Laurentian honours their top Voyageurs at year-end banquet

The Laurentian Voyageurs handed out their annual awards on Thursday night.

Leading the way were basketball player, Kadre Gray, and swimmer, Riley Konrad, who were named the Male and Female Athletes of the Year.

The Female and Male Rookie of the Year awards went to swimmers Carling Stever and Mitchell Cox while Connor Vande Weghe from the men’s soccer team was presented with the prestigious Voyageur Award.

Gray took his game to another level this season where he led OUA and U SPORTS in scoring, averaging 31 points per game. Gray also led OUA and U SPORTS in free throws made with 160 and finished second in the conference and third in the country with 124 assists.

After helping Canada win a pair of World Cup qualifiers in November, Gray was named the OUA and U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.

Konrad led the charge in the pool for the Voyageurs women this year in her final season. She began the season with four individual gold medals at the Divisional Championships in November before grabbing silver in the 400 IM at the OUA Championships in February.

Konrad was also recognized with the OUA Award of Distinction. The award is given to any swimmer who has medaled in individual events at the OUA Championships in three or more years and has scored points at the U SPORTS Championships.

Capping her season off at the U SPORTS Championships, Konrad made the finals in each of the four disciplines she swam, highlighted by a ninth place finish in the 400 IM.

Following in Konrad’s wake, first year swimmer, Carling Stever, began her career as a Voyageur in a big way, grabbing an individual gold, a trio of individual silvers and a relay silver at the Divisional Championships. She followed that up with a trio of final swims at the OUA Championships, highlighted by a fourth place finish in the 400 IM.

Mitchell Cox made his mark on the Voyageurs’ men’s swim team early in the season, capturing an individual gold, a pair of individual silvers and a relay silver at the Divisional Championships, helping the men earn their first ever Divisional title.

At the OUA Championships, Cox was a member of the bronze medal winning 800 freestyle relay team while qualifying for a trio of finals.

The Voyageur Award is a prestigious award presented to a graduating student-athlete who has made an outstanding contribution to their sport and to Voyageur Athletics throughout their university career.

This year, Connor Vande Weghe was the lone recipient of the Award.

A two time OUA all-star, the goalkeeper of the men’s soccer team has volunteered with GSSC for the past four years as a goalkeeper coach, also taking on head coaching roles within the association in different years. He has also helped coach at St. Benedict CSS for the past four years, giving back to his former high school team.

Team awards were also handed out on Thursday night in the Ben Avery Gym.

Here are the recipients from the various teams:

Men’s Golf
MVP – Liam Hamiln
Pride & Tradition Award – Dale Valade

Women’s Golf
MVP – Gracen Lacko
Pride & Tradition – Emily Hreljac

Men’s Nordic Skiing
MVP – Matteo Reich
Pride & Tradition – Thomas Gore

Women’s Nordic Skiing
MVP – Lydia Harris
Pride & Tradition – Katherine Grove

Women’s Cross Country Running
MVP – Jenny Bottomley
Pride & Tradition – Nicole Rich

Men’s Cross Country Running
MVP – Paul Sagriff
Pride & Tradition – Liam Passi

Women’s Indoor Track
MVP – Megan Crocker
Pride & Tradition – Erin Hansel

Men’s Indoor Track
MVP – Justin Graenert
Pride & Tradition – Eric Gareau

Women’s Soccer
MVP – Catherine Rocca
Pride & Tradition – Brianne Rodrigue

Men’s Soccer
MVP – Evan Stronach
Pride & Tradition – Roman Lovrencec