Rugby player Alexandra Tessier was named Female Athlete of the Year and hockey player Anthony De Luca earned Male Athlete the Year honors at the annual Concordia Stingers gala awards banquet attended by more than 400 people on April 6 at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall in Montreal.
A fourth-year inside centre, Tessier is the recipient of Female Athlete of the Year for the second time in her career. Her first honour came in 2015.
For the third consecutive season, she was an RSEQ all-star and a U SPORTS all-Canadian. Last November, she was also named to the all-star team at the national championship in Victoria. B.C., where Tessier helped the Stingers finish fifth in the nation.
“She can carry a game by herself,” says her head coach Graeme McGravie. “And I don’t think there are many people in the Quebec league or in the country that can do that. Defensively she is a rock. People look to her to be the game-breaker for us.”
Tessier also juggled national team commitments this season representing Canada on a tour to Ireland in November and in tests versus the U.S. in San Diego earlier this month.
De Luca made Concordia history when he was presented the 2016-17 Clare Drake Award for U SPORTS Men's Hockey Rookie of the Year last month. He is the first Stinger hockey player to win the national award.
The five-foot-10, 210-pound forward ranked second in U SPORTS for goals scored with 24 and fourth in scoring with 43 points.
A first team OUA East all-star, De Luca proved to be the most dangerous player in the conference while on the man-advantage, scoring a league-high 13 goals on the power-play.
De Luca helped the Stingers finish the year with 19 wins and 40 points in 28 games making the 2016-17 regular season their best in more than 30 years.
A complete list of award winners is below:
Ron Lapointe Award for academics, athletics and community service – Phil Hudon, hockey
Denise Beaudet Award for academics, athletics and community service – Frédérique Rajotte, rugby
Male Rookie of the Year – Anthony De Luca, hockey
Laurie Brodrick Award/Female Rookie of the Year – Caroline Task, basketball
Fittest Female Athlete – Frédérique Rajotte, rugby
Fittest Male Athlete – Simon Chang, football
Marvin Cooper Award - presented to a student-athlete who has successfully overcome adversity – Mickael Côté, football
President's Awards (combination of athletics and academics)- Alexandra Nikolidakis, hockey; Patrick Mills, football
Michael Di Grappa Award of Distinction for career contribution to Stingers – Marilyse Roy-Viau, basketball
Athletic Valedictorians – Antoine Marchand, hockey; Emily Hickson, rugby
