Moving to a Friday night, the Champlain Cavaliers held their annual Athletics Banquet on April 22nd at the Sandman Hotel in Longueuil, bringing their 2015-16 seasons to an official close with an evening of celebration. Over 220 student-athletes from the Cavaliers’ 11 teams were in attendance, joined by Campus Director Don Shewan, in addition to the coaches, assistants, academic coaches and Athletic Therapy staff.
56 team awards were handed out, including awards for Academic Excellence, Most Valuable Athlete, Most Improved Athlete, the Unsung Hero Award and the Fair Play Award. In addition, the Cavaliers recognized the student-athletes named to their respective all-star teams as well as those recognized as CCAA Academic All-Canadians, RSEQ Academic-All-Stars and those graduating Cavaliers who have maintained and 80 or above average during their years as a Cavalier. A complete list of award winners can be found at the end of this page.
Ahoura Rounagh, student coordinator of the Men’s Soccer team and Sport Marketing & Management student was awarded the Cavaliers Athletic Shield, presented annually in appreciation and recognition to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the Champlain Cavaliers Athletics program, for his tremendous work with the team and with his help with the 2015 CCAA Men’s Soccer National Championship that the college hosted back in November.
The 2015-15 Female Athlete of the Year nominees were Céline Marks (Cross-Country Running), Clara Dagenais (Women’s Basketball) and Marie-Ève Bernard-O’Breham (Women’s Soccer), with Bernard-O’Breham taking the award for this past year. Marie-Ève was was named a CCAA Academic All-Canadian, RSEQ All-Star and and RSEQ Academic All-Star, in addition to being her team’s MVP for the season. She has been a well-
respected leader on her team and with her leadership the team has won the RSEQ bronze medal in Division 1 Women’s Soccer for the past two seasons.
Nominees for the Male Athlete of the year included Kasheem Thomas (Men’s Basketball), RSEQ All-Star & RSEQ Defensive Player of the Year Jarek Richards (Football), and team MVP, Nicolas Levasseur-Patenaude (Men’s Soccer). Two-time RSEQ All-Star and two-time CCAA All-Canadian Kasheem Thomas from Men’s Basketball was presented with the award. Kash led the team in points (18.4 ppg) and to their second RSEQ title match, taking home the silver medal after a hard fought championship game. Thomas is well-respected by his teammates and is a great role model for younger student-athletes. He has huge respect for the game, opponents and officials and has been an invaluable member of the Cavaliers..
The team with the best academic average was the Cross-Country Running team, passing 98.13 of all classes taken with a team average of 82.77 while the award for the graduating Cavalier with the highest academic standing was presented to Marie-Pier Hamel from the Cross-Country team.
Images from the evening can be found at champlainphotos.com.
Complete Award List:
Cavaliers Athletic Shield: Ahoura Rounagh
Graduating Cavalier with the Highest Academic Average: Marie-Piere Hamel
Cavalier Team With Highest Average: Cross-Country Running
Female Athlete of the Year: Marie-Ève Bernard-O’Breham
Male Athlete of the Year: Kasheem Thomas
Badminton
Most Improved Athlete: Foo Quyen Li
Unsung Hero: Sam Daunoravicius
Fair Play Award: Brian Kim
Most Valuable Athlete: Richard Zhou
Academic Excellence: Megan Wai
Men’s Basketball
Most Improved Athlete: Tae Ekperuoh
Unsung Hero: Nikita Kasongo
Fair Play Award: Nicolas Noble
Most Valuable Athlete: Kasheem Thomas
Academic Excellence: J.J. Hamel-Carey
Women’s Basketball
Most Improved Athlete: Metchline Gabélus
Unsung Hero: Annabelle Baku
Fair Play Award: Coralie Dumont
Most Valuable Athlete: Clara Dagenais
Academic Excellence: Clara Dagenais
Cross-Country Running
Most Improved Athlete: Thierry Judge
Unsung Hero: Paul Ramsay-Vejlens
Fair Play Award: Gabriella Farallo
Most Valuable Athlete: Céline Marks
Academic Excellence:Marie-Pier Hamel
Football
Rookie of the Year: Trenton Matuzewiski
Adam Taylor Fair Play Award: Dalton English
Most Valuable Lineman: Phil Adam
Most Valuable Defensive Player: Jarek Richards
Most Valuable Offensive Player: Daniel Lazzara
Academic Excellence: Ryan McGuire
Men’s Rugby
Most Improved Athlete: Sébastien Bourque-Gomes
John Jones Fair Play Award: Xavier Hébert
Most Valuable Forward: Josh Lai Kwan
Most Valuable Back: Juan Giraldo Torres
Academic Excellence: Jonathan Leblanc
Women’s Rugby
Most Improved Athlete: Andréanne Bolduc
Fair Play Award: Amélie Emond-Dallaire
Most Valuable Forward: Libera Collini
Most Valuable Back: Samantha Wallis
Academic Excellence: Romy Leclerc
Men’s Soccer
Most Improved Athlete: Alexandre Bourdeau
Unsung Hero: Will Hodges
Fair Play Award: Dyliam Sydavong-Ok
Most Valuable Athlete: Nicolas Levasseur-Patenaude
Academic Excellence: Meelad Sakheie
Women’s Soccer
Most Improved Athlete: Maude Poulin
Unsung Hero: Alana Mikulis
Fair Play Award: Marie Veilleux
Most Valuable Athlete: Marie-Ève Bernard-O’Breham
Academic Excellence: Audrey Moyen
Men’s Volleyball
Most Improved Athlete: Evan Fuller
Unsung Hero: Sam Daunoravicius
Fair Play Award: Gabriello Provencher
Most Valuable Athlete: Patrick Chartouny
Academic Excellence: Andrew Ostiguy
Women’s Volleyball
Most Improved Athlete: Gabriella Maciocia
Unsung Hero: Arianne Bisson-Daigle
Fair Play Award: Erika Patton
Most Valuable Athlete: Gabrielle Therrien
Academic Excellence: Emilie Pagliarulo-Frechette
