Nov. 2, 2016
 
VICTORIA, B.C. (U Sports) – Wednesday night in Victoria, B.C. at the Women's Rugby All-Canadian Banquet held at the Harbour Centre Hotel & Suites, a total of three Gryphons women's rugby players were named All-Canadians. Fifth year seniors Alex King and Devon Stober were both named First Team All-Canadians, while second year fly half Julia Schell was named a Second Team All-Canadian.
 
The Gryphons kick off their 2016 CIS championships on Thursday night (10pm ET) against the host University of Victoria Vikes. The four-day tournament will wrap up on Sunday, November 6 with the gold-medal final set for 6 p.m. (ET)
 
Championship website

2016 U SPORTS ALL-CANADIAN WOMEN'S RUGBY

FIRST TEAM
 

Pos.	Name	School	Year	Hometown	Program
P	DaLeaka Menin	Calgary	4	Vulcan, AB	Arts
P	Joanna Alphonso	St. FX	3	Ajax, ON	Arts
H	Emily Tuttosi	Calgary	4	Souris, MB	Kinesiology
L	Devon Stober	Guelph	5	Mississauga, ON	Animal Biology
L	Sara Haring	Alberta	5	Sturgeon County, AB	Education
F	Temitope Ogunjimi	Calgary	4	Calgary, AB	Arts
F	Fabiola Forteza	Laval	3	Montreal, QC	Kinesiology
No. 8	Sara Svoboda	McMaster	2	Belleville, ON	Kinesiology
SH	Amanda Smith	Alberta	5	Sherwood Park, AB	Education
FH	Anais Holly	Montreal	4	Montreal, QC	Kinesiology
IC	Alexandra Tessier	Concordia	4	Ste. Clothilde, QC	Math & Stats
OC	Frederique Rajotte	Concordia	4	Markham, ON	Communications
W	Elysa Sandron	Calgary	3	Winnipeg, MB	Sciences
W	Nikki Case	Western	3	Toronto, ON	Sciences
FB	Alexandra King	Guelph	5	Ottawa, ON	Zoology

SECOND TEAM
 

Pos.	Name	School	Year	Hometown	Program
P	Simone Savary	Ottawa	5	Brampton, ON	Health Sciences
P	Colleen Irowa	McMaster	4	Innisfil, ON	Geography
H	Tobi Owotomo	York	2	Mississauga, ON	Kinesiology
L	McKinley Hunt	Queen's	2	King City, ON	Concurrent Education
L	Harley Tucker	Acadia	1	Black Diamond, AB	Kinesiology
F	Gillian Boag	UBC	4	Calgary, AB	Applied Science
F	Julia Folk	Victoria	3	Regina, SK	Science
No. 8	Katie Svoboda	McMaster	3	Belleville, ON	Kinesiology
SH	Justine Pelletier	Laval	1	Ottawa, ON	Kinesiology
FH	Julia Schell	Guelph	2	Uxbridge, ON	Psychology
IC	Nadia Popov	Queen's	2	Newmarket, ON	Life Sciences
OC	Paige Farries	Western	3	Red Deer, AB	Sciences
W	Petra Woods	York	3	Brampton, ON	Accounting
W	Breanna Allison	St. FX	4	Cole Harbour, NS	Arts
FB	Annie Kennedy	Acadia	1	Kingston, ON	Kinesiology

 

---

2016 U SPORTS WOMEN'S RUGBY AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS
 
Player of the year: DaLeaka Menin, Calgary
Rookie of the year: MacKenzie Carson, UBC
Student-Athlete Community Service award: Kelsey Brumm, Acadia
Jim Atkinson Award (coach of the year): Simon Chi, Calgary
 

---

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: DaLeaka, Menin, Calgary

 
Two-time All-Canadian DaLeaka Menin acts as co-captain for the undefeated University of Calgary Dinos women's rugby team. In 2013, Menin was named CIS Rookie of the Year and has been a key component to the Dinos' success ever since.
 
Menin is arguably one of the top front row players in the country. Her unique skill set allows her to play many different styles of rugby. While she prefers to lead by example, DaLeaka is one of the integral drivers of the Dinos culture of hard work and commitment both on and off the field.
 
The Vulcan, Alta. native scored a try in the Dinos' final three regular season games, as well as one in the Canada West finals and is also a key factor on defence for the Dinos. Her combination of athleticism as well as her understanding of the game puts her in a class all by herself. She has the strength and power to be a dominant scrummager, as well as the skills and intuition to be a legitimate attacking threat as a ball carrier and playmaker.
 
