W.F. MITCHELL SPORTSWOMAN AWARD
2024-25 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman: Renee Armstrong (Women’s Basketball)
Renee Armstrong of the Gryphons women’s basketball team is this year’s recipient of the W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman of the Year award. Renee is a leader both on and off the court with her commitment to community involvement through basketball and her volunteer work in her hometown of London and here in Guelph. She is a valuable member to the Gryphon community as a member of the Gryphon Sutdent-Athlete-Mentor Program and Gryphon Leadership Academy. Armstrong is an advocate for IEDI and participated in the making of the Black History Month video for the women’s basketball team and is a member of the IEDI Athlete panel. She was a speaker at the President’s Golf Tournament as well as the Gryphons She’s Got Game Gala. Renee also excels in the classroom as an U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian in child and youth studies. Armstrong was named an OUA major award winner as this year’s recipient of the Joy Bellinger Award for her outstanding service to sport and to the advancement of university athletics to go along with their career contributions.
On the court, Renee has impressed for Gryphons women’s basketball team. Armstrong was one of the top distributors in the conference, finishing 5th with 86 assists on the season. One of her standout games of the season came on November 29 against Ontario Tech where was an assist short of a triple double, finishing the game with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists in the win. She also has shown she can take over a game like she did in the playoff game against the Laurier Golden Hawks in the playoffs, finishing with 22 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds and made all 11 of her free throws in the victory.
2023-24 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman: Hannah Tait (Women’s Hockey)
Hannah Tait, the Captain of the Gryphons women's hockey team, has led by example ever since stepping onto U of G campus, with the 22-year-old from Exeter, Ontario immersing herself in a number of areas outside of the hockey rink, including serving as a valuable member of the Gryphons Student-Athlete-Mentor Program and Gryphon Leadership Academy. Tait has also been actively involved as an ambassador with Hockey Gives Blood, while also achieving Academic All-Canadian status while majoring in management economics and finance.
On the ice, the Captain is just as productive. Tait scored 15 goals during the 2023-24 season, ranking her 2nd among the OUA's leading goal scorers, while averaging a point-per-game with 25 points in 25 regular season games played, helping the Gryphons set a new single-season program record with 23 wins. Tait was named an OUA First Team All-Star this season, while also receiving an OUA major award as the OUA True Sport Award recipient.
2022-23 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman: Tyra Boug (Women's Track & Field)
In her four years with the U of G track and field program, Tyra has been a standout member of the Gryphon community both on and off the track. The human kinetics major from Kitchener has been involved in several organizations including MealCare Guelph, the U of G Food Security Working Group, United Proactive Performance, and the Guelph Gryphon Leadership Academy among others. This season, she was named the U SPORTS Track and Field Community Service Award recipient.
On the track, Tyra is one of the best sprinters in the country, capturing four medals at the OUA championships this season, including three gold, before taking top spot on the podium twice at the national championships to go along with a U SPORTS bronze.
2021-22 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman: Burke Bechard (Women's Basketball)
Women’s basketball guard Burke Bechard ends her decorated Gryphon career as the W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman of the Year for the 2021-22 season. For the past five years, Burke has been the heart and soul of the Gryphons women’s basketball team on the court and in the community, with the fifth-year psychology major capping off her career with an impressive senior season where she finished top
two in the OUA in points per game, field goal percentage, and 3-point percentage.
For a third straight year, Burke earned OUA all-star status after being named an OUA West First Team All-Star.
The 23-year-old native of Dover Centre, Ontario, who led her team to a playoff berth in each of her four seasons of on-court action, also became just the third Gryphons women's basketball player in program history to receive the OUA’s Joy Bellinger Award for her outstanding career contributions to OUA basketball.
2019-20 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman: Katherine MacMillan (Field Hockey)
Katherine MacMillan takes home the W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman award after a sensational fifth and final year on the Gryphon field hockey team.
The Kitchener native scored the game-winning goal on home soil in a 1-0 win over U of T in the OUA gold medal game. The victory gave Guelph their first OUA title since 2013 and marked the fifth conference banner in program history.
In 2019, MacMillan also became just the fifth Gryphon field hockey player in school history to be named the national player of the year, as she took home the Liz Hoffman Award at the U SPORTS Field Hockey All-Canadian banquet in Victoria, B.C. where the Gryphons took home national silver medals.
Katherine’s memorable 2019 campaign saw her finished second in the OUA with 12 goals, four of which were of the game-winning variety, leading her to earn U SPORTS All-Canadian honours for the second time in her career.
2018-19 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman: Valerie Lamenta (Women's Hockey)
Valerie has achieved a long list of accomplishments in her five years with the Gryphon women’s hockey program, including a nod as U SPORTS Player of the Year in 2016. The Montreal, QC native added to her amazing legacy this season by winning the OUA Goaltender of the Year award, as well as leading the team to a third McCaw Cup in four years, and the first ever national championship in program history. In eight playoff games in 2019, Valerie allowed just six goals and posted five shutouts, two coming back-to-back in the national semi-final and final. She is as valuable off the ice as on it. Valerie is a graduate of the Gryphon Leadership Academy, a SAM mentor, a Believe to Achieve ambassador, and a volunteer in the Guelph Girls Hockey Association.
