2010 AUS women's rugby awards announced

HALIFAX, N.S. - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2010 women's rugby major award winners as selected by the conference's four head coaches following the regular season.

The 2010 Atlantic University Sport Most Valuable Player is Tyson Beukeboom (Uxbridge, ON) of the CIS No. 3 ranked StFX X-Women.

Beukeboom, who had a breakout season last year with the X-Women and was named the StFX team rookie of the year, returned this season as an impressive force on the rugby pitch for the defending AUS champions and CIS silver medalists.

Tyson, a second year Human Kinetics student, scored five tries for 25 points in six regular season games this year to rank sixth in league scoring and was also named to the AUS all-star team earlier this week. A 2009 CIS tournament all-star, she will look to lead the X-Women back to the CIS Championship game for the third consecutive year.

"Tyson has matured into a great on-field leader for our program in just her second year," says StFX head coach Mike Cavanagh. "Her vision and technical knowledge of the game sets her apart from most of her peers. She is always around the ball and is our go-to person in lineouts."

Beukeboom will represent Atlantic University Sport as the conference's nominee for the CIS Player of the Year. The only Atlantic conference women's rugby player to have ever won this award is former StFX star Ghislaine Landry, who was named the CIS Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008.

Magali Harvey of the No. 3 ranked StFX X-Women has been chosen as the Atlantic conference Rookie of the Year.

Harvey joined the X-Women this season from Quebec City where she has filled a void left by graduating rugby phenom Ghislaine Landry.

Magali scored 12 tries and added 13 conversions for 86 points in six AUS regular season games to lead the conference in scoring this season. She was named an AUS all-star earlier this week and should prove to be an impact player for the X-Women in future seasons.

"Magali has amazing speed and lateral movement which enables her to score from anywhere," says X-Women head coach Mike Cavanagh. "Her kicking is second to none and her work ethic and determination will make her great leader for our team for years to come."

Former StFX standout and CIS Player of the Year Ghislaine Landry is the last Atlantic conference player to be named CIS Rookie of the Year in 2006.

First year Acadia head coach Matthew Durant has been chosen by his peers as the Atlantic University Sport Coach of the Year.

In Matthew's first year with the Axewomen program, he compiled a 4-2-0 regular season record and added a semi-final win last weekend against Saint Mary's to advance to the Subway AUS Women's Rugby Championship this Sunday at StFX.

Hired in mid-summer, Durant was able to attract several quality student-athletes to Acadia and put together a competitive team despite having a short recruiting period. The Axewomen's only two losses during the regular season came at the hands of the 12-time defending AUS champion StFX X-Women.

Matthew, who is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Nutrition and Dietetics at Acadia, has an extensive background in rugby as a player and administrator.

As a current player of the Valley Bulldogs RFC, Durant captained the Bulldogs to three McCurdy Cup (NS Premier Division) championships in the past five years as well as the Maritime Premier Division Caledonia Cup Championship in 2008.

Named as the Nova Scotia Premier Division League MVP in 2005, Durant is also a past captain of the Nova Scotia Senior Keltics in the Rugby Canada Super League (2006, 2007). Durant was also the President of the Valley Bulldogs RFC for seven years prior to his appointment as President of Rugby Nova Scotia in 2007.

StFX's Mike Cavanagh is the only AUS head coach to be named CIS Coach of the Year, which he won in 2001.

The 2010 Student-Athlete and Community Service Award recipient is Jamee George of the StFX X-Women.

Jamee has been the X-Women rugby representative on the StFX Varsity Council for the past two years and her volunteer work and community involvement has been extensive over the past year. This past summer she was involved with Sport Manitoba running a kayaking club in her hometown of Brandon, MB. She was the co-coach of the first ever dragon boat team from Brandon this past summer that competed in a Winnipeg Festival.

George volunteered this past spring with her former high school rugby team as an assistant coach and was a volunteer at the Regional Health Center in Brandon where she interacted with patients and played games to keep them occupied.

While at StFX, Jamee has given her time at a number of events including the Tim Horton's Cupful a Cure fundraiser for the local hospital, the Halloween Safe Crossing Program, and the Olympic torch relay celebration. She has been involved with the annual 'X Athletes for Charity' event, a multi-sport fundraising event run by StFX athletes for the benefit of local charities. She has participated in door-to-door fundraising for the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) and is enrolled in the service learning program at StFX where she is working with Special Olympics.

Over the Christmas break in Manitoba, she volunteers with a respite community with children who have intellectual and physical disabilities and this coming Christmas break will help serve Christmas dinner for underprivileged individuals.

In addition to her community service involvement, Jamee is a three-time AUS all-star. She scored four tries for 20 points in six games played with the X-Women this season and was ninth overall in AUS scoring. George has also been a Dean's List student in each of her first two years at StFX.

"Jamee is a very well-rounded student-athlete. Not only has she been a Dean's List student in each of her two years at StFX, but she has been a three-time AUS all star and a consistent player for us year in and year out on the rugby pitch," says StFX head coach Mike Cavanagh. "Between her academics and playing schedule she still manages to take part in an impressive amount of volunteer work and community service."

The 2010 Subway Atlantic University Sport Women's Rugby Championship game is being held this Sunday, October 31st at 1:00pm in Antigonish, N.S.

The championship game features the CIS No. 3 ranked StFX X-Women hosting the Acadia Axewomen. In last weekend's AUS semifinal, Acadia defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 17-12 in sudden-death overtime to move on to the final, which will be available live via webcast. Visit www.goxgo.ca for webcast information.

The AUS champion will advance to the 2010 CIS Women's Rugby Championship being hosted by Trent University, November 4-7 in Peterborough, ON.

Source:

AUS