2010-11 OUA major awards and all-stars announced

HAMILTON, Ont. – Ontario University Athletics (OUA) is pleased to announce the major award winners for the 2010-11 OUA Track and Field season.

York's Dontae Richards-Kwok (Mississauga, Ont.) and Windsor's Noelle Montcalm (Windsor, Ont.) took top honours as recipients of the OUA Outstanding Performer Awards.

Richards-Kwok, the 2008-09 OUA Rookie of the Year, earn the Hec Phillips Trophy after winning four gold medals at the OUA championship. He began his meet by winning the 300m in a time of 33.88 on Friday night, and on Saturday he captured gold in the 60m in a time of 6.76. He then ran the opening leg for the winning 4 x 200m relay team, giving the Lions a big lead they did not relinquish, and wrapped up the competition by running the anchor leg for the Lions 4 x 400m relay team that won the gold medal after entering the event seeded fifth. Richards-Kwok enter this weekend's CIS Championship having already won three career medals at the national meet, including a silver in the 300m last season and gold in the 4 x 200m in each of the last two years.

Montcalm took home the Dr. Wendy Jerome Trophy after finishing atop the podium in the 60m, 60m hurdles, and 300m events at the OUA Championship. She was also part of the Lancers gold-medal winning 4x200m relay team. Montcalm's victory in the 60m was part of a Windsor sweep in the event that saw teammates Nicole Sassine of Windsor, Ont., and Camille Wallace of Toronto finish second and third, respectively. For the last two seasons, Montcalm has been named OUA Female Most Valuable Track Athlete.

Guelph's Tim Hendry of Parry Sound, Ont. was named Most Valuable Male Field Athlete. Undefeated thus far this season in the weight throw, the third-year Marketing Management student won the McGill Team Challenge, York Throws Challenge and the Gryphon Throws Summit. He has the CIS leading weight throw mark by nearly a metre and is ranked second in the shot put. Hendry's best shot put mark is 17.45m while his best weight throw is 18.10m. At the OUA Championships he won the title in men's weight throw with a best throw of 17.39m and was third in the men's shot put with a throw of 16.39m.

Neb Zachariah (Guelph, Ont.) of the Windsor Lancers was named Most Valuable Female Field Performer after putting in two goal medal performances at the OUA Championship. Her two golds met the CIS qualifying standard in the women's long jump and triple jump. Named an OUA all-star in both events, she will try to improve on her provincial titles at the national event.

Zachariah's Lancer teammate Anthony Berkis (Oshawa, Ont.) took home the title of Most Valuable Male track Athlete after a tremendous year for the blue and gold. Named an OUA all-star in Cross Country, Anthony continued his strong performances throughout the track & field season and conference championships. The third year Kinesiology major put in three strong performances at the OUA Championships, capturing two gold medals in the 1000m and 4x800m relay and a silver medal in the 1500m event to help lead the Lancers to their thirteenth consecutive OUA championship team title.

Fifth-year middle distance runner, Melissa Bishop (Eganville, Ont.), captured three gold medals at the OUA Championship en route to being named the OUA's Most Valuable Female Track Athlete. Bishop's dominating performances in the 600m, 1000m and 4x800m races played a key role in the Lancers second straight provincial title.

Ross Proudfoot of Sudbury, Ont. was named the Male Rookie of the Year. The Human Kinetics student had an outstanding first season with the Guelph Gryphons team. He won the men's 3000m at the OUA Championships in a CIS qualifying mark of 8:16.95, in the process he defeated the CIS second, fourth, fifth and sixth ranked athletes going into the event. He returned to action the next day to finish third in the men's 1500m also achieving the CIS automatic standard with a time of 3:51.41. In the process he defeated the CIS third, fourth, sixth and seventh ranked athletes.

Ottawa's first-year sprinter and hurdler Ashlea Maddex (Baylon, Ont.) was named OUA Female Rookie of the Year. The Gee-Gee found success early in the season, and was been able to keep that momentum heading into this weekend's CIS Track and Field Championships in Sherbrooke, Qué. In her university debut on November 27, 2010, Maddex ran a blistering 8.75s to win her 60m hurdles race and to qualify for the national meet. At the 2011 OUA Track & Field Championships, she won silver in the 60m hurdles while achieving a personal best and a new Ottawa record in the 60m dash with a time of 7.82.

Rob Jackson (Guelph, Ont.) of the Guelph Gryphons was given the Student-Athlete Community Service award. The third-year English major is currently ranked 10th in CIS men's 1000m and 13th in the men's 1500m event. While maintaining an 81.2% GPA he is also heavily involved in the community of Guelph. He works with the 'Give Yourself Credit' program that assists high school dropouts trying to obtain high school credits. Rob helps coordinate the physical activity portion of the GYC program. Additionally, he coordinates the KidsAbility jazz improv group which is an organization that works with children and teens that have various disabilities, including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and autism. He also is a volunteer coach with the XtremeTeam, coaching a group of 8-10 year olds in cross country and track and field and also assists with Gryphon Track and Field Camps.

Nancy Spreitzer (Kitchener, Ont.) from the Waterloo Warriors was the recipient of the 2011 Female Student-Athlete Community Service Award. The therapeutic and recreation student is a member of the Interuniversity (IU) Council at the University of Waterloo where she has helped organize several charity events including the "Trick or Eat" event held annually on Halloween as student-athletes collected non-perishable food items for the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. Spreitzer has also been a Team-Up speaker for Waterloo athletics since 2008, where she talks to elementary school kids about the keys to success and the importance of balancing academics and athletics. On top of Spreitzer's community involvement, she has excelled academically being named a CIS Academic All-Canadian twice in her career (2007-08, 2009-10) as well as to the Waterloo President's Athletic Academic Honour Roll (80% + overall average while competing on an interuniversity team). Athletically, Spreitzer has excelled as one of the top triple jumper's to have ever worn the black and gold colours. She was the Waterloo rookie of the year in 2007 and the second best all-time triple jumper with a distance of 11.28m which earned her a second place finish at the 2011 Hal Brown last chance meet in Toronto. Spreitzer finished 12th at the OUA Championship with a triple jump of 11.05m.

After another outstanding season at the helm of the No. 1 ranked Windsor Lancers women's and men's track & field teams, Dennis Fairall was once again named OUA coach of the year in both sports. With both teams dominating performances at the OUA championships, Dennis was awarded the Sue Wise award as female coach of the year for the 16th time, while capturing the Bob Vigars award as male coach of the year for the 18th time over the course of his career.

2010-11 TRACK AND FIELD MAJOR AWARD WINNERS

Hec Philips Trophy – Outstanding Male Performer
Dontae Richards-Kwok – York

Dr. Wendy Jerome Trophy – Outstanding Female Performer
Noelle Montcalm - Windsor

Most Valuable Male Field Athlete
Tim Hendry – Guelph

Most Valuable Female Field Athlete
Neb Zachariah – Windsor

Most Valuable Male Track Athlete
Anthony Berkis – Windsor

Most Valuable Female Track Athlete
Melissa Bishop – Windsor

Male Rookie of the Year
Ross Proudfoot – Guelph

Female Rookie of the Year
Ashlea Maddex - Ottawa

Male Student-Athlete Community Service Award
Rob Jackson – Guelph

Female Student-Athlete Community Service Award
Nancy Spreitzer – Waterloo

Bob Vigars Award – Men's Team Coach of the Year
Dennis Fairall – Windsor

Sue Wise Award – Women's Team Coach of the Year
Dennis Fairall - Windsor

-OUA-