OTTAWA (CIS) – The winners of the 24th BLG Awards as CIS female and male athletes of the year will be announced on Monday, May 2nd at the Martha Cohen Theatre in Calgary. The ceremony will air nationally later in May on Sportsnet.
The winners will receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship, while all eight national finalists will return home with a commemorative gold ring from Jostens and a watch from Timex, the official suppliers of CIS.
Although the 2016 recipients will be determined by the Canadian Athletic Foundation, a not-for-profit board which has selected the winners for the past 23 years, the general public is once again invited to vote online through the following websites:
CIS: http://en.cis-sic.ca/blg_awards/2015-16/vote
The 2016 nominees for the Jim Thompson Trophy presented to the female BLG Award recipient are basketball player Paloma Anderson from Acadia University, hockey player Mélodie Daoust from McGill University, swimmer Kylie Masse from the University of Toronto and volleyball player Iuliia Pakhomenko from Thompson Rivers University.
On the men's side, the finalists for the Doug Mitchell Trophy are hockey players Jordan Murray from the University of New Brunswick and Guillaume Asselin from the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, as well as volleyball player Stephen Maar from McMaster University and football player Andrew Buckley from the University of Calgary.
Here is a closer look at the Ontario University Athletics nominees.
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| University of Toronto Sport: Swimming Year of eligibility: 2 Academic program: Kinesiology Hometown: LaSalle, Ont. In only her second campaign with the Varsity Blues, Kylie Masse put together one of the best seasons in Canadian university swimming history. A memorable year that got that much better on April 6, when the 20-year-old qualified for her first Olympic Games thanks to a record time of 59.06 seconds in the 100-metre backstroke at the national trials. Of course, close observers of the Canadian swimming scene are not surprised by her success. After all, the native of LaSalle, Ont., had already made plenty of waves a year ago when she was named the OUA female swimmer of the year as a freshman, before claiming seven medals in as many events in her first CIS championship appearance. A few months later in South Korea, Masse served notice that she was ready for the world stage by winning Summer Universiade gold in her specialty event. This university season, the new Olympian proved virtually unstoppable, posting 18 individual victories in six conference competitions before setting six OUA records and a pair of Canadian short-course marks at the OUA championships. And then she kept the best for last. In late February, Masse reached the CIS podium in each of her seven events for the second straight year en route to female-MVP honours. The kinesiology student finished the national meet with four gold and three silver medals, including a sweep of the three backstroke finals, all in championship-record times. In the 50 back, she lowered her own Canadian short-course standard in the preliminaries (26.72) before shattering the long-course record in the final (27.84). Her performance helped the U of T women capture their first CIS team banner since 1997. "Swimming has been a huge part of my life and I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to pursue it while getting my education at the University of Toronto. Coaches Byron (MacDonald) and Linda (Kiefer) and my teammates have truly helped me develop not only as a swimmer but as a student-athlete," says Masse. "This has been a whirlwind of a season since last summer. I'm so grateful for everything this year, including the BLG Award nomination. To be considered as one of the top university athletes in Canada is humbling." In his 37 seasons at the helm, Varsity Blues head coach Byron MacDonald has mentored his fair share of world-class swimmers, including 2002 BLG Award winner and 2004 Olympian Elizabeth Warden. "Kylie's improvement arch since coming to U of T has been remarkable. She went from being ranked 200th in the world to top 10 in just two years. Her hard work has certainly paid off. She loves swimming, loves her team, and is the most unassuming world‐class athlete you will ever meet." |
McMaster University Sport: Volleyball Year of eligibility: 4 Academic Program: Humanities (History & Political Science) Hometown: Aurora, Ont. In January of 2012, after being courted by the best men's volleyball programs north and south of the border, Stephen Maar accepted a full scholarship to play at the University of Hawaii. Who could blame him? Palm trees and a top-level NCAA team... seemed like a dream come true. A few months later however, the then 17-year-old recruit changed his mind and turned down the glitz and glamour of the NCAA to stay in Canada and suit up for the Marauders. It's a decision that would change the face of the McMaster program, and one he wouldn't regret. Over the past four campaigns, the Marauders have topped the OUA standings every year, winning 73 of 78 league contests, and have captured four straight conference titles. They have reached the CIS podium every season, including two silver and two bronze medals, marking the four best national results in team history. The 2015-16 campaign was a special one for McMaster, which was set to host the 50th anniversary edition of the CIS championship. While they ultimately fell just short of their objective of claiming their first national title, dropping a heartbreaking decision to Trinity Western in the CIS final, the Marauders got all they expected all season from their star 6-foot-7 outside hitter. Maar led the OUA in both kills (4.29) and points (5.0) per set on his way to conference-MVP honours and a selection on the first all-Canadian team. Despite a late-season ankle injury, he managed to elevate his game in front of his home crowd at the CIS championship, where he averaged an eye-popping 5.30 kills and 6.4 per set over three matches. Set to graduate with a bachelor of arts in history, the native of Aurora, Ont., now plans to explore playing opportunities in Europe. There should be plenty of suitors for a pro prospect whose international resume already includes a silver medal at the 2012 under-21 NORCECA championship, the 2013 FIVB junior world championship, as well as the 2015 Pan Am Cup with Canada's senior B team, where Maar was named the top outside hitter. "Representing McMaster has brought about the greatest period of growth in my life. Varsity involvement not only grew me physically, but I developed mentally and tactically for the international stage as well," Maar says. "Mac will forever be a home away from home for me, and it is a privilege to be nominated in any fashion to represent an institution that has changed my life. Entering University as a boy and leaving as a man will leave me forever grateful." "Stephen is a natural hitter. High, hard, and every shot in the book. His serve is excellent and has been clocked at 109 kilometres per hour," says Marauders head coach Dave Preston. "This year he set McMaster single-season attack and point scoring records. He is a great player and an even better teammate." |