Briercrest Male and Female Athletes of the Year
Briercrest hockey player Jacob Baribeau joined volleyball star Samantha Zacharias in receiving the top awards of Briercrest Male and Female Athletes of the Year at the Briercrest Athletics Awards Night Tuesday, April 4.
Samantha Zacharias was the star of the night as she was also recognized by the ACAC that night as ACAC Women’s Overall Athlete of the year. A special presentation was also made for her as only the third ever ACAC women’s volleyball player to reach 1,000 kills in a career and for other awards including ACAC Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year, and CCAA Women’s Volleyball All-Canadian. She was also selected ACAC South All-Conference Team.
Zacharias is a fourth-year BA Business Administration student-athlete from Waldheim, SK. The outside hitter’s performance was a huge part in leading Briercrest to their best season since joining the ACAC (20-4 in league play). She led the CCAA in kills with 347, service aces with 99 and points with 459.5.
Briercrest Male Athlete of the Year was fourth-year hockey captain Jacob Baribeau. Baribeau tied for ninth in ACAC scoring with 25 points, and 11th with 11 goals (tied with Josh Peters for points and second to his 12 goals). The Dorchester, ON native led the league with two hat tricks and had the only four goal game of the season. The BA Business Administration student didn’t miss a game during his four years at Briercrest.
Other nominees for the Athlete of the Year Awards were Abigael Klassen (women’s basketball), Ben Kornelsen (men’s basketball) and Calvin Sawatzky (men’s volleyball).
The Junior Varsity Athletes of the Year this year were awarded to Alex Linnell for the men and Taylor Mitchell for the women. This is awarded to student-athlete that demonstrates the Briercrest way through their character, athletic ability, team success, community standards, and league awards in non-ACAC sports. Linnell was the starting setter for the JV volleyball team and starting point guard for the JV basketball team this year. He was ranked fourth in PAC with 20.4 points per game. Mitchell was selected after being a starting middle on the JV volleyball team and a PAC all-star in JV basketball.
Two student-athletes were recognized for their five years of service at Briercrest. Hockey recognized Luke Syrenne (BA Business Administration) and Christian Mueller (BA Business Administration).
Syrenne and Mueller were joined by Melanie Hill (BA Psychology, Softball), Amy Wanvig (BA Applied Linguistics, women’s basketball), Ben Feere (BA Psychology, men’s hockey), Calvin Sawatzky (BA Biblical Studies, men’s volleyball) and Brad Harms (BA Youth Ministries, men’s volleyball) in being recognized as graduating student-athletes.
“Fifth year awards symbolize the student athlete’s commitment to Briercrest, commitment to finishing a degree and a commitment to making sacrifices to be part of our program,” Athletic Director Nigel Mullan said.
“We want to honour these graduating athletes because we feel that commitment is what allows our teams to develop the culture. Without fourth and fifth year players on our teams it is hard to develop that culture that we’re after.”
Other awards presented at the April 4 awards night included:
Community Involvement Award: Alexis Ferguson (Surrey, BC) was awarded the Community Involvement Award for her service during the 2016-17 season.
Other nominees for this award were: Kyle Helsloot (men’s basketball), and Brooke German (women’s JV basketball).
Female Rookie of the year: Sophie Mayerle is an Open Studies – Pre-Health student-athlete from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The forward led Briercrest (15th in the ACAC) with 13.1 points per game, while also ranking seventh in the ACAC with 73 free-throws.
The other nominee for this award was Helen Blen (women’s volleyball).
Male rookie of the year: Bryan Fountain (Barrhead, AB) was selected as Briercrest Male Rookie of the Year after a great all-around year that results in him being selected as ACAC South Men’s Volleyball Rookie of the Year. The BA General Studies student helped Briercrest to a 13-11 record and re-entering the playoffs after a two-year absence.
Other nominees for this award were Brandon Tolentino (men’s basketball) and Daniel Dekoning (men’s hockey).
Female athlete of the year: Sam Zacharias
Male athlete of the year: Jacob Baribeau
Most Improved Players: Varsity volleyball – Matt Ginter and Emma Neustaedter; Varsity basketball – Brandon Tolentino and Emilie Peters; hockey – Tristan Hermanson; Softball – Makayla Tashiro; JV volleyball – Landon Rayner and Morgan Patsack; JV basketball – Jesse Rask and Myrian Jovel; Soccer – Riley Gratrix and Sasha Kozun; Running – Katja Barnard.
Most Valuable Players: Varsity volleyball – Dalon Hordyk and Sam Zacharias; Varsity basketball – Ben Kornelsen and Abi Klassen; hockey – Jacob Baribeau; Softball – Laura Vogt; JV volleyball – Emile Perrault and Syndey Klassen; JV basketball – Alex Linnell and Nicole Peterson; Soccer – Josh Adrian and Myrian Jovel; Running – Sarah Groat.
Minor Official Award: Alexis Ferguson
ACAC All-Conference: Ashley Zacharias – volleyball, Karina Peterson – volleyball, Sam Zacharias – volleyball
WCSA Women’s Softball All-Star: Second Team – Sarah Richards
ACAC Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year: Sam Zacharias
ACAC Men’s Volleyball Rookie of the Year: Bryan Fountain
CCAA All-Canadian Team: Sam Zacharias
Graduating player awards: Christian Mueller, Luke Syrenne, Ben Feere, Jacob Baribeau, Melanie Hill, Amy Wanvig, Calvin Sawatzky and Brad Harms.
Fifth year player awards: Christian Mueller and Luke Syrenne.
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