KINGSTON, Ont. (May 1, 2020) – McKinley Hunt of the women's rugby team and Ejaz Causer from football were named the top student-athletes for the 2019-20 season. The two athletes were announced winners during the virtual version of the 84th annual Colour Awards for Varsity Teams. Visit www.youtube.com/QueensGaels to catch all the nominees, winners and highlights from the 2019-20 Varsity Team season.

Hunt, this year's PHE '55 Alumnae Award winner, finishes her undergraduate career having been a two-time academic All-Canadian, three time OUA All-Star and three-time All-Canadian.

The fourth-year Gael is a current Canadian senior national team member and has been a dominant player since joining the Gaels. Hunt missed the entire 2018 season due to ACL reconstruction which came just after she made her first appearances with the Canadian National women's team. Dedicating herself to her rehab, McKinley was able to return to the field in top form, contributing to the success of the team. This year she helped lead the Gaels to an OUA Championship and U SPORTS silver medal where she was also named a U SPORTS championship all-star. Hunt will return to the roster next season as she completes her masters in education.

Causer, the Jenkins Trophy recipient for the top male senior student-athlete, captained the team to 474 all-time wins this season.

A defensive standout with the Gaels, Ejaz has led the defensive-back unit and has been consistently among the OUA leaders in pass breakups since 2017.  This 5th year senior, was selected to attend the 2019 CFL regional combine and the 2018 U SPORTS East West Bowl. A true student-athlete, Ejaz has been a four-time Academic All-Star and has twice earned Queen's Athletics' top academic honour as the Nixon Leadership Award recipient posting a perfect GPA. Ejaz's contribution to the community is equally as impressive volunteering with programs such as Autism Mentorship, Revved Up, Martha's Table and conducting local school visits. Ejaz is completing his masters of science studies in Kinesiology and Health Studies, and hopes to pursue a career in medicine.

With many standout performances by individual athletes in 2019-20, the Outstanding Performance of the Year (OPY) honour was awarded to Sophie de Goede from women's rugby and basketball.

It was another incredible rugby year for de Goede as she competed for her country, won an OUA championship, helped the program reach the top spot in the national rankings for the first time in history and aided her team in getting to the U SPORTS national championship match. De Goede represented Canada in the summer with the National Senior Team at the 2019 World Rugby Super Series and was named to the All-World Team from the tournament. As a rugby standout, she was a 1st Team All-Canadian, the OUA MVP and an OUA All-Star helping the Gaels win the OUA championship for the first time since 2013. At the U SPORTS national championship, she was named a tournament all-star as the Gaels made it to the championship match earning silver. Just weeks later her year continued with the women's basketball team where she helped another nationally ranked program to a 15-7 record while finishing sixth in the OUA in rebounds per game and ninth in field goal percentage.

The Alfie Pierce Trophy recipients for top male and female rookie of the year were Lizzie Gibson from women's rugby and Erik Siksna from men's volleyball.

Gibson was named both U SPORTS and OUA Rookie of the Year after an impressive debut with the Tricolour. Gibson finished fourth in the OUA in scoring with 42 points after putting down six tries and kicking six conversions. Only one player outside of Queen's topped the rookie in conference scoring. She was also a key piece of the Gaels OUA championship and U SPORTS silver medal team and was also recognized as both an OUA All-Star and U SPORTS All-Canadian.

Siksna had little trouble adjusting to the pace and high level of OUA volleyball and the numbers proved that. He ranked ninth in the conference in points and 10th in kills, all while maintaining the fourth best hitting percentage in the OUA. He was named the OUA Rookie of the year and an OUA All-Star as the Gaels won the OUA championship defending their title. He also became the first Gael to be named the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year and was named to the U SPORTS All-Rookie team.

The future is bright for Gibson, Siksna and the Gaels.

The Jim Tait Trophy is presented annually to the top performing Varsity Team. The award was presented to the U SPORTS championship team women's cross country. 

It was a historic season for the Queen's Gaels as they won double gold taking both the OUA and U SPORTS titles with the national championship being the first in program history. At the Lehigh Paul Short run against NCAA schools, the Gaels were crowned champions with a 1st overall placing in the Gold race, winning for the first time in team history. A 2nd place finish at the Western Invitation and 1st at the RSEQ/AUS Interlock propelled the team to the provincial championships. Queen's secured their third straight OUA banner with Branna MacDougall finishing second, Brogan MacDougall third and Kara Blair fourth. At the U SPORTS national championship hosted by Queen's at Fort Henry, the Tricolour secured their first national title. The Gaels finished with a team score of 53, beating out second-place Guelph by 21 points. Queen's saw Branna take the bronze, Blair finish fourth and Brogan come in sixth place.

Queen's Athletics and Recreation also honoured its top athletes in the Varsity Club stream last week. Mary Fay from women's curling and Scott Gittens from sailing, claimed the top senior student-athlete awards while the sailing team also earned Varsity Club of the Year. Marlow Benson from women's squash and Alex Sun from men's fencing took home the rookie of the year awards.

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS & RECREATION VARSITY TEAM AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR 2019-20
Jenkins Trophy: Ejaz Causer (Football) 
PHE '55 Alumnae Award: McKinley Hunt (Women's Rugby)
Outstanding Performer of the Year: Sophie de Goede (Women's Rugby & Basketball)
Jim Tait Trophy: Women's Cross Country
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Male): Erik Siksna (Men's Volleyball)
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Female): Lizzie Gibson (Women's Rugby)
Support Services Awards: Nicole Spadaro (Athletic Therapy), Shannon Hill (Athlete Services), Jacline Gnidec (Home Events) and Eric Dixon (Strength and Conditioning)

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS & RECREATION VARSITY CLUB AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR 2019-20
Marion Ross Trophy: Mary Fay (Women's Curling)
Jack Jarvis Trophy: Scott Gittens (Sailing)
Award of Merit Trophy: Sailing
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Female): Marlow Benson (Women's Squash)
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Male): Alex Sun (Men's Fencing)
Varsity Clubs Special Recognition Award: Amelia Knapp