Wrestler Veronica Keefe was named Female Athlete of the Year and rugby player Joey Fulginiti earned Male Athlete the Year honours at the annual Concordia Stingers gala awards banquet attended by more than 400 people on April 12 in Montreal.
Veronica Keefe is an exceptional fourth-year athlete from Winsloe North, P.E.I, who was a star in CIS wrestling and representing Quebec and Canada on the international scene.
At the university level, she won a gold medal in the 72 kilos weight class at the CIS national championship at University of New Brunswick last month. Her efforts helped the Concordia women’s team finish fifth overall. Over the course of the year, she represented Concordia at eight competitions, winning gold medals in seven of them. Her win-loss record was 23 and 2.
She excelled on the international scene as well. As the only gold medallist for Quebec at the Francophonie Games in Nice, France last September, Keefe served as the flag-bearer at the closing ceremonies. She also won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Championships in South Africa last December.
Keefe is a Sport Canada carded athlete who trains twice a day, 12 months a year and is aiming to represent Canada at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
Joey Fulginiti was the recipient of the Dr. Robert J. Brodrick Award presented annually to the top male athlete at Concordia University.
The third-year fly half/fullback from Ile Bizard, Que. was the leading scorer in the RSEQ men’s rugby conference. In eight regular season games he scored a phenomenal 121 points on six tries, 14 converts and 21 penalty goals. The second scorer in the rankings recorded a mere 48 points.
Fulginiti was named the MVP in five out of eight regular season games and received the honour again after the Stingers’ semifinal victory.
The Finance major was also named Concordia Male Athlete of the Week on five occasions this fall.
Fulginiti is a member of the 2013 Quebec conference all-star team. It’s the second year in a row he’s received the honour. The Concordia team captain was also named the RSEQ MVP.
Head coach Clive Gibson says, “It’s rare in a coach’s career to get an opportunity to work with an athlete who so totally dominates the competition. He was a joy to coach – hard-working, dedicated and skillied. As a graduating Stinger Joey’s contribution both on and off the field will be missed.”
A complete list of award winners is below:
Ron Lapointe Award for academics, athletics and community service – Olivier Hinse, men’s hockey
Denise Beaudet Award for academics, athletics and community service – Jaymee Shell, women’s hockey
Male Rookie of the Year – Vince Di Marinis, wrestling
Laurie Brodrick Award/Female Rookie of the Year – Alex Tessier, rugby
Fittest Female Athlete – Audrey Morand, hockey
Fittest Male Athlete – Mikaël Charland, football
Marvin Cooper Award - presented to a student-athlete who has successfully overcome adversity – Alexandre Lemire, football
President's Award (combination of athletics and academics)- Roberto Zapata, baseball; Elizabeth McDonald, soccer
Michael Di Grappa Awards of Distinction for career contribution to Stingers – Max Caron, football; Hughanna Gaw, rugby
Men's MVPs
• Baseball: André Lagarde, Jean-Christophe Paquin
• Basketball: Adam Chmielewski
• Cross-country: Francis Dumoulin
• Football: Quinn Smith
• Golf: Jacob Peterson
• Hockey: Olivier Hinse
• Rugby: Joey Fulginit
• Skiing: Charles-Antoine Cloutier
• Soccer: Jose Prida
• Wrestling: Jordan Steen
Women's MVPs
• Basketball: Kaylah Barrett
• Cross-country: Elizabeth Morusa
• Hockey: Gabrielle Meilleur
• Rugby: Hughanna Gaw
• Skiing: Annie Boyer-Laporte
• Soccer: Kayla Myre
• Wrestling: Veronica Keefe
Male Rookies
• Baseball: Anthony Marandola
• Basketball: Josue Smith Telfort
• Cross-Country: Nick Pevato
• Football: Neil Riley-Grant
• Golf: Paolo Addona
• Hockey: Gabriel Bourret
• Rugby: Anthony Fraschetti
• Skiing: Charles-Antoine Cloutier
• Soccer: Massimo Tartaglia
• Wrestling: Vincent de Marinis
Female Rookies
• Cross-Country: Stéphanie Lavigne
• Hockey: Marie-Joëlle Allard
• Rugby: Alex Tessier
• Soccer: Alyssa Ruscio
• Skiing: Annie Boyer-Laporte
