTS National Championship. The foursome of Manor, Doyin Ogunremi, Brooklyn McCormick and Kennedy Banton-Lindsay clocked their fastest time of the season, 3:53.28, good for a twelfth place finish. Manor also ran the 60m in a time of 7.66.
Sénéchal-Becker won a historic gold medal in the high jump at the U SPORTS National Championship. The Health Sciences student cleared the bar at 2.14m for the win, claiming the Gee-Gees first medal in the event in the history of the program. The gold medal caps a remarkable season for Sénéchal-Becker, whose lone defeat came in the OUA Championship when he earned silver while setting the program record.
MARCH 6
Men’s basketball player Kevin Otoo is the BioSteel Athlete of the Week.
Otoo turned in two tremendous performances as the Gee-Gees captured their first Wilson Cup since 2014. The Toronto product recorded a game-high 18 points in a semifinal win over Windsor, punctuated by a last minute steal-and-score to secure Ottawa a spot at the U SPORTS National Championship. The guard followed that up by draining four three-pointers for 17 total points in a Wilson Cup victory over Carleton where he received Player of the Game honours.
FEBRUARY 27
Swimmers Lauren Shearer and Hugo Lemesle are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Shearer won a silver medal at the U SPORTS National Championship, placing second in the 200m breaststroke. The fifth-year Gee-Gee and reigning RSEQ All-Star swam a time of 2.34.15, breaking the program record. It was Shearer’s second national medal, having previously earned bronze in the 100m breaststroke in 2020.
Lemesle medalled twice at the U SPORTS National Championship, taking silver in the 50m breaststroke and bronze in the 200m breaststroke. The Nice, France product’s performance was key to the Ottawa men winning the overall bronze medal – the best finish in the program’s history. Lemesle has now reached the U SPORTS podium three times in his Gee-Gees career.
FEBRUARY 20
Women’s basketball player Natsuki Szczokin and men’s high jumper Thomas Sénéchal-Becker are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Szczokin dominated offensively for the Gee-Gees in their 62-55 road victory over Carleton Wednesday evening. The Barrie, Ont., product notched a game-high 23 points, including an astonishing five three-pointers. Szczokin was one of just four players in double figures in a defensively-sound contest, as the Gee-Gees snapped the Ravens 12-game winning streak.
Sénéchal-Becker smashed his own school record at the Ravens Last Chance Meet Friday. The Ottawa-based high jumper cleared the bar at 2.15m, easily besting the school record of 2.09, which he himself set exactly a week prior. The Health Sciences student is now ranked second in U SPORTS in the event, one one-hundredth of a metre behind the national leader.
FEBRUARY 13
Women’s hockey player Alyssa Biesenthal and men’s hockey player Daniel Hardie are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Biesenthal scored four of the Gee-Gees five goals over the weekend, notching her first career hat trick. The second year from Georgetown, Ont., helped the Gee-Gees to a comeback over the Carleton Ravens Friday evening, erasing a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3. The Human Kinetics student earned the game winning goal in the third period, becoming the first Ottawa player since current Montreal Force defender Christine Deaudelin in 2021 to achieve the feat. Biesenthal followed it up by scoring her 11th goal of the year Sunday afternoon against Concordia.
Hardie contributed to all three Gee-Gees goals in a 3-2 overtime win over McGill, clinching the men’s hockey team a playoff spot. In what could have been his final game in Garnet and Grey, the third year vet got the scoring started on the power play and added two primary assists, including one on Charles-Antoine Roy’s overtime winner. The victory secured Ottawa a spot in the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.
FEBRUARY 6
Sprinter Doyin Ogunremi and swimmer Hugo Lemesle are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Ogunremi ran the third leg of the women’s 4 x 400m for the Gee-Gees at the Kane Invitational at Cornell. The Gee-Gees foursome won the event in dominant fashion, finishing 13 seconds ahead of the second place school. Ogunremi wasn’t done there, securing second place in the 300m event. Her time of 40.6 seconds currently ranks 12th in the nation at the distance.