2017-18 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman: Celeste Noble (Women's Nordic Skiing)
Celeste Noble is the true definition of a well-rounded student athlete. She overcame health issues in her early varsity years to emerge as the clear leader on the Gryphon Nordic team, showcasing her talent, work ethic, and ability to connect with people. The women's captain, and member of the Leadership Academy, had an incredible season in her final year of competition, leading the Gryphons to a team silver medal at the OUA Championships. She is a prominent figure on campus having co-founded Team Unbreakable – Guelph Chapter, a group dedicated to improving student mental health through running and fostering new friendships. Noble also played in or captained more than 10 intramural teams, all while meeting the rigorous academic demands as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine student.
2016-17 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman: Cierra Carere (Women's Wrestling)
Left-to-right: Jane Moore, Cierra Carere, Justin Springer & Bob Mitchell
Cierra Carere, a four-time medalist at the OUA Wrestling Championships, capped off a tremendous five-year career with the Gryphons varsity wrestling team by earning U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian honours after taking home a silver medal in the women's 59kg weight class during the national championship tournament, hosted by the University of Winnipeg. Cierra's silver medal performance in Winnipeg played a huge part in helping the Gryphons women's wrestling team finish 2nd in the overall team standings. It marked the highest ever ranking by a Gryphons women's wrestling team in the team standings at the national level. Aside from excelling on the mat, Cierra also provided tremendous leadership outside of competition, volunteering her time to help coach wrestling at the high school level while also helping run the annual Canada Cup of Wrestling, an international wrestling competition hosted by the Gryphons.
2015-16 W.F. Mitchell Sportswoman: Allison Chute (Field Hockey)
Allison put together a decorated field hockey career at UofG: a 3-time OUA all-star and 2-time CIS all-Canadian, she led the country in scoring this past season with 20 goals. Described by her coach as an individual with exceptional work ethic and a positive attitude, Allison has provided leadership for her squad both on and off the field. Aside from helping the gryphons to four OUA medals and three CIS medals. She has also garnered attention from field hockey canada with several invites to national team camps.
Return to Awards Archive
LIST OF WINNERS OF THE W.F. MITCHELL SPORTSWOMAN AWARD
| Year |
Name |
Sport |
| 2024-25 |
Renee Armstrong |
Women's Basketball |
| 2023-24 |
Hannah Tait |
Women's Hockey |
| 2022-23 |
Tyra Boug |
Women's Track and Field |
| 2021-22 |
Burke Bechard |
Women's Basketball |
| 2020-21 |
* COVID * |
|
| 2019-20 |
Katherine MacMillan |
Field Hockey |
| 2018-19 |
Valerie Lamenta |
Women's Hockey |
| 2017-18 |
Celeste Nobel |
Women's Nordic Skiing |
| 2016-17 |
Cierra Carere |
Women's Wrestling |
| 2015-16 |
Allison Chute |
Field Hockey |
| 2014-15 |
Katie Mora |
Women's Hockey |
| 2013-14 |
Amy Wise |
Field Hockey |
| 2012-13 |
Nadine Frost |
Women's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2011-12 |
Caitlin Beaton |
Women's Rugby |
| 2010-11 |
Brienne Stairs |
Field Hockey |
| 2009-10 |
Kriss Wishart |
Field Hockey |
| 2008-09 |
Kris Yallin |
Women's Basketball |
| 2007-08 |
Michelle Moody |
Women's Track and Field |
| 2006-07 |
Stephanie Yallin |
Women's Basketball |
| 2005-06 |
Brae Anne McArthur |
Women's Track and Field |
| 2004-05 |
Lindsay Trimble |
Field Hockey | Women's Hockey |
| 2003-04 |
Stephanie McKenzie |
Women's Soccer |
| 2002-03 |
Michaela McClure |
Women's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2001-02 |
Kristina Rody |
Women's Track and Field | Cross Country |
| 2000-01 |
Pat Marcello
Leigh Anne Swayne |
Women's Basketball
Women's Rugby |
| 1999-00 |
Lyanne Durand |
Women's Volleyball |
| 1998-99 |
Kristy Newton |
Women's Basketball |
| 1997-98 |
Laurie Halfpenny |
Women's Soccer |
| 1996-97 |
Laurie Townshend |
Women's Basketball |
| 1995-96 |
Cassie Campbell |
Women's Ice Hockey |
| 1994-95 |
Lynne Forsyth |
Women's Soccer |
| 1993-94 |
Stephanie Sears |
Women's Nordic Skiing |
| 1992-93 |
Kelli Chittick |
Field Hockey |
| 1991-92 |
Heather Noble |
Women's Cross Country |
| 1990-91 |
Wendy Lamers |
Women's Swimming |
| 1989-90 |
Jenny Pettersen |
Women's Ice Hockey | Soccer |
| 1988-89 |
Kellie Sanderson |
Field Hockey | Women's Hockey |
| 1987-88 |
Maria Borges |
Field Hockey |
| 1986-87 |
Michelle Turley |
Field Hockey | Women's Ice Hockey |
| 1985-86 |
Julie Hanley |
Field Hockey |
| 1984-85 |
Jocelyn Laviolette |
Women's Basketball |
| 1983-84 |
Karen McBride |
Field Hockey |
| 1982-83 |
Bev Rankin |
Field Hockey |
| 1981-82 |
Fiona Rintoul |
Women's Tennis |
| 1980-81 |
Kim DeLuca |
Women's Swimming |
| 1979-80 |
Ginny Honeyman |
Field Hockey |
| 1978-79 |
Judy Watson |
Women's Basketball | Field Hockey |
| 1977-78 |
Linda Kazienko
Jill Carruthers |
|
