MONTREAL – Hockey star Vanessa Davidson, a third-year forward from Kirkland, Que., and Charles-Antoine Sinotte, a sophomore wide receiver from Trois-Rivieres, Que., named female and male athletes of the year, respectively, at the 31st annual McGill intercollegiate sports awards gala held at the McGill Sports Centre, Thursday.

Davidson and Sinotte, both physical education majors, received the Gladys Bean and Stuart Forbes trophies, respectively, as the student-athletes who brought the most credit to the University by reason of their athletic achievements. Both were also announced as Team MVPs and each received a $1,500 bursary as recipients of Enterprise Awards, courtesy of the Enterprise Rent-a-Car company.

Davidson, 23, becomes the fourth woman to win the Bean trophy in back-to-back years. The 5-foot-8 centre tied for the Quebec league scoring title with 14 goals and 29 points in 18 games. Overall, she posted a 29-39-68 dossier in 42 contests. She was picked as conference MVP, en route to earning All-Canadian honours and helping the Martlets win their first-ever CIS national championship.

Sinotte, who turns 20 on April 16, also merited all-conference and all-Canadian status. The 6-foot, 178-pound speedster led the nation with a CIS record 72 receptions in eight games, scoring four touchdowns and registering 839 receiving yards. Sinotte also established school and conference single-game records for most catches in a game (18) and posted another McGill mark for most yards in a game (238).

Shauna Denis of Stittsville, Ont., and David Urquhart of Thorold, Ont., who both captained their respective hockey teams, received the Muriel Roscoe and Richard Pound trophies, respectively, awarded to graduating athletes for proficiency and leadership.

Denis, 23, graduated last spring with a commerce degree but returned for a fifth-year to study public relations. The three-time all-star forward earned Academic All-Canadian honours, qualified for the Principal’s Student-athlete Honour roll, served on countless committees and capped an impressive athletics career by winning a national championship and the CIS Marion Hillard award as the student who best combined hockey with academics and citizenship.

Urquhart, a three-time all-conference rearguard, guided the Redmen to their first Queen’s Cup league title since 1946. The 23-year-old finance senior earned Academic All-Canadian honours, served with Denis as co-chair of the McGill Varsity Sports Council and spearheaded various fundraising projects, including the Corey Cup game which drew more than 5,000 fans to the Bell Centre last fall.

Swimmer Joanie Stilling, a 6-foot-1, freestyle specialist from Calgary, received the Uldis Auders memorial trophy as the top sophomore in any sport, who best combines academics with athletics. The 19-year-old Greville Smith scholarship holder achieved a 3.81 grade-point average (out of 4.0) in chemical engineering, earned Academic All-Canadian honours and made the Principal’s student-athlete Honour roll. She was voted MVP of the swim team and captured 13 gold medals, five silvers and eight bronzes over the season. Stilling also qualified for the Canadian Olympic trails, which are currently being held in Montreal this week.

Hockey’s Benoit Arsenault, a 6-foot, 190-pound centre from Rimouski, Que., received the Mac Teskey trophy, which is presented on special occasions, to someone who has inspired others for displaying courage and morale worthy of honorable mention. The 23-year-old finance sophomore suffered two broken bones in his lower leg during the Carnival game last year and missed the final 15 games. He was not counted upon to play for at least a year but worked extremely hard in rehab and was one of only five Redmen players to dress for every game this year, finishing with a 13 goals and 25 points in 46 games overall.

Two other Enterprise Awards, accompanied by prizes of $500 each, were presented to women’s hockey and women’s synchronized swimming as the varsity team and sport club of the year, respectively.

The hockey women merited the Martlet Foundation trophy for on-field performance, posting a perfect 18-0 regular season record and an equally unblemished 7-0 record in post-season play en route to becoming the first McGill women’s team in any CIS sport to capture a national championship. Including non-conference games, the Martlets established a team record for wins with a 37-4-1 mark overall, including 36-1 against CIS teams and 17-1 against CIS teams that were ranked in the weekly Top 10.

The synchro squad received the Harry Griffiths trophy as the non-funded club that best combines good performance with solid administrative proficiency. They finished first, second and first in their three competitions and captured the Canadian University Synchro Swim League national championship.

