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by John Austen There was a sea of happy faces at the Buffet Crystal in St. Laurent on April 12, but you can’t blame three Concordia athletes for being just a little happier than the rest. Martine Dugrenier, Sommer Christie and Jean-Michel Paquette were all named Athletes of the Year at the year-end banquet. “All these kids represent their university extremely well,” said interim athletic director Les Lawton, who was on the selection committee. “We had many great athletes to choose from, since we had many who performed well on both the provincial and national stages.” Dugrenier, a third-year athletic therapy student, has been a force for the Stinger wrestling team at both the local and national levels. In six tournaments she won a total of five gold medals and one bronze. She was named an All-Canadian after her gold-medal win at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships in London, Ont., last month. Dugrenier, who maintains at 3.08 grade-point average (GPA), lost just one of 18 matches during the 2001-2002 season, and was the top-ranked wrestler in the 70-kilogram weight class in North America this past February. Jean-Michel Paquette, a third-year administration student, was one of the most exciting players in university football this past season. He was a Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference (QIFC) All-Star and was named Quebec university football athlete of the week twice in 2001. He was third in the conference in all-purpose yards per game with 155.8 yards. “Jean-Michel is quick enough to miss and strong enough to run through an arm tackle,” said Stinger head coach Gerry McGrath. “He`s electrifying. When he gets the ball during the game people in the stands just seem to stand up. He`s definitely a crowd favourite.” McGrath feels that Paquette could become one of the top running backs in the country as well as one of the top returners. Paquette was also named as the Fittest Male Athlete. Christie, a third-year athletic therapy student, was the leader of the women’s rugby team in 2001. She was named both an All-Canadian and a Quebec Student Sports Federation (QSSF) all-star. She is also a member of the Canadian national rugby team that will compete in the Rugby World Cup this May, in Spain. Christie has a GPA of 3.71 and was named a Royal Bank of Canada Academic All-Canadian last September. Other major award winners included: Lisa-Marie Breton (women’s hockey), Fittest Female Athlete; Lauren Houghton (women’s hockey), Denise Beaudet Award for leadership, unselfishness and commitment to excellence; David Aiken (football), Ron Lapointe for leadership, dedication and commitment to excellence; Fabien Thomas (men’s soccer), male rookie of the year; and Jerusha Osborne (women’s soccer), Laurie Brodrick Award for female rookie of the year. The Male and Female Academic Athlete of the Year awards went to Frank Pons and Medhi Mourali from the men’s soccer team, and Kathleen Gizybowski from the women’s soccer team. Team MVPs are: Gavin Musgrave (men’s basketball), Dan Nathan (baseball), Jean-Michel Paquette (football), Patrice Roy (men’s hockey), Jason Low (men’s rugby), Ammar Bedawieh (men’s soccer), Tony Ronci (men’s wrestling), Marie-Claude Allard (women’s hockey), Marie Pier Veilleux (women’s basketball), Maggie Katz and Ingrid Dubuc (women’s soccer), Sommer Christie (women’s rugby), and Martine Dugrenier (women’s wrestling). |