Calgary, Alta. – Canadian Interuniversity Sport and national law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) announced Wednesday the eight finalists for the 20[SUP]th[/SUP] Annual BLG Awards. The awards show will premiere on TSN on Saturday, May 26, at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
The finalists for the Doug Mitchell Trophy presented to the CIS male athlete of the year are Andrew Clark of Brandon, Man., a hockey player from Acadia University; Marc-André Dorion of St. Hubert, Que., a hockey player from McGill University; Kyle Quinlan of South Woodslee, Ont., a football player from McMaster University; and Ben Ball of Abbottsford, B.C., a volleyball player from Trinity Western University.
The 2012 nominees for the Jim Thompson Trophy presented to the female BLG Award recipient are Tyson Beukeboom of Uxbridge, Ont., a rugby player from St. Francis Xavier University; Ann-Sophie Bettez of Sept-Iles, Que., a hockey player from McGill University; Jacey Murphy of Alliston, Ont., a rugby player from the University of Guelph; and Robyn Pendleton of Victoria, a field hockey player from the University of British Columbia.
The BLG Awards were established in 1993 to recognize the top female and male athletes from universities affiliated with CIS. On Monday, April 30, the eight national nominees will be honoured, with one female and one male winner receiving a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship in front of more than 1,000 guests at the EPCOR Centre’s Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary.
“We are extremely excited to be hosting the 20[SUP]th[/SUP] Anniversary of the BLG Awards in Calgary,” said Doug Mitchell, National Co-Chair of BLG, which sponsors the Awards. “We continue to be amazed by the talents and accomplishments of these outstanding athletes. Each year, as we follow the past winners and hear about their accomplishments or what they are involved in, we realize how important their university sports background has been to them. We congratulate the universities who have provided the great education and athletic programs for these students to succeed in their careers.”
“The BLG Awards is the event we look most forward to all year long,” said Marg McGregor, chief executive officer of CIS. “With over 10,000 student-athletes competing in CIS, the BLG Awards highlight eight exceptional individuals and we are extremely proud of their accomplishments and unrelenting pursuit of excellence.”
The BLG Awards are based on athletic accomplishments, outstanding sportsmanship and leadership. Each of the 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 (AUS), Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA). 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.
All 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 21 members from five Canadian cities representing major corporations from across the country who are committed to ensuring that Canadian university athletes receive the recognition they deserve.
2011-2012 MALE BLG AWARD NOMINEES (Doug Mitchell Trophy)
Kyle Quinlan
McMaster University
Sport: Football
Year of eligibility: 4
Academic program: Economics
Hometown: South Woodslee, Ont.
It has been said that big players must come up big in big games. It’s safe to say McMaster quarterback Kyle Quinlan got the memo last November.
Following a suspension-shortened regular season, the fourth-year pivot from South Woodslee, Ont., went on one of the greatest playoff runs in recent memory to lead the Marauders to their first-ever CIS football national championship. Over four post-season contests, Quinlan averaged 335 yards passing and another 92.5 on the ground, threw for 11 touchdown passes and guided his troops to four straight 40-plus-point performances as McMaster defeated Queen’s 40-13 (OUA semifinal), Western 41-19 (Yates Cup), Acadia 45-21 (Uteck Bowl) and Laval 41-38 in overtime (Vanier Cup). The 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior earned game-MVP honours following each of the last three duels of the campaign.
Of course, the Cinderella story wouldn’t have been totally complete had Quinlan not kept his best for last. On Nov. 25 at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium, in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest CIS football games ever played, the economics student racked up 482 yards and two majors on 36-of-55 passing while also rushing for a team-high 106 yards as McMaster handed the powerful Rouge et Or their first loss in seven lifetime appearances in the Vanier Cup final. The Marauders tied the single-game record with 41 first downs, while their 675 yards of total offence and 25 first downs through the air rank second in Vanier Cup history.
As dominant as Quinlan was in the playoffs, it would be inaccurate to say his remarkable performances came out of nowhere. After all, despite being limited to five outings in conference play, he was named to the second all-Canadian team after he averaged a CIS-best 342 passing yards per game.
While he still has one year of CIS eligibility remaining, there is little doubt the talented QB is on the radar screen of a number of professional teams heading into the 2012 CFL Draft. He has participated in the last two CFL Evaluation Camps and was invited to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ training camp last summer.
“No athlete that I have watched over the years has developed more physically, mentally, socially and emotionally in such a short period of time than Kyle Quinlan during the 2011 football season,” says McMaster head coach Stefan Ptaszek. “In my humble opinion, it was one of the best seasons any player has had in the history of our football program.”
Andrew Clark
Acadia University
Sport: Hockey
Year of eligibility: 3
Academic program: Kinesiology
Hometown: Brandon, Man.
Andrew Clark has enjoyed success at every level of hockey he has played and the Acadia Axemen are more than happy to be the latest team to benefit from his exceptional skills.
After winning the national midget championship with his hometown Brandon Wheat Kings back in 2004, the crafty centreman played four WHL seasons with the major junior Wheat Kings, tallying 40 goals and 78 points in 72 games in his final campaign in 2008-09. He was selected to the WHL roster for the 2006 Canada-Russia Challenge and later earned tryouts with a pair of NHL teams, St. Louis in 2006 (rookie camp) and Columbus in 2009 (main camp).
Clark’s success continued once he joined the Axemen in the fall of 2009. After averaging over a point a game in each of his first two university seasons, including a team-high 32 points as a sophomore, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound forward amassed 39 points in 28 conference contests this year to claim the AUS scoring title and, more importantly, the prestigious Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy presented to the most outstanding player in CIS men’s hockey.
