2009 OUA cross country awards and all-stars announced

HAMILTON, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons cap off a fantastic running season with major award recognition, as Ontario University Athletics (OUA) announce the 2009 major award winners.

The men's team coach of the year honour is given to Guelph's Dave Scott-Thomas. Scott-Thomas led the men's team to a fifth consecutive OUA championship this year and their ninth since 1999. This year's award makes it the 13th for the long-time cross-country coach, signifying his vast contributions to the University of Guelph's varsity cross-country program, as well as the sport as a whole. His men finished 1-2-3-5-6 at the OUA championship, setting a new OUA record for lowest team score of 17, displacing the Windsor Lancers former mark of 18 set in 2003.

Curt Bolton of the Queen's Gaels is the coach of the year on the women's side. Bolton has been with the program for 35 years, when he started as an assistant track and field coach. In 1977, he became the co-head coach of the women's team for 12 years and led the team to the first-ever Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA) championship in 1977. He helped the women's team to two more OWIAA titles in 1978 and 1979. After a decade off from coaching, Bolton returned to Queen's women's cross-country team in 2000 as an assistant coach and took over head coach duties last year. The Gaels finished third in the 2009 OUA championship last Saturday.

The OUA male student-athlete community service award is presented to Queen's Matt Hulse (Hartington, Ont.). The fourth-year physical education student has been tremendously involved in his community and dedicates his time to many causes and organizations.

Husle volunteers as the deputy officer for special projects in the AMS (Queen's student government) sustainability office. In this position, he is responsible for setting up and providing students with information and opportunities to get involved with sustainability issues and projects on campus.

Husle also travelled to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 24, 2009 to take part in the global action day known as "350", in which people in 170 countries around the world gathered to demonstrate and let world leaders know their opinions on climate change. Husle also has a volunteer placement working with a girl with cerebral palsy, helping her with exercises and stretches.

While on student exchange at the University of Western Australia in the winter of 2009, Husle became involved in the Trinity College residence community service and environment committee. He organized and directed a college energy and water challenge: a competition that took place over eight weeks between the five residential colleges at the school. Throughout the eight weeks, he educated the residents on various topics including water, energy, waste, recycling, climate change, and composting.
 
The OUA female student-athlete community service award is presented to Jessica Pearo (Richmond Hill, Ont.) of the McMaster Marauders.

Most recently, Pearo volunteered as a marshal for the Terry Fox Run that was held on McMaster's campus in September, helping with the coordination of marshals for the event.

In December, 2008 Pearo participated in the Salvation Army Christmas gift handout. She assisted in the organization of donations the distribution of the gifts to disadvantaged families.  

In addition, Pearo has volunteered her time collecting donations through the Salvation Army Christmas "kettles" campaign. For the past four years, she has volunteered during the holiday season collecting donations for this very worthwhile campaign.

In the summer of 2007, Pearo traveled to Panama for 10 days with the Salvation Army and aided in the construction of a home for a disadvantaged family.

The OUA most valuable runners by virtue of their victories last Saturday at the OUA cross-country championships are Allan Brett (Ottawa) of the Gryphons and Megan Brown (Toronto) of the Toronto Varsity Blues. Genevieve Lalonde (Moncton, N.B.) of the Gryphons and Andrew Nixon (Thunder Bay, Ont.) of the Lakehead Thunderwolves are women's and men's rookies of the year, respectively.

The Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Cross-Country Championships are hosted by Queen's University on Saturday, Nov. 14.

2009 OUA CROSS-COUNTRY AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-STARS

Men's Most Valuable Runner - Allan Brett (Guelph)
Women's Most Valuable Runner - Megan Brown (Toronto)
Men's Rookie of the Year - Andrew Nixon (Lakehead)
Women's Rookie of the Year - Genevieve Lalonde (Guelph)
Men's Coach of the Year - Dave Scott-Thomas (Guelph)
Women's Coach of the Year - Curt Bolton (Queen's)
Male Student-Athlete Community Service - Matt Hulse (Guelph)
Female Student- Athlete Community Service - Jessica Pearo (McMaster)

MEN'S ALL-STARS (by order of finish at OUA championship)

First-Team
1. Allan Brett (Ottawa) - Guelph
2. Kyle Boorsma (Guelph, Ont.) - Guelph
3. Matt Brunsting (Stirling, Ont.) - Guelph
4. Dave Weston (Windsor, Ont.) - Windsor
5. John Parrott (Newmarket, Ont.) - Guelph
6. Nigel Wray (Oshawa, Ont.) - Guelph
7. Kyle O'Neill (Aylmer, Ont.) - Western   

Second-Team
8. Adam Keller (French Village, N.B.) - Windsor
9. Mike Del Monte (Guelph, Ont.) - Toronto
10. Robert Koziarski (Mississauga, Ont.) - Guelph
11. Andrew Nixon (Thunder Bay, Ont.) - Lakehead
12. Matt Hulse (Hartington, Ont.) - Queen's
13. Andrew Aguanno (Etobicoke, Ont.) - Windsor
14. Robert Jackson (Guelph, Ont.) - Guelph

WOMEN'S ALL-STARS (by order of finish at OUA championship)

First-Team
1. Megan Brown (Toronto) - Toronto
2. Erin McClure (Waterloo, Ont.) - Toronto
3. Rachel Cliff (Vancouver) - Guelph
4. Courtney Laurie (Toronto) - Guelph
5. Genevieve Lalonde (Moncton, Ont.) - Guelph
6. Dayna Pidhoresky (Tecumseh, Ont.) - Windsor
7. Jessica Pearo (Richmond Hill, Ont.) - McMaster

Second-Team
8. Lindsay Furtado (Brampton, Ont.) - Guelph
9. Lynn Mockler (London, Ont.) - Western
10. Jess Van Hie (Alisa Craig, Ont.) - Guelph
11. Sara Giovannetti (Mississauga, Ont.) - McMaster
12. Laura McIvor (Burnaby, B.C.) - Guelph
13. Jillian Wyman (Dundas, Ont.) - McMaster
14. Lorelle Convery (Toronto) - Western

2009 OUA CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

OUA Men's Results (html)
OUA Men's Results (pdf)
OUA Women's Results (html)
OUA Women's Results (pdf)