Frédérique Rajotte, Francis Carter and Anthony Beauregard named athletes of the year
The Concordia Stingers wrapped up the 2017-18 athletic season with their annual awards gala on April 6 at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall. The Stingers celebrated their successes this season, during which two teams won championships, and they were able to laugh about the not-so-good moments.
The Stingers held a cocktail party before the gala for all its athletes, which created an energetic atmosphere in the auditorium.
“We don’t always get together, but we see each other [around the complex] and we’re happy,” said fifth-year rugby player Frédérique Rajotte after the event. “It’s a big camaraderie and it’s very special.”
Here’s a breakdown of how each team did this season, and which players won each team’s most valuable player (MVP) and rookie of the year (ROY) awards.
Women’s hockey
The women’s hockey team was the most successful team this year. They had a 14-4-2 record during the regular season, and went on to win the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) championship in March. They won the bronze medal at the U Sports national championship. A few of their players also picked up awards at the gala.
MVP: Claudia Dubois
ROY: Lidia Fillion, who also won the overall rookie of the year award.
President’s Academic Award: Alexandra Nikolidakis and Audrey-Anne Allard
Fittest Female Athlete: Melinda Prévost
Men’s hockey
The men’s hockey team didn’t share the same success as the women’s team, despite finishing the regular season with a 18-7-3 record. They won the bronze medal in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference, and athletics director D’Arcy Ryan told the crowd, “bronze is the new gold.”
MVP: Anthony Beauregard, who also won the Stingers male athlete of the year.
ROY: Carl Neill, also named Stingers male rookie of the year.
Men’s rugby
The men’s rugby team won Concordia’s other championship this season, also winning the RSEQ title. They had a perfect 9-0 season in provincial play, but lost both games at nationals. They were easily the rowdiest team at the awards gala, bouncing an oversized beach ball around.
MVP: Charles Debove
ROY: Sebastian Iaricci
Marvin Cooper Award for overcoming adversity: Moritz Wittmann
Ron Lapointe Award for leadership and community service: Andreas Krawczyk
Women’s rugby
The women’s rugby stars, Rajotte and Alex Tessier, stole the show. Rajotte was also the female athletic valedictorian, and she said some of the smaller teams like wrestling, golf and cross-country deserve praise too. “I don’t think we talk about many of the teams, like wrestling that kill it every year, and deserve that recognition,” Rajotte said. “All those teams need to be recognized even if they’re not the main face of social media.”
MVP: Rajotte, also named as Stingers female athlete of the year.
ROY: Shawna Brayton
Michael Di Grappa Award for senior distinction: Alex Tessier
Wrestling
The wrestling team often goes unnoticed when compared to other Stingers teams. Head coach Victor Zilberman’s squad picked up major hardware this season, and continued to do so at awards night. At nationals, the team finished in second place.
MVPs: Jade Dufour and Francis Carter. Carter was also named male athlete of the year alongside Beauregard, and earned the President’s Academic Award.
ROYs: Laurence Beauregard and Alex Moore
Michael Di Grappa Award for senior distinction: Vincent De Marinis
Soccer
Simon Malaborsa of the men’s team picked up the MVP and ROY of the year honours. Olivier Georges was the male athlete valedictorian. The women’s team also collected a few distinctions. Chama Sedki’s long-distance goal in a September game was voted by the athletes as the play of the year.
MVP: Chama Sedki
ROY: Imane Chebel
Denise Beaudet Award for leadership and community service: Laura Lamontagne
After the event, men’s hockey defenceman Neill said all the athletes are part of the Stingers family.
“It’s fun to recognize all the teams at once, and all the teams appreciate the other teams,” Neill said. “You saw when we played [in the playoffs] against McGill, every team was present, and we support other teams too.”
Other Teams
Football
MVP: Mickael Côté, also named fittest male athlete.
ROY: Khadeem Pierre
Basketball
MVPs: Ken Beaulieu and Caroline Task
ROYs: Anthony Sonogo and Coralie Dumont. Dumont was also named a Stingers rookie of the year.
Baseball
MVP: Stefan Brady
ROY: Kyle Hazel
Cross-country
MVPs: Gabrielle Boyer-Antoni and Rikirogo Shinozuka
ROYs: Brittany Jackson and Ben Daurodovicious
Golf
MVPs: Ali Koury and Warren Sellors
ROYs: Maria Veronica Noriega and Ryan Mitchell
Main photo by Alex Hutchins.
