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BlackBerry CIS athletes of the week (#9): Toronto’s Watson, Saint Mary’s Gigolaj honoured
OTTAWA (CIS) – Toronto field hockey player Kaelan Watson
and Saint Mary’s soccer player Elvir Gigolaj are the
BlackBerry Canadian Interuniversity Sport female and male athletes
of the week for the period ending Nov. 7, 2010.
Watson, a third-year physical education and health student from
Richmond, B.C., was named MVP of the CIS championship after she
helped the Varsity Blues capture their 11th McCrae Cup in Guelph,
Ont. The 5-foot-5 defender, who was selected as an all-Canadian for
the third straight year prior to the national tournament, led the
third-seeded Blues to a perfect 5-0 record – a first for the
team at Nationals since 1996 – including a pair of wins over
defending CIS champion UBC, 1-0 in the preliminary round and 2-1 in
Sunday’s title match. Watson was named player of the game in
both victories against UBC and scored the game-winning goal in a
4-1 round-robin upset win over No. 1-ranked Guelph.
Rugby players Magali Harvey of St. Francis Xavier and Erika
Hamilton of Concordia and Saskatchewan hockey player Breanne George
were also nominated for the women’s award.
Gigolaj, a first-year arts student from London, Ont., scored the
winning goal and was named game MVP in both Saint Mary’s
victories at the AUS championship in Moncton as the Huskies
captured the conference title and qualified for this week’s
CIS tournament in Toronto. The 6-foot-1 striker tallied twice in
Saturday’s 3-2 semifinal win over Dalhousie, including the
game-winner in overtime, and broke a 1-1 tie in the 61st minute of
Sunday’s 2-1 gold-medal victory against Cape Breton. The
Huskies, still looking for the first national title in program
history, kick off the CIS championship Thursday at 1:30 p.m. versus
Alberta.
Soccer players Julien Priol of Laval and John Smits of Toronto and
Brandon volleyball player Paul Sanderson were the other male
nominees.
Female nominees:
AUS: Magali Harvey, rugby, StFX
RSEQ: Erika Hamilton, rugby, Concordia
OUA: Kaelan Watson, field hockey, Toronto (recipient)
CWUAA: Breanne George, hockey, Saskatchewan
Male nominees:
AUS: Elvir Gigolaj, soccer, Saint Mary’s
(recipient)
RSEQ: Julien Priol, soccer, Laval
OUA: John Smits, soccer, Toronto
CWUAA: Paul Sanderson, volleyball, Brandon
-CIS-