Lemesle will have to make additions to his trophy case following the RSEQ Championship, as he took home six medals while helping the Gee-Gees to a second place finish. The Nice, France product’s six medals and four golds were tied for most at the meet, as Lemesle reached the podium in every event he competed in. His six medals ties the program record for medals at a single RSEQ Championship. The Finance student won two individual golds (100m and 200m breaststroke) while collecting a pair of relay golds. He also won bronze in the 50m breastroke and silver in the 4x100 medley relay.
JANUARY 30
Women’s hockey player Aurélie Dubuc and men’s high jumper Thomas Sénéchal-Becker are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Coming off a gold medal at the FISU World University Games, Dubuc stopped 68 of 71 shots she faced in two women’s hockey wins on the weekend. Her 45 saves against Concordia were the most in a single game in her career, and the Gee-Gees 3-2 overtime win was just the second time all season the third-ranked Stingers have been held to two goals or less.
Sénéchal-Becker won the high jump at the McGill Team Challenge with a leap of 2.06m. The jump was a new personal best for the second year Health Sciences student, and ranks him second in the nation in the event thus far in 2022-23. The Ottawa product is undefeated in competition with the Gee-Gees this season and is aiming to improve upon his bronze medal showing at the 2022 OUA Championship.
JANUARY 23
Sprinter Katie Manor and men’s basketball forward Guillaume Pépin are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Manor logged an outstanding performance at the uOttawa Winter Classic over the weekend, breaking a long-standing school record in the 60m dash, registering a time of 7.57 seconds. Manor’s time knocked off Christiane Lela previous record of 7.61 set in 2009. The run also handed Manor the tied-for-third best time in the OUA this season, and fifth nationally.
The Ottawa native also impressed in the relays, helping the Gee-Gees to wins in both the 4x200m and 4x400m where the Gee-Gees also registered third best OUA times this season at their home meet.
Pépin had a landmark weekend in Toronto, leading the Gee-Gees to two key wins against TMU and Toronto. Against TMU, Pépin scored 22 points on 10-14 (71.4%) from the field, while adding five rebounds and an assist and steal. Against Toronto, Pépin one-upped his Friday effort with 26 points, including 5-6 from three, in the win over the surging Blues, Pépin added three rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
On top of his impressive performances, the Montreal native crossed the 1,000-point milestone in his Gee-Gees career, becoming the 12th Ottawa player to reach the mark in program history.
JANUARY 16
Women’s biathlete Shilo Rousseau and men’s swimmer Evan Aguiar-Winter are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Rousseau became the first Canadian to win gold at the 2023 FISU World University Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. last week. A member of the Gee-Gees Nordiq team, Rousseau won the 12.5 km biathlon - the first time a Canadian had ever one the event at the the FISU Games. Rousseau is one of nine Gee-Gees (six athletes and three staff members) attending the Games.
Aguiar-Winter was named the Gee-Gees men’s Swimmer of the Meet from their tri meet on the weekend. The second year Biomedical Mechanical Engineering student finished second in three events and led off Ottawa’s winning freestyle relay team.
JANUARY 9
Women’s basketball player Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu and men’s hockey player Mathieu Desgagnés are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Lefebvre-Okankwu was a consistent performer over the weekend, notching double-figures in two commanding wins for the women’s basketball team. The fifth year from Gatineau, Que., also registered 15 rebounds across the two games, helping the Gee-Gees improve to 12-0 in regular season play. Lefebvre-Okankwu is now second in the OUA with a field goal percentage of 55.9.
Desgagnés recorded a hat trick in Ottawa’s convincing 5-2 win over the Carleton Ravens Friday evening. The second year Finance student scored in three different manners; even strength, shorthanded and into an empty net. It was Desgagnés’s second hat trick of the season, and he is now tied for fourth nationally with 13 goals.
DECEMBER 5
Women’s volleyball player Grace McKale and men’s basketball player Dragan Stajic are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
McKale was a key figure in the women’s volleyball team’s commanding 3-0 win over the fourth-ranked McGill Martlets Friday evening. The fourth-year left side from Cold Lake, Alta., paced the team with 13 points. McKale recorded a team-high 11 kills alongside a service ace, five digs and two assisted blocks as the Gee-Gees head into the holiday break on a high.
