Oua Announces 2016 Women's Rugby Award Winners And All Star Teams
BURLINGTON, Ont. – Ontario University Athletics (OUA) is excited to announce the 2016 OUA women's rugby major awards and all-stars.
Coming off their first CIS women's rugby championship in program history, the McMaster Marauders once again finished the season atop the Russell Division and have five players named to the all-star team.
In her third season with the Marauders, back row Sara Svoboda (Belleville, Ont.) led the first place Marauders in points and has been named Russell Division MVP and an all-star for her efforts. Svoboda, a third-year kinesiology major, tied for team led with six tries to go along with a club high 10 conversions during the regular season.
Joining Sara as OUA all-stars is a quartet of Marauders as back row Abi Moody (Toronto, Ont.), prop Colleen Irowa (Innisfil, Ont.), centre Brit French (Innisfil, Ont.) and last but not least, her sister, back row Katie Svoboda (Belleville, Ont.) have also been selected.
Moody is an OUA all-star for a third consecutive season, while Irowa and K. Svoboda, who tied with her sister for the team lead in tries, will represent the Marauders on the team in back-to-back seasons. This is the first all-star nod for French after she scored two tries this season for McMaster.
For the second straight season, a McMaster Marauders player has been recognized for their contributions off the pitch as Lydia Hicks (Sarnia, Ont.) is this year's Russell Division Community Service Award winner. Hicks volunteers her time to many causes and acts as an executive member and team-representative of McMaster Athletes Care. Through the program, Hicks mentors at-risk youth in the downtown Hamilton community, attending weekly visits at partner community centres where she and her fellow Marauders student-athletes lead athletic programming.
The Queen's Gaels, CIS silver medalists from a season ago, finished second in the Russell Division this season and have four student-athletes selected to the OUA all-star team.
Centre Nadia Popov (Newmarket, Ont.) was the Gaels leading scorer this year and has been named an OUA all-star along with No. 8 Miranda Seifert (Regina, Sask.), lock McKinley Hunt (King City, Ont.) and wing Lauren Murray (Lindsay, Ont.).
Popov, who was named OUA Rookie of the Year and an OUA all-star in 2012, had five tries, seven conversions and a penalty goal during the regular season to finish 8th overall with 42 points. In her fifth and final season, Seifert is an OUA all-star for the second time in her career after she led the Gaels with eight tries and finished just two points back of Popov. In just their second seasons for Queens, Hunt and Murray have been named to the first time in their careers.
Following a fantastic freshman season, Gaels scrum half Jordi Di Nardo (Toronto, Ont.) has been selected as OUA Rookie of the Year. Di Nardo, who played for Newtonbrook SS before coming to Queen's University, finished tied for third on the Gaels with three tries in her first year. The Toronto, Ont. native becomes the first Gaels player to win the award since the aforementioned Popov brought home the honours.
After a third place finish in 2016, a trio of Lions, lock Dorrian Khouri (Brampton, Ont.), back row Tobi Owotomo (Mississauga, Ont.) and centre Petra Woods (Brampton, Ont.) have been selected to represent York. This is the second OUA all-star nomination for Khouri after she was previously named to the team in 2014, whereas Owotomo and Woods, former OUA Rookie of the Year winners, have received the nod for the first time.
The future looks bright for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues as second-year standout Jordyn Orlando (Burlington, Ont.) and rookie Lauren Van Dyke (Toronto, Ont.) have been named OUA all-stars. Orlando led the Blues with two tries this season, while Van Dyke had a major impact for her hometown team in just her first season in the league.
Gareth Williams led the Varsity Blues to their first win since 2012 and has been named OUA Coach of the Year in the Russell Division.
Rounding out the Russell Division all-stars is Jessica Hercus (Belleville, Ont.) of the Trent Excalibur. Now in her fourth-year, Hercus finished second on the team with three tries and a conversion.
For the fourth consecutive season, five Guelph Gryphons have been named Shiels Division all-stars – the most of any team in the division. The Gryphons finished the year with a perfect 5-0 record and have not lost a regular season game since the 2007 season.
After being named Rookie of the Year a season ago, fly half Julia Schell (Uxbridge, Ont.) has been named Shiels Division MVP and an OUA all-star. In just her second season, Schell, a psychology major, led the conference with 76 points and finished tied for first with 12 tries.
In addition to Schell, fullback Alexandra King (Ottawa, Ont.), lock Devon Stober (Mississauga, Ont.), flanker Kylie Shaughnessy (Peterborough, Ont.) and flanker Alyssa McDonald (Guelph, Ont.) all received all-star honours.
King is an OUA all-star for the second time in as many seasons after the Ottawa, Ont. native had six tries and 10 conversions for 50 points. In her fifth and final season with the Gryphons, this is the third consecutive all-star nod for Stober after she finished the year with five tries. McDonald and Shaughnessy have been selected as OUA all-stars for the first time in their careers after they scored seven and two tries, respectively.
