MEN'S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
2024-25 Men's Athlete of the Year: Max Davies (Track & Field)
For a second consecutive season, Max Davies has been named the University of Guelph’s Men’s Athlete of the Year. The 21-year-old endurance runner from Toronto, continued where he left off from a season ago, excelling both indoors, with the Gryphons men’s track and field program, as well as outdoors, with the Gryphons men’s cross country program.
During the 2024 cross country season, Max was named a U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian and an OUA First Team All-Star, while helping lead the Gryphons men’s cross country team to a 4th-place finish in the team standings at the 2024 U SPORTS Cross Country Championships, and a 2nd-place finish in the team standings at the 2024 OUA Cross Country Championships.
During the 2024-25 indoor track and field season, Max was once again in a class of his own. The management major was named U SPORTS (Track) Athlete of the Year for his outstanding performances throughout the course of the 2024-25 season. In doing so, Max became the first Gryphon track athlete in program history to be named U SPORTS (Track) Athlete of the Year on multiple occasions, with Tommy Land (2017-18) the only other Gryphons men’s track athlete to have earned the national award.
At the 2025 U SPORTS Track & Field Championships in Windsor, Max was named U SPORTS (Men’s) Athlete of the Meet after claiming gold in the men’s 1000m, men’s 1500m and men’s 4x800m relay. In the men’s 1000m race, Max broke his own U SPORTS record with a time of 2:20.22. The Gryphons finished 2nd in the overall team standings at nationals.
At the 2025 OUA Track & Field Championships, Max led the Gryphons men’s track and field team to the 2024-25 OUA title, marking the ninth conference banner in program history, with Davies taking home three OUA medals in the process (gold in 1000m, gold in 4x800m relay and bronze in 1500m).
2023-24 Male Athlete of the Year: Max Davies (Track & Field)
The 20-year-old endurance runner from Toronto, set not one, but two U SPORTS records at the 2024 U SPORTS Track & Field Championships in Winnipeg. Davies, who was named the U SPORTS Athlete of the Meet, broke a
12-year-old U SPORTS record in the men’s 1000m (set by former Gryphon, Tommy Lecours, at the 2012 nationals). One day later, in the men's 1500m, Davies broke a 34-year-old U SPORTS record (set in 1990 by UBC runner, Allan Klassen), to claim his second gold medal of the meet. The unforgettable week in Winnipeg by Davies was capped off in the men’s 4x800m relay, where Davies ran the anchor leg and propelled the Gryphons to yet another U SPORTS gold medal.
Prior to the start of the 2024 U SPORTS Track & Field Championships, Davies was also recognized as the U SPORTS (Track) Athlete of the Year, for his outstanding performance throughout the course of the 2023-24 track season, which included a memorable performance at the Penn State National Open in January where he became the 75th Canadian man to run a sub-four-minute mile, posting a University of Guelph school record time of 3:59.24.
Max also competes on the Gryphons men’s cross country team, where he earned OUA First Team All-Star & U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian status while helping the Gryphons capture the 2023 OUA title.
2022-23 Male Athlete of the Year: Mark Bujnowski (Track & Field)
Mark Bujnowski, a 24-year-old agricultural science major, is the University of Guelph's Male Athlete of the Year for a second consecutive year thanks to an incredible senior season with the Gryphons men's track & field team. In his final year of eligibility, Mark dominated at both the provincial and national levels within his disciplines, producing another double-gold medal performance at both the OUA and U SPORTS championships in the men's shot put and weight throw. Leading the way all season long for the OUA and U SPORTS champion Gryphons men's track and field team, Bujnowski's incredible 2022-23 season was recognized at the national level when Mark was named U SPORTS (Field) Athlete of the Year for a record third consecutive season. Bujnowski would make sure to end his decorated Gryphon career on another high note at nationals in Saskatoon, where he would break a 12-year old national record in the men's shot put with his throw of 19.08m. As he did all season, Mark blew away his competition, with his throw at nationals putting him 2.68m ahead of the 2nd-place competitor. Mark ends his Gryphon career with an incredible 7 U SPORTS gold medals to his name.
2021-22 Male Athlete of the Year: Mark Bujnowski (Track & Field)
Mark Bujnowski, a 24-year-old agricultural science major in his fourth year of eligibility, is the University of Guelph’s Male Athlete of the Year for the 2021-22 season following a sensational year with the Gryphons men’s track and field team. 
The 6-foot-4, native of Mount Brydges, Ontario dominated at both the provincial and national levels within his disciplines, producing double-gold medal performances at both the OUA and U SPORTS Track and Field Championships in men’s shot put and men’s weight throw. Leading the way for the Gryphons men’s track and field team, who were crowned OUA and U SPORTS Champions, Bujnowski became the first student-athlete in the history of Gryphons men’s track and field program to be named “U SPORTS Athlete of the Year” on multiple occasions (after having also received the national honour during the 2019-20 season). Over the course of his decorated Gryphon career, Bujnowski has now competed on four occasions at the national Track and Field Championships, and has made an incredible 7 total appearances on the podium, winning 5 U SPORTS gold medals to go along with 1 silver and 1 bronze.
