Alan Wiekenkamp, Chair of the VIU Board of Governors (middle) presents male and female Player of the Year awards to VIU Mariners Tylar Turnbull (left) of the women’s volleyball team and Jeff Travis of the men’s soccer team.
April 14, 2015 - 5:00pm
Vancouver Island University (VIU) student athletes and coaches received more than 100 awards at the 39th annual VIU Mariner Athletics Awards banquet held April 13th at the Coast Bastion Hotel in Nanaimo.
Tylar Turnbull, a fourth-year player with the VIU women’s volleyball team was named 2015 Female Athlete of the Year while second-year men’s soccer player Jeff Travis was named 2015 Male Athlete of the Year.
Turnbull has received many accolades including a Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) All Canadian - the highest individual athletic award a player can receive.
She is also a provincial gold medalist, tournament All Star at the nationals, first team Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) league All Star, PACWEST leader in blocks, All Star at provincials and Athlete of the Week.
Travis is a CCAA national silver medalist, PACWEST provincial silver medalist, PACWEST 1st team league All-Star, CCAA Academic All-Canadian, top defender at PACWEST provincials, PACWEST Academic Excellence recipient, PACWEST Athlete of the Week and Player of the Game in the men’s soccer team’s recent gold medal match.
“The Female and Male Athlete of the Year awards are presented to student athletes who exhibit excellent athletic and academic achievements,” says Bruce Hunter, VIU’s Director of Athletics.
“Their season and career as Mariners reflect key qualities such as leadership, dedication and commitment. Through their athletic, academic and community engagement, these student athletes have proven to be outstanding ambassadors for VIU and role models in the community.”
The awards capped off an evening of achievement and celebration for VIU Mariners and coaches.
Rookie of the Year honours went to Madeline Dawson (soccer) and Victor Blasco (soccer). International Education awards were bestowed upon basketball players Sienna Pollard and Justin King.
Megan Goenendijk (women’s volleyball) and Harrison Stupich (basketball) received the Top VIU Mariner Academic Excellence Awards.
“For Megan, this was her second time winning the award and Harrison has won it for three consecutive years,” adds Hunter.
Hunter noted that the VIU Mariners enjoyed another stellar season, which included hosting the 2015 CCAA Nationals Women’s Basketball championships in March, and having VIU teams represented at seven out of eight CCAA National championships.
Other season highlights include:
· VIU Mariners received 24 PACWEST All Star awards, four PACWEST Players of the Year, and 10 PACWEST Academic Excellence awards, and seven CCAA All Canadians and five CCAA Academic All Canadians awards
· PACWEST Team of the Year and provincial gold medalists - women’s soccer
· High performance Coach of the Year at Nanaimo Sports Achievement Awards - Anup Kang (women’s soccer)
· PACWEST provincial silver medalists and national silver medalists – men’s soccer
· PACWEST Coach of the Year - VIU’s Bill Merriman, Janice Walker (badminton), and Matt Kuzminski (women’s basketball)
· National Coach of the Year - Matt Kuzminski (women’s basketball)
· VIU badminton mixed doubles team - national silver medalists
· New scoring records - men’s basketball and women’s soccer
· PACWEST provincials Most Valuable Player - Samantha Rodgers (women’s soccer) and Justin King (men’s basketball)
· PACWEST bronze medalists - men’s volleyball
· CCAA Women’s Basketball National Championships Fair Play Award – women’s basketball
· PACWEST Athlete of the Year Across all sports - VIU Mariners Victor Blasco and Justin King
· PACWEST Player of the Year - Victor Blasco, Matt Haddad, Justin King and Graydon Robb
· Athlete of the Year - golfer Matt Haddad
· PACWEST provincial champions and national silver medalist - men’s basketball
· PACWEST provincial champions – women’s basketball; player Jenna Carver set a new rebounding record.
· CCAA national badminton Player of the Year - Graydon Robb
Tags: In the Community