In three university seasons, the kinesiology student has racked up an impressive 99 points in 83 league games.
Acadia head coach Darren Burns has seen his share of talented hockey players over the years. For him, two statistics stood out from his captain’s award-winning season.
“To be in on 42 percent of our goals is a truly remarkable statistic. As well, he won the AUS scoring race and we did not have another forward in the top 20 in league scoring, which is astounding in itself,” says Burns, whose team ranked fifth – out of eight – in conference scoring with 95 goals in 28 matches. “Andrew is a tremendous player and leader for Acadia Hockey and Acadia Athletics, and a mentor for many youth in our community.”
Clark didn’t pick bad role models to develop his leadership qualities.
“Growing up as a typical Canadian hockey kid, there is no doubt that Steve Yzerman was my favourite player and my source of inspiration, along with my father,” Clark says. “Graduating from Acadia next year with a bachelor of kinesiology degree, I will be looking to follow up on my life-long dream of playing professional hockey. And if hockey doesn’t work out, I hope to become an elementary school teacher and hockey coach.”
Marc-André Dorion
McGill University
Sport: Hockey
Year of eligibility: 4
Academic program: Physical & Health Education
Hometown: St. Hubert, Que.
The McGill’s men’s hockey team has apparently become a farm club for the BLG Awards. Or at least it appears that way, as defenceman Marc-André Dorion’s nomination in 2012 marks the third straight year a member of the Redmen is in the running for CIS’ highest individual honour, following forwards Francis Verreault-Paul (2010) and Alexandre Picard-Hooper (2011).
We will probably never know if the BLG Awards had anything to do with it, but the talented trio was at the forefront of one of the greatest accomplishments in the storied history of athletics at McGill, in late March at Fredericton. As the CIS University Cup championship was celebrating its 50[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary, it seemed only fitting that the Redmen, the oldest hockey team in the world, captured their first-ever national title, in their 136[SUP]th[/SUP] season, thanks to a thrilling 4-3 overtime win against Western. Following the final, Dorion, Picard-Hooper and Verreault-Paul were all named tournament all-stars, with the latter earning MVP honours.
Hoisting the University Cup was the crowning moment of Dorion’s remarkable university career. Prior to the national tourney, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound rearguard was voted MVP of the OUA East division, CIS defenceman of year for the second time in three seasons and a first-team all-Canadian for the third straight campaign. Over his four years, the alternate captain and physical education major guided McGill to three conference titles, four trips to the CIS championship and two appearances in the University Cup final. He will graduate as the highest-scoring blueliner in school history with a 38-154-192 record in 174 games overall.
In 2011-12, Dorion topped all CIS defencemen with 39 points in 28 league games, a tally that was good enough for seventh place in the CIS scoring race. He became the first rearguard in history to lead the Redmen in scoring. Perhaps his most impressive statistic however was that he was assessed only four penalty minutes in 38 regular and post-season matches, a remarkable accomplishment for a defenceman.
Of course, Dorion’s success with the Redmen came as no surprise to hockey observers. After all, the veteran of five QMJHL seasons has received NHL tryouts with Dallas, Phoenix and Toronto over the years. He recently signed a two-year contract to play for EHC Linz, the reigning champions of the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, the top league in Austria.
“Marc-André is an elite CIS defenceman who excels at both ends of the ice. He’s also an outstanding student and a well-respected leader within our team,” says McGill bench boss Kelly Nobes about his team MVP, who was honoured by CIS last fall as one of the Top 8 Academic All-Canadians in the country.
Ben Ball
Trinity Western University
Sport: Volleyball
Year of eligibility: 5
Academic program: General Studies (Communications & Human Kinetics)
Hometown: Abbotsford, B.C.
“I’m just a relaxed, laid back individual who loves having fun on the volleyball court,” Ben Ball says. “Put it this way, if there is ever a book written about me, they should call it Having a Ball.”
And a ball it was this season for the Trinity Western men’s volleyball team. Coming off their second CIS national title in program history, the Spartans entered the 2011-12 campaign as favourites to repeat as CIS champions. Not only did they live up to expectations, they put together one of the most dominating seasons in recent memory.
Led by their all-star setter, the Spartans were ranked No. 1 in each of the 14 national polls published during the campaign, finished the regular schedule atop the Canada West standings for the first time in history, defeated second-ranked Manitoba to claim the conference banner, and beat No. 3-seeded Laval in the CIS title match to repeat as Tantramar Trophy champs. Overall, TWU went 34-2 against CIS competition, a team record.
Ball, who hails from Abbotsford, B.C., was as dominant individually as the Spartans were collectively. In his fifth and final university season, the 6-foot-4 senior was named CIS player of the year and MVP of the national championship. The veteran setter averaged a conference-record and CIS season-best 11.54 assists per set in ’11-12 to finish his brilliant career with 2,742 assists, a Trinity Western all-time mark and the second-highest total in Canada West annals.
Making his accomplishments even more impressive is the fact Ball was so ill during the CIS tournament in Kingston that he was unable to practice and only left his hotel room to take part in his team’s three games.
“Ben may not be your classic setter. Instead, he is much more than that,” says TWU head coach Ben Josephson. “There are lots of setters in our country who possess great athleticism and technique but Ben’s character make up sets him apart and puts him in the category of those really special setters who come along once in a coach’s career.”
Ball, who will graduate with a major in general studies and minors in human kinetics and communications, also got a taste of international competition with his teammates last fall as the Spartans represented Canada and NORCECA at the FIVB club world championship in Qatar. The CIS champs kept a 1-2 record at the prestigious tournament, including a win over the champions of the Iranian professional league, Paykan Tehran.
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