Along with being on the most dangerous players on the field for the Gryphons, fullback Kendra Blackbourne (Georgetown, Ont.) has been awarded the Shiels Division Community Service Award for her contributions away from the game. Blackbourne is an active member of the Best Buddies program where she assists students with Asperger's in day-to-day activities. The Georgetown, Ont. native also volunteers with Guelph's Student-Athlete Mental Health Initiative (SAMHI) Campus Team. In her fourth season, Blackborune led OUA with 22 conversions and finished third with 59 points.
The Western Mustangs finished second in the Shiels Division for a second straight season and are represented with four all-star selections.
After being named OUA all-stars a year ago, outside centre Paige Farries (Red Deer, AB) and wing Nikki Case (Toronto, Ont.) are back on the team once again. The pair is joined on the team by propr Veronica Harrigan (Lucan, Ont.) and scrum half Lexi Smith (Brussels, Ont.), OUA all-stars for the first time in their careers. Farries, who has also represented Canada on the National Sevens Women's Team, finished second in the third in the conference with 11 tries, while Harigan and Case finished tied for second on the Mustangs with four tries a piece. Smith, a health sciences student-athlete, finished the regular season second in OUA with 13 conversions.
Mustangs head coach John Weller has been named Coach of the Year after he led Western to a 3-2 regular season record and a berth in the upcoming OUA bronze medal game. This is Weller's first Coach of the Year award and the first time a Mustangs bench boss has been selected since Natascha Wesch was honoured back in 2007.
Coming off a winless 2015 season, the Brock Badgers bounced back in a big way to finish third in the Shiels Division with a 2-3 record. As a result, a trio of Badgers have received the nod as flyhalf Meagan Hart (Brantford, Ont.), flanker Amarije Barnes (Brampton) and winger Vanessa Cifuentes (Niagara Falls, Ont.) are all OUA all-stars for the first time in their careers.
Hart finished second on the team with 18 points while her six conversions were tops on the club. Barnes and Cifuentes were also rewarded for outstanding regular seasons.
A major reason for the Badgers turnaround was the play of Niamh Haughey (Scarborough, Ont.) who has been named Sheils Division Rookie of the Year following a great season to open her OUA career. Haughey, who is enrolled in physical education at Brock University, finished tied second on the team with three tries. Her 15 points ranked her third on the Badgers.
The Waterloo Warriors have a pair of OUA all-stars as winger Danielle Duncan (Waterloo, Ont.) and second row Jesse Brush (Kitchener, Ont.) will infuse the Shiels Division all-star team with a little black and gold. Representing her hometown team, Duncan led the Warriors in scoring with three tries, while as one of the Waterloo captains, Brush was both a defensive stalwart and a key player on the attack.
In her final season with the Golden Hawks, fifth-year centre Chole Graves (Kitchener, Ont.) is an OUA all-star for the third time in her career. The Kitchener, Ont. native was also recognized with all-stars nods in 2013 and 2015.
RUSSELL DIVISION MAJOR AWARDS
Most Valuable Player – Sara Svoboda – McMaster Marauders
Rookie of the Year – Jordi Di Nardo – Queen's Gaels
Coach of the Year – Gareth Williams – Toronto Varsity Blues
Community Service Award – Lydia Hicks – McMaster Marauders
SHIELS DIVISION MAJOR AWARDS
Most Valuable Player – Julia Schell – Guelph Gryphons
Rookie of the Year – Niamh Haughey – Brock Badgers
Coach of the Year – John Weller – Western Mustangs
Community Service Award - Kendra Blackbourn – Guelph Gryphons
RUSSELL DIVISION ALL-STARS
Britni French – McMaster Marauders
Sara Svoboda – McMaster Marauders
Colleen Irowa – McMaster Marauders
Katie Svoboda – McMaster Marauders
Abi Moody – McMaster Marauders
Lauren Murray – Queen's Gaels
McKinley Hunt – Queen's Gaels
Miranda Seifert – Queen's Gaels
Nadia Popov – Queen's Gaels
Dorrian Khouri – York Lions
Tobi Owotomo – York Lions
Petra Woods – York Lions
Jordyn Orlando – Toronto Varsity Blues
Lauren Van Dyke – Toronto Varsity Blues
Jessica Hercus – Trent Excalibur
SHIELS DIVISION ALL-STARS
Julia Schell – Guelph Gryphons
Alexandra King – Guelph Gryphons
Kylie Shaughnessy – Guelph Gryphons
Devon Stober – Guelph Gryphons
Alyssa McDonald – Guelph Gryphons
Veronica Harrigan – Western Mustangs
Lexi Smith – Western Mustangs
Paige Farries – Western Mustangs
Nikki Case – Western Mustangs
Meagan Hart – Brock Badgers
Amarije Barnes – Brock Badgers
Vanessa Cifuentes – Brock Badgers
Danielle Duncan – Waterloo Warriors
Jessie Brush – Waterloo Warriors
Chloe Graves – Laurier Golden Hawks
