TORONTO (U Sports) – The CIS student-athletes announced last month (Oct. 19) as Top Eight Academic All-Canadians for the 2015-2016 season were honoured in Ottawa on Tuesday morning.
His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, presented the fourth Governor General’s Academic All-Canadian Commendation to the eight recipients, during a ceremony at Rideau Hall, his official residence.
Every year, a growing number of CIS student-athletes are recognized as Academic All-Canadians, having maintained an average of 80 per cent or better over the academic year while competing for one – or more – of their university’s varsity teams.
Among these outstanding individuals, one female and one male student-athlete from each of the four conference are selected annually to make up the Top Eight.
The 2015-16 recipients from Atlantic University Sport (AUS) are Elenor Henry (Toronto), a soccer player and biochemistry student from Mount Allison University, and Geoff Schemitsch (Thornhill, Ont.), a hockey player and kinesiology student from Acadia University.
Representing the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) are Laval University’s Gabrielle Lapointe (Montmagny, Que.), a soccer player and medical student, as well as McGill University’s François Jarry (Lachine, Que.), a cross country/track and field athlete and physical and health education major.
The winners from Ontario University Athletics (OUA) are Cindy Nelles (Belleville, Ont.), a rugby player and civil engineering student from McMaster University, and Colin Behenna (Waterloo, Ont.), a hockey player and math and business student from the University of Waterloo.
Last but not least, the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA) recipients are swimmer Rebecca Terejko (Brantford, Ont.), a kinesiology student, as well as Chad Bush (Ottawa), a soccer player and history major, both from the University of British Columbia.
“The number of Academic All-Canadians speaks volume about the quality of our student-athletes, but also our coaches, support staff and our universities,” said Graham Brown, chief executive officer of U Sports. “To be selected among 12,000 of their peers is an achievement these exceptional student-athletes should be extremely proud of. They represent the very best of what university sport is all about.”
Following is a profile of each member of the 2015-16 Top Eight, as well as a list of all-time winners.Read more »