Year-end banquet honours the best of the best in Gryphons athletics

Mike Treadgold

Capping off a year of outstanding performances, the Department of Athletics hosted its Annual Intercollegiate Awards Banquet on Thursday night, honouring the university’s top student-athletes.

Not surprisingly, it was Gryphon runners that took the top awards with Kyle Boorsma and Rachel Cliff winning the male and female Athlete of the Year awards for their successes in both cross-country and track and field.

“This season was a big breakthrough for me,” said a very humble Cliff. “I knew I was up for a major award but I didn’t really consider the [award] for top female athlete.

“I really surprised myself this year. I’ve always thought of myself as a decent athlete, but this year, it all really came together.”

For the second consecutive year, Boorsma took the award for top male athlete, having excelled yet again in both indoor and outdoor events.

“I’m very happy with how the season has gone, both from an individual and a team perspective,” said Boorsma. “The only distance runners in the country who won CIS gold medals this year – team or individual – were from Guelph. It’s pretty hard to get better than that.”

In addition to winning the most prestigious male athlete award, Boorsma also won the President’s Trophy as top male student-athlete, given his academic excellence as well. Brienne Stairs from the OUA champion Gryphons field hockey team won the President’s Trophy for top female student-athlete.

“As any athlete can attest to, it takes a lot of discipline and time management to be successful in both academics and athletics,” said Boorsma. “I struggled in my first and second years, adjusting to university and being disinterested in school. But now, I’ve found an interest in my classes and things seem to be going smoothly.”

Cliff’s honour as top female athlete culminates an outstanding season for the fourth-year distance specialist, where she medaled in both cross-country and track and field. Perhaps her most outstanding performance was her gold medal win in the women’s 3000m event at the CIS track and field championships in Windsor, a race that pitted her against U of T’s Megan Brown, arguably the top female distance runner in Canada.

“The rivalry is very friendly,” said Cliff, who added that the competition is even stronger during the cross-country season. “We talk to each other after races, she’s a really nice person.

“But, it is competitive sports, too.”

Jake Jagas, a national champion in wrestling, was named the Scott Yanchus Male Rookie of the Year and distance runner Genevieve Lalonde took home the Dr. Mary Beverley Burton Female Rookie of the Year award after outstanding indoor and outdoor seasons.

The W.F. Mitchell Sportsman and Sportswoman awards were given to swimmer Scott Van Doormaal, who competed at the OUA Championships on a broken foot, and fifth-year field hockey star, and Canadian national team member, Krissy Wishart. Wishart was named as an All-Canadian in each of her five years as a Gryphon.

The Shirley Peterson award for most improved female athlete went to Chantique Payne, the national champion butterfly swimmer, while James Savoie from the Gryphons football team won the Don Cameron award for most improved male athlete.

Rounding out the award winners were Hediyeh Karimian, who won the Cathy Rowe Manager of the Year award for wrestling, Nina Caverly, who took the James Maclachlan Trainer of the Year honours, and Nadine Frost from the track and field team, who won the Fred Ramprashad Scholarship.

When asked if she views herself as a leader in the varsity athletic community, Cliff noted that she prefers to let her accomplishments do the talking.

“The whole team is very mature and while I like to think of myself as a leader, there isn’t a real sense of hierarchy among our team,” she said. “Everyone brings something different to the team, so we can all lead each other in various ways.”

“The 2009-10 teams have to be the best teams that I’ve ever been a part of,” added Boorsma. “[We] were driven and motivated and really worked hard for each other.”

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