This is her first time being named U Sports MVP in her four-year U Sports career, and the first time for an athlete from the Dinos women's rugby program.
 
"Our setpiece is a cornerstone of our success this season and DaLeaka is a big reason we are so dominant," said Dinos head coach Simon Chi. "This season she has raised the bar in Canada West rugby by bringing international quality performances to every game she has played. Her humble demeanor and puritan work ethic lead her to always seek improvement and these attributes will serve her well in life beyond her time as a student athlete."
 
StFX prop Joanna Alphonso, Laval flanker Fabiola Forteza and McMaster No.8 Sara Svoboda were the other nominees.
 

---

 
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: MacKenzie Carson, UBC
Mackenzie Carson burst on to the U Sports rugby scene in a big way this season. The Abbotsford, B.C., native and UBC flyhalf scored a try in her very first game with the UBC Thunderbirds.  She quickly became a point person in the Thunderbirds attack and would go on to score three tries in the 2016 season. Carson was a star for the Yale Lions during her high school career in Abbotsford and was name to Canada's U-20 team this summer that travelled to England.  She also captained the BC team that won the National 7's Championship and the Las Vegas International 7's championship earlier this year.
 
"Mackenzie was able to step into a demanding position (flyhalf) seamlessly," said Thunderbirds head coach Maria Gallo. "Her attitude toward this challenge was remarkable and her ability to adapt was impressive. She has a bright future at UBC!"
 
Scrum halfs Julie Naughler of Saint Mary's, Jordi Ni Nardo of Queen's Justine Pelletier of Laval were also in the running.
 

---

 
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Kelsey Brumm, Acadia
 
A fourth-year kinesiology student from Dartmouth, N.S., Kelsey Brumm is a centre with the Axewomen rugby team.

She is heavily involved in the community. She volunteers her time with an array of initiatives, including the Acadia S.M.I.L.E. program (Sensory Motor Instructional Learning Experience), working with children with autism to develop motor, cognitive and social learning skills. Brumm is the vice president of the Exercise is Medicine group at Acadia, organizing and facilitating community events which promote physical activity and wellness. She is also a volunteer with the Annapolis Valley Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre, which helps patients to recover from cardiac episodes.

Brumm coaches children and adolescents with the Acadia Performance Training program. She is also a social event coordinator for Acadia's kinesiology society.

"Kelsey is simply an amazing young woman," said Axewomen head coach Matt Durant. "What Kelsey manages to accomplish in the realm of her volunteer work is astounding."

"What compounds these incredible accomplishments is that she is also a star in the classroom (an academic all-Canadian), holding one of the highest academic averages on our team. And, she has managed to maintain this level of involvement in volunteer work while simultaneously recovering from a season-ending knee injury last season as well as the subsequent surgical repair and rehabilitation.  It is an amazing example she sets for her teammates and all U Sports student-athletes."
Brumm is the first-ever player from Acadia to be honoured with this award since its inception in 2007.
 
Kendra Blackbourn of Guelph, and Emma Thuot of Carleton were also nominated.
 

---

 
JIM ATKINSON AWARD (coach of the year): Simon Chi, Calgary
 
Simon Chi took over the Dinos women's rugby program in its second year of existence in 2010 and has been head coach ever since. With three Canada West silvers and two bronzes over his career with Calgary, he reached the pinnacle of the program's history by winning their first Canada West Championship this season. He has also led the Dinos to their first appearance on the national stage in 2016 since the inception of the team in 2009. 

"Simon has done a great job leading our women's rugby team for seven of the eight years of the program's history," said Calgary athletic director Christine Stapleton. "This is terrific recognition for Simon and the entire staff that work with the women's rugby program to cultivate excellence on and off the field. We congratulate him on this well-deserved honour."
 
UPEI's John LaBoyne, Ottawa's Jennifer Boyd and Western's John Weller were named coach of the year in the other U Sports conferences this season.
 

---

About U Sports
 
U Sports is the national brand for University Sports in Canada. Every year, over 12,000 student-athletes and 500 coaches from 56 universities vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. U Sports also provides higher performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit usports.ca or follow us on:
 
Twitter: @usportsca
Facebook: @usportscanada
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/usportsca
Instagram: @usportsca
 
-U Sports -
For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy
Manager, Communications
U Sports
Cell: 647-871-7595
ksainteloy@usports.ca
 
Alan Hudes
Coordinator, Communications
U Sports
Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242
Cell: 647-991-5343
ahudes@usports.ca
 
David Conlin
Sports Information Officer
University Of Victoria
Off: 250-721-8410
Cell: 250-418-5633
vicvikes@uvic.ca