Labonté, Bielby: McGill’s top athletes
Charline Labonté, the All-Canadian goaltender who led the Martlets to a second consecutive undefeated season, and swimmer Steven Bielby were named female and male athletes of the year, respectively, at the 32nd annual McGill intercollegiate sports awards gala recently.
Chantal Gauvin and Ken Morin, who captained their respective hockey teams to conference titles, received the Muriel Roscoe and Richard Pound trophies, respectively, awarded to graduating athletes for proficiency and leadership.
Hockey’s Guillaume Doucet received the Uldis Auders memorial trophy as the top sophomore in any sport who best combines academics with athletics.
The national champion hockey Martlets and Eastern champion lacrosse Redmen received the Martlet Foundation and Harry Griffiths trophies, respectively, as the varsity team and sports club of the year.
More kudos for Charline
Labonté was also named as the Quebec university female nominee for the BLG Award, sponsored by the law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais and presented annually to the CIS athletes of the year. She is one of four women finalists across Canada up for the award, which will be announced April 27 at the John Bassett Theatre in Toronto. The awards show will air on TSN on Saturday, May 16, at 2 p.m. Earlier this month, Labonté helped Canada earn silver at the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Championships in Finland.
And also from the rink
Marko Kovacevic, a native of Belgrade and forward with the McGill men’s hockey team, earned tournament all-star honours while leading Serbia to its first-ever International Ice Hockey Federation’s Division II, Group A, world hockey championship in Novi Sad, about 80 kilometres northwest of Belgrade. The 23-year-old management senior didn’t have much time to celebrate, however, as he hopped on the next plane back to Montreal to write his final exams.
Soccer players shine
Redmen soccer forward Yohann Capolungo and defender Axel Dovi head a list of four McGill players to merit all-conference honours in the Quebec university men’s indoor soccer league. Both were first-team selections after earning second-team status in the QUSL outdoor league last fall.
Other McGill all-star picks included midfielders Eugene Graske and Cory Marcon who were both named to the second team in voting conducted by the league’s seven coaches.
On the women’s side of the pitch, goalkeeper Shimone Slomowitz and defender Katherine Green earned all-conference honours in the Quebec university women’s indoor soccer league. Both were picked to the league’s