Winners announced for 2021-22 Competitive Sport Club Year-End Awards
The Gee-Gees announced the winners of the Competitive Sport Clubs Awards for the 2021-2022 season today, with baseball player Evan Symons and Nordic skier Shilo Rousseau named as the club Athletes of the Year.
The team MVPs, Award of Merit, Leadership and Engagement, and True Sport Award recipients were also announced today.
Evan Symons is a fourth-year human kinetics student, and posted one of the best offensive seasons in team history. He broke team records for batting average, hits, and doubles in the regular season and continued to perform in the playoffs where he led all batters in hits and doubles. He also came through with a game-saving catch in the post season. Symons won a championship in the Western Canadian Baseball League in 2021 and is returning in 2022. As the first Gee-Gees player since the early 2000's to play in the WCBL, he is paving the way for future Gee-Gees to compete in similar professional leagues.
Shilo Rousseau a third-year biology student, represented Canada at the Junior World Biathlon Championships after winning three individual events at the Canadian National Biathlon Championships. With the Gee-Gees, her results helped uOttawa place second overall at the Canadian Colleges and Universities National Championships; Rousseau was part of the Gee-Gees bronze medal win in the team sprint event and several other top ten performances. She added fifth and sixth place finishes in Garnet and Grey at the FIS Eastern Canada Cup.
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The Award of Merit is presented to those who best combine academics and athletics on a competitive sports club team. This year's winners are Michael Kanter from baseball and Bridie Hamilton from the equestrian team.
Michael Kanter was the baseball team president this season and has overseen many team projects while also leading the team's pitching staff on the field. An International Development and Globalization student, Kanter is also vice president of the uOttawa debate society and was selected to represent the university at the Debate World University Championships, and sits on the board of directors for the Toronto Foundation for Youth in Politics. An aide with the Conservative Party of Canada, Kanter has made important impacts on the baseball team's recruiting, social media, and fundraising and sponsorship.
Bridie Hamilton was co-captain of the equestrian team this season and was a True Sport Award recipient in 2020-21. After leading the team in points scored in her rookie season, Bridie continued to build her impact on the program's development, particularly with regards to the team's core values of respect and inclusivity. In addition to her equestrian team contributions, Hamilton was a student representative on the Undergraduate Philosophy Student Association, and is on the executive team of the uOttawa Friends of Ausome. She also partnered with Canadian Girls Baseball and Big Brothers Big Sisters Lanark County to provide baseball programming to underserved girls in a rural community. Academically, she graduated summa cum laude with an Honours BA majoring in Ethics & Political Philosophy, minoring in Communication following the fall term and has now begun a Master's in Bio/Tech Ethics and Science Policy at Duke University.
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Vanessa Tinlin was named the winner of the Leadership and Engagement Award which recognizes excellence in team administration and contributions to the wider sport and student experience. Tinlin is the President of the softball team and a CVUO representative, as well as a COVID officer. She is a fourth-year senior on the team who has shown outstanding leadership in a variety of ways, and is a supportive teammate who lifts others up. Notably, the fourth-year Faculty of Health Sciences student successfully planned the team's participation in the CCSA National Championships in Kelowna, BC this season.
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True Sport Awards are presented to those who exemplify the True Sport Principles through their attitude and actions in sport. This year's recipients are: Aidan Kirkham (Nordic ski), Maddie MacMillan (golf), Samuel Wells (baseball), and Serena Kueni (dance). An article featuring these recipients will be published next week.
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Team Most Valuable Players: these awards reflect outstanding athletic performance or overall team contribution in 2021-22. The winners are (in alphabetical order):
Pierre Arseneau – Fencing, Sociology
LeShaun Bernett – Dance, Health Sciences
Talia Cameron – Artistic Swimming, Philosophy (Master's)
Evan Coolidge – Lacrosse, Education
Magalie Daoust – Nordic Ski, Mechanical Engineering
Rhian Dentlebeck – Ringette, Environmental Science
Robert Djukic – Water Polo, Software Engineering
Jessica Fang – Badminton, Nursing
Jacob Gosselin – Volleyball, Human Kinetics
Dana Gray – Cheerleading, International Studies and Modern Languages
Jordanna Hartley – Softball, Biomedical Sciences
Cédric Hupé-Pageau – Badminton, Mechanical Engineering
Caitlin Huss – Equestrian, Criminology
Rachel Jackson – Golf, Human Kinetics
Rebecca Keough – Water Polo, Environmental Studies
Jasmine McKnight – Ultimate, Communications
Monique Power – Fencing, Biology (Master's)
Edward Southward – Nordic ski, Civil Law
Evan Symons – Baseball, Human Kinetics
The Gee-Gees would like to thank all those who took time to nominate student-athletes and coaches for this year's awards. For the list of finalists, please visit this article.