Suzanne Fenerty and Michael Marousek Named Athletes of the Year
StFX Athletics hands out hardware
Suzanne Fenerty and Michael Marousek named Athletes of the Year
ANTIGONISH, NS --- The StFX Athletic Department honored the athletic accomplishments of their varsity athletes Thursday evening in their annual awards gala at the Charles V. Keating Centre. X-Men soccer midfielder Michael Marousek was named the StFX Male Athlete of the Year, while X-Women hockey defenseman Suzanne Fenerty was awarded StFX Female Athlete of the Year honors. The StFX Community X-Cellence awards were presented to Kieran Gilfoy of the X-Men soccer team and Tory Anderson of the X-Women basketball team.
Michael Marousek is a fourth year Human Kinetics student from Prague, Czech Republic. He is a two-time X-Men soccer MVP and this past season was named the AUS Most Valuable Player as he led his team to an undefeated season (11-0-2), finishing in first place overall in the AUS and also earning a CIS No. 1 ranking, the first time in team history. Michael was a 2010 CIS 1st team All-Canadian and in late September became the X-Men soccer all-time career scoring leader, breaking the record previously held by Kristin Kirincich. He finishes his four year StFX career as a four-time AUS all-star, having scored 31 career regular season goals, leaving him first on the StFX career goal scoring list and 14th overall in AUS conference history.
Michael becomes only the third X-Men soccer player in StFX history to be named Male Athlete of the Year and the first since current X-Women soccer head coach Trevor Reddick received the award in 1994. The other former soccer alumnus to receive the reward was StFX University President Dr. Sean Riley in 1974.
Suzanne Fenerty is a fourth year Business Administration student from Cole Harbour, NS. A two-time captain of the X-Women hockey team, this veteran on defense helped lead the X-Women to their first ever CIS championship medal with a silver this past March, in addition to their AUS championship victory and 24-0 undefeated regular season. Suzanne finished second amongst all CIS defenseman in scoring (22 points) and earned honors as a CIS 1st team All-Canadian and a CIS championship tournament all-star. This past February she was a gold medal winner with Team Canada at the 2011 Winter Universiade in Turkey.
Suzanne closes her four-year X-Women career as a three-time AUS all-star, a former AUS Most Sportsmanlike Player and a two-time CIS tournament fair play award winner. She becomes only the second X-Women hockey player to win the Female Athlete of the Year award, joining Brayden Ferguson who was a co-winner of the award in 2008.
Kieran Gilfoy is a fifth year Arts student from Antigonish, NS and a captain of the X-Men soccer team. His community service involvement includes being a bus supervisor for the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) members, along with volunteering at L’Arche Antigonish, a vocational day program where members use individualized activities and integrated job opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. Kieran also volunteers several times a week with a local autistic child and has international volunteer experience. He has traveled to Ethiopia to assist with a not-for-profit non-government agency stressing food security in rural areas, and he was a member of the Breaking the Silence delegation, a solidarity group aimed at protecting Guatemalan citizens and raising awareness of human rights violations.
Victoria (Tory) Anderson is a fourth year Business Administration student from Antigonish, NS and a member of the X-Women basketball team. She was the co-chair of the StFX Varsity Council this year and initiated the Height of Hunger fundraiser for the local food bank. She has been involved in the Athletic Department’s X-Out Bullying program, the StFX Business society, Invest-X society and L.E.A.D. (Leadership Education and Development) at StFX. Tory has also volunteered her time with various Naomi Society functions, the X Athletes for Charity event, the Halloween Safe Crossing program, the student food bank, the German Committee and the Antigonish Kids’ First Valentine’s Day dance.
Krista McKenna was honored as the recipient of the StFX Athletics X-Ceptional Award, which recognizes an individual who goes above and beyond their responsibilities and contributes in a positive manner to StFX Athletics. Since its creation about five years ago individuals outside of the athletic department have been honoured but this year StFX Athletics recognized one of their own, Krista McKenna, Varsity Athletics and Sports Information Coordinator. Krista is a graduate of both StFX and UNB and first joined StFX over ten years ago and has been a tremendous asset to the StFX department ever since. “Her positive attitude makes her a joy to work with and her ‘get things done’ professionalism and incredible efficiency allows the athletic department to perform at a higher level,” says Director of Athletics and Recreation Leo MacPherson. Krista is the oil that makes the athletics engine run so efficiently. While on her six month maternity leave this past year, Krista performed a great deal of work to ensure that the student-athlete experience continued at the utmost highest level.
Two StFX varsity teams and three individual track and field athletes received their traditional varsity ‘X’s in honor of their AUS championships from this past season. AUS championship teams included the X-Women rugby and X-Women hockey teams, while individual AUS champion honors in track and field went to Susie Lajoie (60m hurdles), Natalie Kannenberg (3000m) and Connor McGuire (3000m). AUS and CIS All Stars and major award winners were recognized for their achievements and the CIS champion X-Women rugby team received their championship rings. X-Men and X-Women soccer managers Andrew Lichtenfels and Kaitie Unwin received the male and female Student Manager of the Year awards, while all eligible first year athletes received their varsity pins. Individual awards for each varsity team were handed out by StFX coaches to the athletes in the categories as listed below.
2011 StFX Athletic Awards Gala – Individual Award Winners
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Most Improved Player – Jocelyn Moore
Coach’s Award (tie) – Kirsten Jones & Spencer Lockhart
Most Valuable Player – Ashley Stephen
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Rookie of the Year – Terry Thomas
Most Improved Player – Riiny Ngot
Most Valuable Player (tie) – Will Silver & Christian Upshaw
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Rookie of the Year – Liz O’Connell
Coach’s Award (tie) – Bree Bates & Helena Fiore
Runner of the Year – Natalie Kannenberg
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Rookie of the Year – Gabe Quenneville
Coach’s Award – Ivan Lewis
Runner of the Year – Connor McGuire
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Rookie of the Year – Susie Lajoie
Coach’s Award – Rebecca Bell
Track Athlete of the Year – Natalie Kannenberg
MEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Rookie of the Year – Gabe Quenneville
Coach’s Award – Stu MacNeil
Track Athlete of the Year – Connor McGuire
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Rookie of the Year – Alex Normore
Coach’s Award (tie) – Sydnee Parker & Sidney Ritchie
Most Valuable Player – Suzanne Fenerty
MEN’S HOCKEY
Rookie of the Year – Jason Bast
Most Valuable Player – Joey Perricone
Melanson Top Scorer Award – Chris Hulit
Unsung Hero Award – Rob Warner
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Rookie of the Year – Melanie Sunada
Coaches Award (tie) – Nicole MacNeil & Meaghan Ramsden
Most Valuable Player – Anna Thompson
MEN'S SOCCER
Rookie of the Year – Graeme Hodgkinson
Coaches Award – Josh Weinberger
Most Valuable Player – Michael Marousek
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Rookie of the Year – Jessica Roberts
Most Improved Player – Melissa Landry
Most Valuable Player – Katherine Ryan
MEN’S FOOTBALL
Rookie of the Year – Jordan Catterall
Best Defensive Player – Tom Lynch
Best Offensive Player – Stewart Walsh
Most Valuable Player – Henoc Muamba
WOMEN’S RUGBY
Duffley Rookie of the Year – Magali Harvey
Birks Coaches Award (tie) – Tina Hansen & Jamee George
Most Valuable Player – Asya Bartley
(30)