WOMEN'S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
2024-25 Female Athlete of the Year: Kelyn Young (Women’s Wrestling)
Kelyn Young is the University of Guelph’s 2024-25 Women’s Athlete of the Year following an unforgettable season on the mat for the Gryphons women’s wrestling team. Kelyn, a psychology major from Brampton, capped off her Gryphon wrestling career in grand fashion at the 2025 Wrestling Canada U SPORTS Invitational Championships in St. Catharines. Fresh off of winning her second career OUA gold medal in the women’s 50kg weight class, Kelyn entered the national championships looking to top the podium for the first time at a U SPORTS Championship. Young was flawless in pool play winning all 4 of her matches to book her spot in the U SPORTS gold medal match. In the gold medal match, Kelyn pinned Brock’s Samantha Romero in the first round to finish first in her weight class to secure a national gold medal. At the conclusion of the national championship, Kelyn was named a U SPORTS major award winner, taking home the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award for the student-athlete who best exemplified sportsmanship and competitive talent throughout the national championship tournament.
At the OUA level, Kelyn was also named a major award winner during the 2024-25 season, as she earned recognition as the OUA Female Wrestler of the Year following the 2025 OUA Wrestling Championships, becoming only the third Gryphon woman ever to win the award, joining Natassya Lu (2016-17) and Tara Hedican (2001-02 & 2002-03). Kelyn’s dominance on the mat was showcased all season as she only allowed two points to be scored on her throughout the 2024-25 wrestling season.
2023-24 Female Athlete of the Year: Martina Fedel (Women’s Hockey)
Martina Fedel, a standout goalie with the Gryphons women’s hockey team, is your 2023-24 Women’s Athlete of the Year. The third-year animal science major put together one of the greatest seasons by a Gryphon goalie in program history. The 21-year-old from Trento, Italy became just the second player in program history to be named
OUA Goaltender of the Year, leading U SPORTS in goals against average (1.03) while finishing 2nd in U SPORTS in save percentage (.953). Fedel recorded five shutouts during the regular season, and recorded three consecutive shutouts to begin the playoffs. In her first three seasons as a Gryphon, Fedel has now recorded more shutouts (19) than she has losses (17), and was named a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian this season.
2022-23 Female Athlete of the Year: Zoe Sherar (Women's Track & Field)
Zoe Sherar wraps up her U of G track career as one of the most accomplished student-athletes in Gryphon Athletics history. During the 2022-23 season, the Toronto native once again helped lead the Gryphons women's track and field program to convincing sweeps of both the OUA and U SPORTS titles. At the OUA Track and Field Championships in Windsor, Zoe helped spearhead the most dominant performance ever at an OUA Championship meet, with the Gryphons women's track team producing a record 225 points in the overall team standings. In the process, Zoe claimed 3 OUA gold medals and became just the fourth Gryphon in program history to earn the title as the
Most Outstanding Performer at an OUA Track and Field Championship meet. At nationals in Saskatoon, the tourism and hospitality major continued to dominate, capturing another three gold medals in the women's 300m, 4x200m relay, and 4x400m relay, helping the Gryphon women secure their 5th consecutive national title. This marks the second time in her Gryphon career in which Zoe has been named the University of Guelph's Female Athlete of the Year, after also having earned the title during the 2019-20 season. Over the course of her five incredible seasons as a Gryphon, Zoe has earned a whopping 12 U SPORTS gold medals.
2021-22 Female Athlete of the Year: Sadie-Jane Hickson (Women's Track & Field)
Sadie-Jane Hickson takes home University of Guelph Female Athlete of the Year honours after a sensational 2021-22 season with the Gryphons women’s track and field and cross country teams.
The 23-year-old Oakwood, Ontario native became just second Gryphon ever in U of G women’s track and field history to be named U SPORTS Athlete of the Meet at the national track and field championships, after taking home a total of
three U SPORTS gold medals, as well as one U SPORTS bronze medal. Hickson’s performance helped lead the Gryphons women’s track and field team to their fourth straight national title, and 6th national title in program history.
The bio-medical science major also earned OUA First Team All-Star status in women’s cross country during the fall semester, where she helped lead the Gryphon women’s cross country team to their first OUA team title in five years.
2019-20 Female Athlete of the Year: Zoe Sherar (Women's Track & Field)
Third-year track standout Zoe Sherar earns Female Athlete of the Year honours following a sensational
2019-20 season in which she earned a total of six gold medals (3 OUA golds, 3 U SPORTS golds) while helping lead the Gryphons women’s track team to both OUA and national team titles.
The Toronto native, who majors in economics and geographic information systems, has quickly established herself as one of the best collegiate long sprinters in Canadians history. Sherar was named the OUA Track MVP for her performances throughout the course of the regular season.
After dominating at the OUA Championships, Zoe capped off her outstanding year with a new school-record in her gold-medal-winning performance in the women’s 300m.
She also was part of a pair of gold medal-winning relay teams, including the women’s 4x400m relay team, who matched their own U SPORTS record with a time of 3:40.08.
Zoe's success on the track was matched by her performance in the classroom, with the economics and geographic information systems major becoming just the third U of G student-athlete to be
named to the prestigious list of U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadians.
2018-19 Female Athlete of the Year: Jenna Westaway (Women's Track & Field)
Jenna’s first season as a Gryphon proved to be historic. The native of Calgary, AB established new Canadian senior records in both the 800m and 1000m events, which helped move her up to eighth and sixth respectively in the world rankings at those distances. And when the provincial and national medals were on the line, the versatile fifth-year athlete was impossible to beat. Jenna was part of Guelph’s gold medal-winning 4x800m relay team at the OUA Championships and then went on to capture U SPORTS golds in the 1000m and 1500m races, as well as anchoring the 4x800m to another first-place finish. Jenna’s effort in the 1000m at nationals set another U SPORTS record and was one of the reasons she was named Female Performer of the Meet.