Stajic flirted with a triple-double Sunday in a career game against the fifth-ranked Brock Badgers. The third-year guard put up a game-high 20 points (including 4-for-8 from three point range) with nine rebounds and nine assists in a comfortable 82-70 win for men’s basketball. The Gee-Gees enter the holiday break with a share of first place in the OUA East.
NOVEMBER 28
Women’s hockey player Mahika Sarrazin and men’s basketball player Guillaume Pépin are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Sarrazin was stellar in the women’s hockey team’s 3-2 shootout victory against tenth-ranked Montreal. The second-year Psychology student from Gatineau, Que., made a career-high 38 saves. Her four additional stops in the shootout lead the Gee-Gees to a third straight win over Montreal.
Pépin had a breakout showing in two men’s basketball wins over the weekend. The veteran forward from Montreal led the team in scoring in victories over Western and Windsor, notching over 20 points on both occasions. His weekend was punctuated by a 27-point, 10-rebound showing on Saturday against the Lancers.
NOVEMBER 21
Women’s basketball player Emily Payne and men’s hockey player Anthony Poulin are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Payne notched her first career double-double while helping the Gee-Gees women’s basketball team to a commanding 81-31 win over Lakehead. The second year came off the bench to record 13 points and 10 rebounds - one of four Gee-Gees in double figures on the game - as Ottawa improved to 5-0 on the year.
Poulin setup both game winning goals for the men’s hockey team over the weekend. The second year captain scored once and added three assists in wins over RMC and Queen’s. Ottawa is two points back of first in the division, and Poulin paces the team with 14 points.
NOVEMBER 14
Women’s soccer player Kat Delev and men’s basketball player Quincy Louis-Jeune are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Delev captained the Gee-Gees women’s soccer team to a bronze medal at the U SPORTS National Championship. The fifth year holding midfielder was named to the tournament all-star team and converted a penalty in the bronze medal victory against Cape Breton.
Louis-Jeune helped the men’s basketball team to a pair of wins over Laurentian and Nipissing this weekend. The point guard was into double figures in both games, including putting up a game-high 26 points while going 4-for-6 from beyond the arch to move the basketball team to 4-0 on the season.
NOVEMBER 7
Women’s rugby player Ketsia Kamba and men’s basketball player Cole Newton are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Kamba scored at least one try in each of the Gee-Gees games at the U SPORTS Women’s Rugby National Championship. The Communication and Sociology student found the try zone twice during the bronze medal game, as Ottawa won their seventh straight medal the National Championship.
Newton led the men’s basketball team in scoring in both of their games last weekend. The second year player from Fergus, Ont., eclipsed 20 points in both of the matchups, shooting an eye-popping 77 percent from the field on Friday against McMaster. The men’s basketball team are off to a 2-0 start to their regular season.
OCTOBER 24
Women’s soccer player Cassidy Joslin and men’s rugby player Evan Roy are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Joslin backstopped the Gee-Gees the FISU Americas championship in Mérida, Mexico this past week. The third-year goalkeeper made several crucial saves in the closing stages of the final against Brazilian school Paulista. Joslin helped the Gee-Gees concede just three times during the five-game tourney.
Roy scored three tries in a triumphant win for the men’s rugby team. The team’s 36-29 decision over the Concordia Stingers secured them a home playoff game for the first time in program history. It was also the first time the Gee-Gees had ever beaten the Stingers - the four-time reigning conference champions.
OCTOBER 17
Women’s hockey player Viki Harkness and football player J-P Cimankinda are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Harkness scored the late game-winning goal as the women’s hockey team won their season opener against the Montreal Carabins Saturday afternoon. It was the first regular season game in Garnet and Grey for Harkness, who transferred from UConn.
Cimankinda ran all over the York Lions in a 66-0 win for the football team Saturday afternoon. Cimankinda ran for 231 yards - the fifth highest single-game total of all-time for the Gee-Gees and the most since current Ottawa REDBLACK Brendan Gillanders in 2012. Cimankinda also found the end zone twice in the game.