2019-20 Male Athlete of the Year: Job Reinhart (Football | Wrestling)
Job Reinhart earns Male Athlete of the Year honours after yet another standout season as a decorated, two-sport athlete with the Gryphon football and wrestling teams.
The Guelph native, who was selected by the Calgary Stampeders in the 2019 CFL Draft, began his fifth and final year as a Gryphon by anchoring one of the top defensive units in all of U SPORTS football. As the starting middle linebacker on the OUA’s No. 1-ranked scoring defence, Reinhart earned OUA Second Team All-Star honours after racking up 44.5 tackles, 4.5 sacks as well as a forced fumble during an exceptional 2019 season in which the Gryphons posted a 6-2 record en route to reaching the OUA semi-finals.
Aside from his role as the starting middle linebacker, Reinhart has also solidified himself as one of the top special teams players in U SPORTS football, handling long-snapping duties and helping lead the Gryphon coverage units.
Following the football season, Job turned his attention to the wrestling mat, where he reached the podium at both the conference and national levels. At the OUA Championships, Reinhart earned a silver in the men’s 100kg and followed that up by taking home bronze at the U SPORTS Championships. The landscape architecture native ends his Gryphon wrestling career with a total of six medals (four at the OUA level, two at the national level).
2018-19 Male Athlete of the Year: Jace Kotsopoulos (Men's Soccer)
In 2018, Jace Kotsopoulos became just the second player in University of Guelph history to be named the U SPORTS Player of the Year in men’s soccer, joining Robbie Murphy (who took home the national honour in 2011).
Kotsopoulos, a fourth-year economics major from Burlington, finished the 2018 regular season with an incredible 15 goals scored in 16 games played, ranking him 1st in the OUA and 2nd in the entire country in scoring. During Jace’s unforgettable 2018 season, he also officially became the Gryphons all-time leading scorer and now holds the program record with 56 goals scored over his U of G career.
On November 13, 2018, Kotsopoulos was selected 3rd overall in the Canadian Premier League's inaugural U SPORTS Draft, with the Gryphon star striker taken by the league's Hamilton-based franchise, Forge FC.
2017-18 Male Athlete of the Year: Tommy Land (Track & Field)
In 2017-18, fifth year middle distance runner Tommy Land became just the fourth Gryphon ever to earn University of Guelph Male Athlete of the Year honours in consecutive seasons. The Turkey Point, ON native and mechanical engineering student took three gold medals at the OUA Championships, winning the 600m and 1000m events, while also running on the first-place 4x400m relay team.
Two weeks later, he went to the U SPORTS Championships for the final two races of his Gryphon career. And he did not disappoint. Land displayed his finishing kick in both the 600m and 1000m events to overtake opponents at the tape and sweep gold again. His double-gold performance at nationals was also part of a U SPORTS team title, as the Gryphons repeated as national champions in men's track and field.
He was named both OUA and U SPORTS Track Athlete of the Year and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest, most competitive middle-distance runners in collegiate history.
2016-17 Male Athlete of the Year: Tommy Land (Track & Field)
Tommy Land was named the University of Guelph's Male Athlete of the Year following a terrific 2016-17 season in which he helped lead the Gryphons Men's Track & Field team to the fourth national team title in school history.
At the U SPORTS Track & Field Championships in Edmonton, the Gryphons men's Track & Field team produced one of the most dominant performances in CIS/U SPORTS history, finishing atop the team standings with a whopping 141 points (more than the 2nd and 3rd placed teams
combined). Tommy was named the recipient of the George Gemer Award as the Outstanding Athlete of the Meet at nationals after winning gold in the men's 600m and silver in the men's 1000m.
Tommy, a fourth year Mechanical Engineering student from Turkey Point, also ran the third leg of the Gryphons men's 4x400m relay. It was in this event earlier in the year, during the Spire Invitational meet in Geneva, Ohio, where Tommy and his teammates set a Canadian University record for the fastest time ever recorded in the men's 4x400m relay with a Canadian intercollegiate record time of 3.10.83.
Aside from his success at nationals, Tommy and his Gryphons men's Track & Field teammates were equally dominant at the OUA Championships where the Gryphons won a team title, and where Tommy also claimed gold in the men's 600m and silver in the men's 1000m.
2015-16 Male Athlete of the Year: John Rush (Football)
For John Rush, a Niagara Falls native and star middle linebacker with the Gryphon football team, the Athlete of the Year award comes on the heels of a remarkable season, both at the team and individual levels.
Rush and the Gryphons defeated the No. 1-ranked Western Mustangs in the Yates Cup to secure the school's first OUA title in football since 1996. In the process, Rush was named Yates Cup M.V.P. to go along First Team All-Star nods at both the OUA and CIS level. At the Vanier Cup banquet in Quebec City, Rush was named the recipient of the CIS President's Trophy as the top stand-up defensive player in the country. He became the first Gryphon football player to ever receive the national honour.
John has recently signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL and will head west to Manitoba to begin his professional career in May.