The McGill Department of Athletics, which paid tribute to 71 conference all-stars, 11 all-Canadians and six league championships won during the 2007-08 intercollegiate season, also presented monogrammed action photographs to the MVPs of 45 varsity teams (see list below).

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McGILL's 2007-08 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARDS
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Badminton: Anna Durrant (Kelowna, BC) & Mathieu Laforest (4th time; Laval, QC)
Baseball: Eric Mutter (Burlington, ON)
Basketball: Nathifa Weekes (2nd time; Brossard, QC) & Sean Anthony (2nd time; Vancouver, BC)
Cheerleading: Brianne Miller (Elgin, ON)
X-Country Running: Lauren Whyte (2nd time; Belleville, ON) & Sebastien Flynn (Dartmouth, NS)
Curling: Robert Philion (Montreal, QC)
Cycling: Nadine Chalmers (Ridgewood, NJ) & Michael Honsberger (Uxbridge, ON)
Fencing: Matthieu Couturier (Houston, TX)
Field Hockey: Shauna Kearns (2nd time; Toronto, ON)
Figure Skating: Amy Saucke-Lacelle (Sherbrooke, QC)
Football: Charles-Antoine Sinotte (Trois-Rivières, QC)
Golf: Victoria-Stella Kayser (Neuenrade, GER) & Aidan Brownlie (2nd time; Springfield, MA)
Hockey: Vanessa Davidson (2nd time; Kirkland, QC) & Mathieu Poitras (3rd time; Gatineau, QC)
Lacrosse: Blair Adam (Montreal, QC) & Guy Fox (Glen Rock, NJ)
Rowing: Barbara Hamilton (Saskatoon, SK) & Evan deJonghe (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Rugby: Maria Jaworski (Pine Hill, QC) & Caleb Balloch (Beijing, CHINA)
Sailing: Lucy Erickson (2nd time; Surrey, BC) & Christopher Kemp (2nd time; Mercer Island, WA)
Skiing (alpine): Marie-Christelle Laplante (Sherbrooke, QC) & Vincent Gilbert-Dore (Montreal, QC)
Skiing (Nordic): Gabrielle Trepanier (3rd time; Gatineau, QC) & Jan Rossiter (Cork, IRE)
Soccer: Vanessa Salasky (Norfolk, VA) & Thomas Lucas (Pointe Claire, QC)
Squash: Carly Hong (Toronto, ON) & Vikram Chopra (Vancouver, BC)
Swimming: Joanie Stilling (2nd time; Calgary, AB) & Sean Bell (Barrie, ON)
Synchro Swimming: Jennifer Gill-Wilson (Trois-Rivières, QC)
Tennis: Ceren Baysan (Mclean, VA) & Charles-David Mathieu-Poulin (Charlesbourg, QC)
Track & Field: Alana Battiston (Toronto, ON) & Keith Esch (Lake George, NY)
Volleyball: Jennifer Thompson (3rd time; Rosemere, QC) & Edward O’Dwyer (Calgary, AB)
Wrestling: Andrew Jarisz (Victoria, BC)

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McGILL's 2007-08 MAJOR ATHLETICS AWARDS
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Enterprise Award & Stuart Forbes Trophy: Charles-Antoine Sinotte, football
Enterprise Award & Gladys Bean Trophy: Vanessa Davidson, hockey
Muriel Roscoe Trophy (proficiency & leadership): Shauna Denis, hockey
Richard Pound Trophy (proficiency & leadership): David Urquhart, hockey
Harry Griffiths Sports Club of the Year Trophy: Synchronized swimming
Martlet Foundation Varsity Team of the Year Trophy: Hockey (W)
Mac Teskey Award (inspiration & overcoming adversity): Benoit Arsenault, hockey
Uldis Auders Trophy (best sophomore): Joanie Stilling, Swimming (W)


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Dept. of Athletics
McGill University
475 Pine Avenue W.,
Montreal, QC H2W 1S4
CANADA
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
514-398-1956 (Fax)
www.athletics.mcgill.ca