With the school year wrapping up with final exams for our university athletes, both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University announced their annual award winners.In total, seven of our athletes were recognized at their respective schools.
At the University of Ottawa, Madison Clarke was nominated for the school’s top female athlete award. While the human kinetics graduate student didn’t take home the top prize, she was named the women’s MVP for track and field after capturing All-Canadian honours in the 600 metres at the USports Championship. Clarke was the most successful Gee Gee this past season with three top five finishes at the national championships and a pair of silver medals at the OUA Championships.
The men’s track and field MVP for the Gee Gees was second year student Kyle Sprague. The math and physics student was the top performer among the men all season, excelling in both the high jump and 300 metres. Sprague cleared a personal best 1.95 metres four times this past season, including at the OUA Championships where he placed fourth – the highest finish for a Gee Gee’s male at the Championship.
Cross Country MVP honours went to veteran leaders Nic Roberts and Rebecca Brennan. The pair of athletes were the Gee Gees lone representatives at the USports Championship last fall in Kingston. Brennan placed a career best 27th overall while Roberts was 99th. The pair were the top Gee Gees at the RSEQ Championships, where Brennan placed 8th and Roberts was 11th.
At Carleton, a trio of athletes were recognized for their success. Pippa Norman was named the team’s rookie of the year after finishing the season ranked 27th in RSEQ at 3000 metres. Norman was also the top Raven at RSEQ Cross Country.
Third year commerce student Darrell Hill was named the Raven’s most improved played for the season as he lowered his personal best for both the 1000 and 1500 metres by more than three seconds each.
Rounding out the awards, sprinter Michael Pinnock was named team MVP. The second year student was the team’s finisher in the 60 and 300 metre events at the RSEQ Championships where he placed 18th in both.