Western honours athletes

Western Mustangs athletes were honoured for their achievements in 2017-2018 when the university’s Athletic Awards Gala was held at the London Convention Centre in early April.

Women’s soccer player Jenna White earned the 62nd F.W.P. Jones Trophy, while men’s football player Alex Taylor and men’s swimmer Gamal Assaad were named co-winners of the 79th Dr. Claude Brown Memorial Trophy. Both awards are presented to an athlete judged to have made the greatest contribution to intercollegiate athletics during their time at Western.

Jenna White helped Western claim three OUA silver medals and one OUA bronze, and compete in the national championship three times over the past five years. Also nominated for the Trophy were women’s hockey’s Emma Pearson and women’s rugby’s Nikki Case.

Assaad captured 18 medals during his career at the OUA Swimming Championships, along with another five at the U SPORTS Championships. Taylor, meanwhile, has been named an OUA All-Star and U SPORTS All-Canadian each of the past three seasons, and he was a driving force on this year’s Vanier Cup Championship team. Also nominated for the Trophy was men’s rower Andre Pelletier.

Larissa Werbicki won the Female Athlete of the Year Award after a phenomenal season on the Mustangs women’s rowing team, in which she became the first female athlete in the 18-year history of the Canadian University Rowing Championships to win all three lightweight events in the same year. Other nominees were women’s volleyball’s Kelsey Veltman and women’s cross country’s Kristina Popadich.

Men’s football player Jean-Gabriel Poulin received the Male Athlete of the Year Award. The middle linebacker earned First Team OUA All-Star and First Team All-Canadian honours, and he was crucial in the team’s national championship season. Other nominees were men’s track and field’s Daniel Gleason and men’s squash’s David Mill.

Also presented were the prestigious Purple Blanket awards, given to student-athletes, usually in their graduating year, that are judged to have made an outstanding contribution to Western athletics. The 14 Purple Blankets handed out this year went to Pearson, Case, Taylor, Assaad, Pelletier and Poulin, as well as: women’s volleyball’s Aja Gyimah; men’s rowing’s Reid Vassallo; women’s rowing’s Marilyse Dubois; football’s Nick Vanin; softball’s Rachael Jacques; women’s volleyball’s Kat Tsiofas; men’s rugby’s Peter Milazzo; and women’s basketball’s Mackenzie Puklicz.

Western Mustangs 2017-2018 Team MVPs

Men’s Badminton: Jack Hall
Women’s Badminton: Cara de Belle
Baseball: Matt Bowden
Men’s Basketball: Marko Kovac
Women’s Basketball: Mackenzie Puklicz
Men’s Cross Country: Ben Carson
Women’s Cross Country: Kristina Popadich
Men’s Curling: Ryan Thompson-Brown
Women’s Curling: Carolyne Graham
Men’s Fencing: John Huang
Women’s Fencing: Victoria Edwards
Field Hockey: Marielle Fernback
Figure Skating: Denis Margalik
Football: Jean-Gabriel Poulin
Men’s Golf: Mac Carter
Women’s Golf: Tasha Macdonald
Men’s Hockey: Luke Peressini
Women’s Hockey: Evra Levesque
Men’s Lacrosse: Jackson Rakoczy
Women’s Lacrosse: Hayley Liske
Ringette: Hailie Pavanel
Men’s Rowing: Reid Vassallo
Women’s Rowing: Larissa Werbicki
Men’s Rugby: Mike Coldwells
Women’s Rugby: Arielle Dubisette-Borrice
Men’s Soccer: Kody Thomson
Women’s Soccer: Julia Crnjac
Softball: Rachael Jacques
Men’s Squash: David Mill
Women’s Squash: Lindsey Smith
Men’s Swimming: Matt Loewen
Women’s Swimming: Charis Huddle
Men’s Table Tennis: Aaron Bo-Yun Hsueh
Women’s Table Tennis: Helen Qiu
Men’s Tennis: Mark Jensen
Women’s Tennis: Helen He
Men’s Track and Field: Daniel Gleason
Women’s Track and Field: Caroline Stricelj
Men’s Ultimate Frisbee: Neal McKinnon
Women’s Ultimate Frisbee: Katherine Fraser
Men’s Volleyball: Chris Newcombe
Women’s Volleyball: Kelsey Veltman
Water Polo: Maksym Koval
Men’s Wrestling: Brayden Ambo
Women’s Wrestling: Michalia Walls

www.westernmustangs.ca