Return to Awards Archive
LIST OF UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH MEN'S ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
| Year |
Name |
Sport |
| 2024-25 |
Max Davies |
Men's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2023-24 |
Max Davies |
Men's Track and Field |
| 2022-23 |
Mark Bujnowski |
Men's Track and Field |
| 2021-22 |
Mark Bujnowski |
Men's Track and Field |
| 2020-21 |
* COVID * |
|
| 2019-20 |
Job Reinhart |
Football | Men's Wrestling |
| 2018-19 |
Jace Kotsopoulos |
Men's Soccer |
| 2017-18 |
Tommy Land |
Men's Track and Field |
| 2016-17 |
Tommy Land |
Men's Track and Field |
| 2015-16 |
John Rush |
Football |
| 2014-15 |
Ross Proudfoot |
Men's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2013-14 |
Ross Proudfoot |
Men's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2012-13 |
Anthony Romaniw |
Men's Track and Field |
| 2011-12 |
Robbie Murphy |
Men's Soccer |
| 2010-11 |
Kyle Boorsma |
Men's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2009-10 |
Kyle Boorsma |
Men's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2008-09 |
Kyle Boorsma |
Men's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2007-08 |
Patrick Szpak |
Men's Track and Field |
| 2006-07 |
Scott Van Doormaal |
Men's Swimming |
| 2005-06 |
Jesse Pyatt |
Men's Hockey |
| 2004-05 |
Jamie Cox |
Men's Wrestling |
| 2003-04 |
Kyle Julius |
Men's Basketball |
| 2002-03 |
Mike Ayanbadegjo
Reid Coolsaet |
Men's Basketball
Men's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2001-02 |
Reid Coolsaet
Jamie Cox |
Men's Track and Field | Cross Country
Men's Wrestling |
| 2000-01 |
Sean Sepulis |
Men's Swimming |
| 1999-00 |
Matt Muscat |
Men's Wrestling |
| 1998-99 |
Sean Sepulis |
Men's Swimming |
| 1997-98 |
J.P. Davis |
Men's Hockey |
| 1996-97 |
Matt Mullin |
Men's Hockey |
| 1995-96 |
Zoltan Hunyady |
Men's Wrestling |
| 1994-95 |
Todd Wetzel |
Men's Hockey |
| 1993-94 |
Dave Irwin |
Football |
| 1992-93 |
Tim Mau BB
Mike O'Shea FB
Steve Perkovic HOC |
Men's Basketball
Football
Men's Hockey |
| 1991-92 |
Frank Marof |
Football |
| 1990-91 |
Chuck Sims |
Football |
| 1989-90 |
Tim Mau |
Men's Basketball |
| 1988-89 |
Mike Shoemaker |
Football |
| 1987-88 |
Dan Wicklum
David Guest |
Football
Men's Soccer | Men's Volleyball |
| 1986-87 |
Lou Godry |
Football |
| 1985-86 |
David Guest |
Men's Soccer | Men's Volleyball |
| 1984-85 |
Parri Ceci |
Football |
| 1983-84 |
Sam Benincasa |
Football |
| 1982-83 |
Ray Irwin |
Men's Hockey |
| 1981-82 |
Harry Doering |
|
| 1980-81 |
Tom Heslip |
Men's Basketball |
| 1979-80 |
Ken Hawthorne |
Men's Nordiic Skiing |
| 1978-79 |
Mike McParland |
Men's Hockey |
| 1977-78 |
Mark Brown |
Football |
| 1976-77 |
Richard Deschatelets |
Men's Wrestling |
| 1975-76 |
Bob Sharpe BB
Bruce Morris FB |
Men's Basketball
Football |
| 1974-75 |
Paul Gilson |
Football |
| 1973-74 |
Adam Brown
Bob Sharpe |
Men's Golf | Men's Hockey
Men's Basketball |
| 1972-73 |
Wayne Morgan |
Men's Basketball |
| 1971-72 |
Ken Lockett HOC
Wayne Morgan FB/BB |
Men's Hockey
Football | Men's Basketball |
| 1970-71 |
Don Westlake |
Football | Men's Wrestling |
| 1969-70 |
Ed Millard |
Men's Wrestling |
| 1968-69 |
Grant McLaren |
Men's Cross Country |
| 1967-68 |
Gary Jeffries |
Men's Football | Men's Basketball |
| 1966-67 |
Doug Brown |
Football | Men's Wrestling |
| 1965-66 |
Don Wismer |
Football |
| 1964-65 |
John Jansen |
Men's Wrestling |
| 1963-64 |
Not Awarded |
|
| 1962-63 |
Ray F. German |
Football | Men's Wrestling |
| 1961-62 |
Jim MacMillan |
Football | Men's Wrestling |
| 1960-61 |
John A. Henry |
Football |
| 1959-60 |
Murray Atkinson |
Football | Men's Basketball |
| 1958-59 |
Murray Atkinson |
Football | Men's Basketball |
| 1957-58 |
Stu O'Neil |
Football |
| 1956-57 |
Al Claremont |
Men's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 1955-56 |
Harry Brightwell |
Football | Men's Wrestling |