2017-18 Female Athlete of the Year: Sarah Hammond (Women's Track & Field)
Fourth-year applied human nutrition major Sarah Hammond had an incredible 2017-18 season, sweeping the gold medals in the women's 60m hurdles at both the OUA and U SPORTS Championships. Her 8.18-second run at the OUAs was the fastest time in Canada by any hurdler at the collegiate or post-collegiate level during the 2017-18 season. Sarah also won OUA silver in the women's 60m sprint event. She then equaled a U SPORTS record time of 8.20 in the 60m hurdles at nationals, and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in the 60m event. She was the leading point-getter for her team at nationals, spearheading the Gryphons women's track and field team to the third national title in program hisory (and first since 2013-14)
2016-17 Female Athlete of the Year: Ashley Connell (Women's Track & Field)
Fourth year Brockville native Ashley Connell was named the University of Guelph's Female Athlete of the Year following a double-gold performance at the Track & Field national championships in Women's Shot Put and Weight Throw. Described by her coaches as one of the top female athletes to ever compete at the CIS/U SPORTS level, Ashley is a four-time All-Canadian and seven time OUA All-Star. At the 2016-17 national Track & Field championships in Edmonton, she produced a double gold performance, claiming the title of individual national champion in
both the women’s shot put and weight throw events. She led the Gryphons women’s team to a team title at the OUA Championships and a 2nd place finish in the overall team standings at the U SPORTS Championships. In the process ashley set new school records in both events while also being named a finalist for the U SPORTS Performer of the Meet award.
2015-16 Female Athlete of the Year: Valerie Lamenta (Women's Hockey)
Valerie Lamenta made school history on the national stage this season. The second year goalie from Montreal became the first Gryphon women's hockey player to ever be named the CIS Player of the Year.
The mechanical engineering student led the country in several key statistical categories while also helping the Gryphons bring home the school's first OUA title in women's hockey since 1998 thanks to a convincing 5-1 victory over Western on home ice.
Lamenta's incredible 2015-16 season marked her first season as the team's starting goalie after having served as a backup last year as a rookie. Lamenta posted a sparkling goals against average of just 0.99 while leading the Gryphons to OUA supremacy and a fourth place finish at the CIS Championships.
Return to Awards Archive
LIST OF UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH WOMEN'S ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
| Year |
Name |
Sport |
| 2024-25 |
Kelyn Young |
Women's Wrestling |
| 2023-24 |
Martina Fedel |
Women's Hockey |
| 2022-23 |
Zoe Sherar |
Women's Track & Field |
| 2021-22 |
Sadie-Jane Hickson |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 2020-21 |
* COVID * |
|
| 2019-20 |
Zoe Sherar |
Women's Track & Field |
| 2018-19 |
Jenna Westaway |
Women's Track & Field |
| 2017-18 |
Sarah Hammond |
Women's Track & Field |
| 2016-17 |
Ashley Connell |
Women's Track & Field |
| 2015-16 |
Valerie Lamenta |
Women's Hockey |
| 2014-15 |
Carise Thompson |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 2013-14 |
Kelsey Gsell |
Women's Wrestling |
| 2012-13 |
Britt Benn
Brittany Seidler
Andrea Seccafien |
Women's Rugby
Field Hockey
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 2011-12 |
Jacey Murphy |
Women's Rugby |
| 2010-11 |
Jacey Murphy |
Women's Rugby |
| 2009-10 |
Rachel Cliff |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 2008-09 |
Lindsay Carson |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 2007-08 |
Lindsay Carson |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 2006-07 |
Meaghan Howat |
Women's Rugby | Women's Hockey |
| 2005-06 |
Laura Moulton |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 2004-05 |
Kristina Rody |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 2003-04 |
Jocelyn Cooke |
Women's Rugby |
| 2002-03 |
Tara Hedican
Brooke Hilditch |
Women's Wrestling
Women's Rugby | Women's Wrestling |
| 2001-02 |
Tara Hedican
Michaela McClure |
Women's Wrestling
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 2000-01 |
Heather Loree |
Women's Track & Field |
| 1999-00 |
Pat Marcell |
Women's Baskteball |
| 1998-99 |
Maria Gallo |
Women's Soccer |
| 1997-98 |
Meegan Larsen |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 1996-97 |
Nancy Sweetnam |
Women's Swimming |
| 1995-96 |
Pauline Fox |
Women's Track & Field |
| 1994-95 |
Lynne Forsyth |
Women's Soccer |
| 1993-94 |
Kathy Butler |
Women's Cross Country |
| 1992-93 |
Kathy Butler |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 1991-92 |
Heather Noble |
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 1990-91 |
Wendy Lamers |
Women's Swimming |
| 1989-90 |
Wendy Lamers |
Women's Swimming |
| 1988-89 |
Kathy Lindsay |
Women's Cross Country |
| 1987-88 |
Sarah Hall |
Women's Swimming |
| 1986-87 |
Maria Borges |
Field Hockey |
| 1985-86 |
Michelle Turley |
Field Hockey | Women's Hockey |
| 1984-85 |
Michelle Turley |
Field Hockey | Women's Hockey |
| 1983-84 |
Silvia Ruegger |
Women's Cross Country |
| 1982-83 |
Susan Scherer |
Women's Hockey |
| 1981-82 |
Kelly Rogers
Janet Beatty |
Women's Nordic Skiing
Women's Track & Field | Cross Country |
| 1980-81 |
Silvia Ruegger |
Women's Cross Country |
| 1979-80 |
Candy Clarkson |
Women's Basketball |
| 1978-79 |
Anita Stankus |
Women's Volleyball |