OCTOBER 11
Women’s soccer player Cassandra Provost and swimmer Alexandre Perreault are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Provost set the record for most goals in a single season by a Gee-Gee over the weekend. The Accounting student from Acton Vale, Que., netted an astounding seven times (twice against Ontario Tech and five times versus Laurentian) to wrap up the regular season with 18 goals in nine games, one more than Mikayla Morton put up in 2019 in 14 appearances.
Perreault was unstoppable in the first RSEQ Cup meet of the season, winning gold in all four events he participated in. The second year student from Ottawa took gold in the 50m butterfly and the 100m freestyle while helping the Gee-Gees to gold in the 4x50m free and 4x50m medley relays. Perreault reached the U SPORTS standard in both of his individual events.
OCTOBER 3
Women’s soccer player Angelina Gendreau and football players Nicholas Gendron and J-P Cimankinda are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Gendreau was involved in five of the team’s goals over the weekend, helping the number-three ranked women’s soccer team to a pair of convincing wins over Carleton. The Human Kinetics student converted a penalty Thursday in a 3-0 win and collected a goal and three assists in a 4-0 victory on Sunday.
Gendron recorded more receiving yards than the entire Carleton Ravens team combined in the Panda Game, catching eight passes for 211 yards and a touchdown. His 211 receiving yards are the fourth highest single-game total in the 141-year history of the program. His 81-yard catch-and-run in the first quarter tied the game, and had the massive Gee-Gees crowd on its feet.
Cimankinda turned in yet another solid performance in the Panda Game. The running back from Ottawa ran for 166 yards - the highest total of his career in Garnet and Grey - and two touchdowns. Cimankinda has now put up over 100 all-purpose yards in all but one game he’s played this season.
SEPTEMBER 26
Women’s rugby player Mercedes Cole and football player Campbell Fair are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Cole continued her strong freshman campaign with the Gee-Gees Saturday in a commanding win against the Bishop’s Gaiters, picking up four tries. Saturday was Cole’s second straight game of three tries or more, and the Psychology student now leads Ottawa with eight tries on the season.
Fair tied an OUA record with a 55-yard, game-winning field goal against Wilfrid Laurier. Fair’s boot smashed the Gee-Gees record of 51 yards previously held by Lewis Ward, and is tied for the third longest make in U SPORTS history. His field goal as time expired propelled Ottawa a 21-18 win, improving their record to 4-1 as they head into the Panda Game this week.
SEPTEMBER 19
Women’s soccer player Cassandra Provost and football player Ben Maracle are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Provost scored the game-winning goal in Ottawa’s victory over Nipissing on Sunday. The Accounting major from Acton Vale, Que., leads the OUA in goals with six in just five games, as the Gee-Gees are fifth in the U SPORTS National Rankings.
Maracle packed the stats sheet Saturday, helping the Gee-Gees to a 46-10 win over Guelph. The quarterback passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns in a clean performance. The football team improved to 3-1 on the season and is now in a tie for second place in the conference standings.
SEPTEMBER 12
Women’s rugby player Ngozi Mosindi and football player Harnoor Dhaliwal are the BioSteel Athletes of the Week.
Mosindi scored a pair of tries in the women’s rugby team’s 34-0 home opening win over Montreal. The second year from Ottawa scored a single try in 2021, and has already doubled her total through just two games this season.
Dhaliwal spearheaded a stingy defensive showing from the Gee-Gees football team, holding the McMaster Marauders to just 14 points in a winning effort. A safety who’s studying Human Kinetics, Dhaliwal recorded seven tackles and a key interception that setup an Ottawa touchdown.
SEPTEMBER 6
Women’s rugby player Ketsia Kamba and football player Willy-Pierre Dimbongi are the first BioSteel Athletes of the Week for 2022-2023.
Kamba was the key player in Ottawa’s season opening 59-6 win over the Concordia Stingers on Sunday. The second row from Burlington, Ont., scored three tries in the match, and is now sitting second in the conference in tries.
Dimbongi was the Gee-Gees leading receiver in their home opener against Queen’s. The Ottawa product hauled in four passes for 104 yards, the majority of the damage being done on a 75-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown in the second quarter.
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View the BioSteel Athletes of the Week from 2021-2022 at this link.