KINGSTON, Ont. (March 28, 2018) – Claire Sumner (Calgary) of the women's cross country team and both Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) of the men's hockey team and Kainoa Lloyd (Mississauga, Ont.) were named the top student-athletes for the 2017-18 season. The three athletes were announced winners at the 82nd annual Colour Awards Varsity Team athletic banquet Wednesday night at the ARC Main Gym.

Sumner, this year's PHE '55 Alumnae Award winner, finished her cross country career at Queen's as a four-time U SPORTS All-Canadian and was also a BLG finalist in 2017.

The fifth-year life sciences student was the U SPORTS MVP in 2016 and individually raced to gold and silver at nationals. At the OUA level, she is a four-time All-Star and was the 2016 MVP and gold medalist. Last season she was named the OUA's top female athlete across all sports and claimed the Gaels Oustanding Performance of the Year award. As a team, she helped the Gaels break the Guelph Gryphons OUA podium streak capturing gold this past fall. In her four years as a Gael, she has two U SPORTS team silvers, one bronze and two OUA silvers and a bronze to go along with this year's gold. 2017 also saw Sumner claim the Athletics Canada cross country championship in a race at Fort Henry.

For the first time since 1992-93, the Jenkins Trophy for the top male senior student-athlete saw a tie. Both Abraham and Lloyd were announced as this year's recipients.

Abraham was an All-Canadian this past season and has represented U SPORTS in an All-Star competition vs the Canadian Junior Team for three straight years. As a rookie, he was named the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year and to the All-Rookie team. At the OUA, Abraham is a four-time All-Star and has been the recipient of four major awards including top defenceman twice and most sportsmanlike.

The first-year law student was the team captain this past season and helped to lead the Gaels to a program record 19 win season. In 2016-17 he helped to guide the Gaels back to the Queen's and University Cups for the first time since 1981. He has been an academic All-Canadian every year and has completed a pair of National Hockey League tryouts with the Florida Panthers. A year ago he suited up for Canada at the FISU games in Kazakhstan and skated away with a bronze medal for his country.

Lloyd has been a dominant force on the rugby pitch for the Gaels in his time at Queen's. A three-time OUA All-Star Lloyd was named the man of the match in the gold medal game this past year where the Gaels re-claimed the Turner Trophy as Ontario champions. In his time at Queen's Lloyd has been a member of four OUA championship teams and also added a silver medal.

The computing student has also excelled at the national and international levels representing Canada throughout his time at Queen's. He currently competes with the national senior men's program as they prepare for World Cup qualifier matches and has seen time in previous seasons with the National A team. Lloyd also finds time to give back having been active in the team's Run for the Cure, Gaels Care and other Varsity Leadership Council initiatives.

With many standout performances by individual athletes in 2017-18, the Outstanding Performance of the Year (OPY) honour was awarded to McKinley Hunt (King City, Ont.) of women's rugby.

Hunt had a truly remarkable year at many different levels of competition. With the Gaels, she was named a first-team U SPORTS All-Canadian and OUA All-Star helping the Tricolour get to the national championship as the OUA silver medalists. Her accolades didn't stop there however as she captained the Canadian U20 team to a pair of victories in a series against the United States then was named to the Canadian Senior women's team where she donned the maple leaf to face off against England in a three-game series form Wickenham, United Kingdom.

The Alfie Pierce Trophy recipients for top male and female rookie of the year were Sophie de Goede (Victoria) from women's rugby/basketball and Zane Grossinger (Richmond Hill, Ont.) from men's volleyball.

A two-sport athlete in rugby and basketball, de Goede took the rugby scene by storm earning the U SPORTS and OUA rookie of the year honours. She performed so well at the national championships that she was named to the U SPORTS championship all-star team and also earned an OUA All-Star honour. On the hardcourt, de Goede quickly picked up the pace of the OUA and finished as the Gaels leading rebounder. She led all OUA rookies in rebounding and was second in steals for OUA rookies.

Grossinger saw a tremendous season where he was honoured with a spot on the U SPORTS all-rookie team while also being named the OUA rookie of the year. Grossinger had such a strong season with the Gaels quarterbacking the offence from the setter position that he was also named an OUA All-Star. Statistically, he finished third in the OUA in assists per set and was fifth in digs. He helped the Gaels get to the OUA finals and U SPORTS national championship in head coach Brenda Willis' final season.

The future is bright for both de Goede, Grossinger and the Gaels.

The Jim Tait Trophy is presented annually to the top performing Varsity Team. The award was presented Wednesday night to the OUA champion men's rugby team.

It was a dominant performance from the Gaels from start to finish under the leadership of first-year head coach David Butcher.

The Gaels completed a season that was about as close to perfect as a team could come. Not only did they run the table to go 10-0, at no point during the year did the team ever trail on the scoreboard. They hosted the reigning champions Guelph at Nixon Field and easily defeated the Gryphons to claim the Turner Trophy. Queen's finished with six OUA All-Stars and two major award winners.

Not only did they find success on the field of play but they continue to be a program that leads the way in the community. The Rugby team raised an astounding $24,200 in the Run for the Cure this year and also contributed to other charitable initiatives such as Soul Foods, Martha's Table, Movember, Extra Awesome/Happy Soul and various rugby outreach programs in the Kingston community.

The Michael J. Rodden Award was given out during the event Wednesday night. First presented in 1978 by the Queen's University Council on Athletics "To Honour the Man, and his Life in Sports," it is awarded for generous support and goodwill towards the Queen's University Athletic Programs. This year's recipient is Tom Harris, Vice Principal Advancement.

On Tuesday, Queen's Athletics and Recreation honoured its top athletes in the Varsity Club stream. Nora Kamal from Women's Squash and Zachary Baum from Sailing, claimed the top senior student-athlete awards while Women's Squash earned Varsity Club of the Year. Kiah Shanks from Women's Lacrosse and Alex Collins from Men's Squash took home the rookie of the year awards.

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS & RECREATION VARSITY TEAM AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR 2017-18
Jenkins Trophy: Spencer Abraham (Men's Hockey) & Kainoa Lloyd (Men's Rugby)
PHE '55 Alumnae Award: Claire Sumner (Women's Cross Country)
Outstanding Performer of the Year: McKinley Hunt (Women's Rugby)
Jim Tait Trophy: Men's Rugby
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Male): Zane Grossinger (Men's Volleyball)
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Female): Sophie de Goede (Women's Rugby/Basketball)
Michael J. Rodden: Tom Harris
Support Services Awards: Katherine Bernard Yip Choy (Athletic Therapy), McKinley Hunt (Athlete Services), Elyse O'Brien (Home Events) and Isaac Seabrook (Strength and Conditioning)

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS & RECREATION VARSITY CLUB AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR 2017-18
Marion Ross Trophy: Nora Kamal (Women's Squash)
Jack Jarvis Trophy: Zachary Baum (Men's Sailing)
Award of Merit Trophy: Women's Squash
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Female): Kiah Shanks (Women's Lacrosse)
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Male): Alex Collins (Men's Squash)
Varsity Clubs Support Service Award: Erin Lee
 

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