HAMILTON (U SPORTS) - The 2017 U SPORTS football all-stars were announced Thursday evening during the All-Canadian Awards Gala held at the Hamilton Convention Centre.
 
Official Vanier Cup website: www.vaniercup.com
 
The event officially kicked off the ArcelorMittal Dofasco Vanier Cup festivities, which will culminate on Saturday at Tim Hortons Field, where the Laval Rouge et Or and Western Mustangs are set to battle for Canadian university football supremacy starting at 1 p.m. Eastern / 10 a.m. Pacific.
 
Television coverage on Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet ONE and TVA Sports gets under way at 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT with half-hour pre-game shows. The 53^rd U SPORTS championship game is also available online through Sportsnet NOW and TVASports.ca and on the radio at AM900 CHML in Hamilton.
 
Not surprisingly, on defence, the first U SPORTS dream team for 2017 features Queen's linebacker Nelkas Kwemo. The fourth year civil engineering student had an impressive season with Queen's who led the Gaels with 48 tackles on the year, to go along with four sacks and three interceptions, proving to be an ever-present threat to the opposing offence.
 
Kwemo receives his first All-Canadian honour after also being named a first team OUA All-Star for the 4-4 Gaels in 2017.
           
2017 U SPORTS FOOTBALL ALL-CANADIANS
 

FIRST TEAM

Pos.    Athlete                        University      Year    Hometown                 Academic Program              

Offence

QB       Noah Picton                Regina             4          Regina, Sask.             Business Admin.
RB       Alex Taylor                  Western           4          Winnipeg, Man.           Kinesiology     
RB       Ed Ilnicki                     Alberta             5          Spruce Grove, Alta.    Business
IR        Trivel Pinto                  UBC                3          Brampton, Ont.           Arts
IR        Mitch Hillis                   Saskatchewan 5          Saskatoon, Sask.        Kinesiology
WR      Kurleigh Gittens Jr.     Laurier             3          Ottawa, Ont.               Sociology
WR      Kaion Julien-Grant      StFX                2          Toronto, Ont.               Human Kinetics
C         Zach Annen                Carleton          5          St. Thomas, Ont.        Aerospace Eng.
G         Justin Lawrence          Alberta             4          Spruce Grove, Alta.    FPER
G         Andrew Pickett           Guelph            4          Kitchener, Ont.            Human Kinetics
T          Mark Korte                  Alberta             4          Spruce Grove, Alta.    Business
T          David Brown               Western           4          London, Ont.               Science
 
Defence
DT       Vincent Desjardins      Laval               3          Quebec City, Que.      Civil Engineering
DT       Connor Griffiths          UBC                3          Langley, B.C.              Arts
DE       Mathieu Betts              Laval               3          Montreal, Que.            Phys. Ed. & Health
DE       Jadarius Ceasar          Saint Mary's    2          Tuscaloosa, Ala.         Arts
LB        Adam Auclair              Laval               2          Notre-Dame-des-Pins, Que.   Phys. Ed. & Health
LB        Nelkas Kwemo           Queen's           4          Montreal, Que.            Civil Engineering
LB        Jean-Gabriel Poulin    Western           4          St. Nicolas, Que.         King's College
FS       Stavros Katsantonis    UBC                3          Bakersfield, Calif.       Arts
HB       Gabriel Ouellet            Laval               4          Rivière-du-Loup, Que.Kinesiology
HB       Malcom Lee                UBC                3          Surrey, B.C.                Arts
CB       Jamie Harry                Ottawa            3          Lachine, Que.             Psychology
CB       Godfrey Onyeka         Laurier             4          Brampton, Ont.           Arts
 
Special Teams
P          TJ Morton                   Toronto            5          Baltimore, Md.            Criminology
K          Gabriel Ferraro           Guelph            4          Mississauga, Ont.       Management
RET     Johnny King                Saint Mary's    1          Greensboro, N.C.       Arts

 
SECOND TEAM

Offence

QB       Hugo Richard              Laval               4          St. Bruno-de-Montarville, Que. Mechanical Engineering
RB       Nathan Carter             Carleton          2          Ottawa, Ont.                           Communication Studies
RB       Jean-Guy Rimpel       Concordia       3          Montreal, Que.                        Arts & Science
IR        Nathan Rowe              Alberta             1          Calgary, Alta.                          Engineering
IR        Guillaume Paquet       Montreal          4          Montreal, Que.                        Administration
WR      Jacob Scarfone          Guelph            4          London, Ont.                           Management
WR      Jeremy Sauvageau    McGill              2          St. Aug.-de-Desmaures, Que.Management
C         Francis Lapointe         Sherbrooke     5          Lasalle, Que.                           Education
G         Samuel Thomassin     Laval               3          Quebec City, Que.                  Business Admin.
G         Ryan Sceviour            Calgary           4          Calgary, Alta.                          Arts
T          Gustave Sylvestre      Montreal          4          Montreal, Que.                        Arts & Science
T          Maurice Simba           Concordia       3          Laval, Que.                             Religion
 
Defence
DT       Brett Wade                  Calgary           5          Regina, Sask.             Education
DT       Adam Melanson          Acadia             5          Kentville, N.S.             Arts
DE       Kene Onyeka              Carleton          4          Brampton, Ont.           Engineering
DE       Cory Robinson            Calgary           5          Airdrie, Alta.                Arts
LB        Nick Cross                  Regina             1          Regina, Sask.             Kine. & Health Studies
LB        Boston Rowe              Calgary           4          Calgary, Alta.              Business
LB        Mickael Côté               Concordia       5          St. Hilaire, Que.          Arts & Science
FS       François Hamel          Montreal          3          Boucherville, Que.      Phys. Ed. & Health
HB       Jackson Bennett         Ottawa            3          Cumberland, Ont.       Geography
HB       Marc-Antoine Dequoy Montreal          2          Ile Bizard, Que.           Computer Science
CB       Will Maxwell                UBC                4          Calgary, Alta.              Arts
CB       Khadeem Pierre          Concordia       1          Ottawa, Ont.               Sociology
 
Special Teams
P          Félix Ménard-Brière    Montreal          5          Ste. Agathe-des-Monts, Que. Architecture
K          Marc Liegghio             Western           2          Woodbridge, Ont.        King's College
RET     Kurleigh Gittens Jr.     Laurier             3          Ottawa, Ont.               Sociology