Penney and Akpan named U SPORTS rugby All-Canadians

Carissa Norsten named most valuable player in U SPORTS women's rugby

Carissa Norsten of the Victoria Vikes has been named the 2025 U SPORTS women's rugby player of the year. The announcement was made on Thursday evening at the All-Canadian awards ceremony in Vancouver, host of the 2025 CGIS U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship, presented by The Rec Room Granville. 

Other major award winners include Grace Dingwall of Ottawa, who was named rookie of the year; Heavlyn Sekyere of Waterloo, who won the student-athlete community service award; and Brittany Waters of Victoria, who won the Jim Atkinson Award as the Fox40 Coach of the Year. In addition to the major award winners, the first and second team All-Canadians were announced. A list of those honorees is included at the end of this release.

Action resumes on Friday as the championship semifinals are set for 4 and 6:30 p.m. at Thunderbird Stadium, with the consolation semifinals earlier in the day at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Tickets for the event are currently on sale at usportstickets.ca and the entire championship can be viewed on CBC Sports digital platforms in English, Radio-Canada digital platforms in French.

Player of the year – Carissa Norsten, Victoria

Carissa Norsten, the fourth-year fullback, was a key piece to the Vikes' undefeated season, gold medal win at the Canada West Championships and the top seed at the U SPORTS championship. Norsten led the Vikes in tries scored this year with eight, including two in the semi-final game and one in the gold medal game. The product of Waldheim, Sask., is a veteran on the Vikes' team who uses her leadership, game savviness, and raw talent to be a gamechanger on the field. She won U SPORTS rookie of the year honours in 2022 and is a two-time First Team All-Canadian. 

 is the first UVic player to win national player-of-the-year honours.

Other nominees: Brielynn Murrant (Acadia), Corinne Fréchette (Laval), Lizzie Gibson (Queen's). 

Rookie of the year  – Grace Dingwall, Ottawa

Grace Dingwall led the RSEQ with 10 tries on the season and was tied for fifth overall in the country in that category. The 18-year-old's 50 points tied her for fourth in the RSEQ and ninth in Canada. The Ottawan helped lead the Gee-Gees to a 5-1 regular season record and an RSEQ silver medal. 

Dingwall, who was also named a Second Team All-Canadian, is the first Gee-Gee be be named national rookie of the year.

Other nominees: Brown'nesha Willis-Glasgow (STFX), Lily Vandenhoek (Brock), Poppy-Anne Elcock (UBC).

Student-Athlete Community ServiceAward – Heavlyn Sekyere, Waterloo

Heavlyn Sekyere is a very prominent member of the Waterloo Warriors' campus community through not only her volunteerism, but the extensive ways she engages with everyone she meets. 

The life sciences student is a member of various campus clubs such as the Black Association for Student Expression (BASE), which facilitates mentorship, outreach, and cultural engagement of Black people and Black culture. She is also a member of the Athletics Alliance, which advocates for and establishes systemic changes for the Waterloo Black, Indigenous, and racialized community.

Sekyere is a guest speaker for Adulting 101, an outreach program that takes place in local high schools and aims to help ease the transition from high school to post-secondary education.

From Dundalk, Ont., she is a founding member of the Pencil Project, which compiles and publishes the successes of first-generation immigrants from Grey-Bruce County, a project founded with the hopes of creating a sense of unity and inclusion for the larger community.

On the rugby pitch the Warriors 'co-captain and co-manager of the social media team, Sekyere played all six games for the Warriors, scoring two tries.

Other nominees: Katie Murphy (STFX), Fatima Ramadan (Carleton), Molly Stetsko (Alberta).

Jim Atkinson Award (Fox 40 coach of the year) – Brittany Waters, Victoria

Victoria head coach Brittany Waters added the 2025 Jim Atkinson Award to her loaded trophy case. Waters is completing her 11th season as coach of the Vikes; her teams have won medals each year at the Canada West Championships under her watch. The Vikes have won two conference titles, seven silver medals and a bronze during her spell in Victoria. 

This year, Victoria went undefeated in the regular season including a season sweep of arch-rivals UBC and captured the Canada West title and the top seed at this year's U SPORTS championship, where they are looking to upgrade from the silver medals they won in 2023 and 2024.

Other nominees: Mike Cavanagh (STFX), François Vachon-Marceau (Laval), Dan Valley (Queen's).

2025-26 WOMEN'S RUGBY AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-CANADIANS

Major Awards

Player of the Year:  Carissa Norsten, Victoria
Rookie of the Year:  Grace Dingwall, Ottawa
Student-Athlete Community Service:  Heavlyn Sekyere, Waterloo
Jim Atkinson Award (Fox40 Coach of the Year):  Brittany Waters, Victoria

First Team All-Canadians

Second Team All-Canadians