Vancouver Island University’s sports teams won games all season long at the VIU gym, and the players and coaches gathered there once more this month for some more winning.
VIU’s athletics department held its year-end awards the first week of April at the gymnasium.
Winning the Athlete of the Year awards for 2023-24 were volleyball players Linnea Brickwood and Daniel Mascarenhas, both of whom helped their teams to Pacific Western Athletic Association provincial championships and berths at nationals.
The Rookie of the Year awards also went to a pair of volleyball players, with Aimee Skinner and Kolton Rawlusyk honoured.
The night’s other major awards, the Academic Excellence Awards, went to soccer players Mya Creed and Thomas Greze-Kozuki.
According to a VIU Mariners press release, the most emotional moment of the night was an announcement that the Unsung Hero Award for men’s and women’s soccer was being re-named the Reid Davidson Memorial Award, remembering the former winner of that award who died in a car crash last year. Davidson’s parents Mike and Lisa Davidson, his partner Georgia Nicholls and his friend Shea Battie were there to present the awards to Larissa Stefanek and Ashton Bryant.
Unsung Hero Award winners for other sports were Mackenzie Hall and Noah Lehto for basketball and Mika Yamada-McCormick and Emerson Cooke for volleyball.
Top goal scorers from the soccer teams received Golden Boot awards, this year the winners were Jami Hartwich and Billy Bagiopoulos.
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