Hutchinson Jr., Atkinson take home top hardware at Niagara College’s 50th Athletic Awards Banquet

Posted: Apr 12, 2019

April 12, 2019…WELLAND, ONT. - Three OCAA (Ontario Colleges Athletic Association) medals, three CCAA (Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association) Academic All-Canadians, and playing host to the 2019 CCAA Women's Volleyball championship, it's safe to say the Niagara College Department of Athletics and Recreation had plenty to celebrate Friday night.

The Niagara Knights celebrated the 50^th edition of their annual athletic awards banquet in an evening spent recognizing the achievements of student-athletes and coaches. A total of 121 individual awards were handed out over the course of the night-a perfect backdrop for saluting the college's 50 years of honouring dedication to athletics and academic excellence.

The evening's top athletic honours saw a basketball program sweep, with Van Hutchinson Jr. (3^rd year, Nassau, Bahamas, General Arts) and Bridget Atkinson (4^th year, Protection, Security and Investigation, Welland) being named the 2018-19 Niagara College Knights Male and Female Athletes of the Year.

Hutchinson had a record setting season for Knights. The third year Bahamas native set four single-season Knights men's basketball records (points, rebounds, assists and steals) and two career records (assists and steals). His standout season earned him the nod for the OCAA Player of the Year- a first for the men's basketball program- as well as OCAA First Team All-Star and CCAA All-Canadian honours. Hutchinson helped lead his team to their first OCAA medal since 2008-2009, third in team history, at the OCAA Championship this season.

After competing for Brock University and The University of Guelph, Atkinson suited up for the Knights women's basketball program this season helping secure an 11-9 regular season record and a bronze medal finish at the OCAA Championship. Atkinson was an anchor for the Knights all year long, not only leading her team in all major stat categories, but finishing atop the OCAA stat leaderboard in field goals made, steals, assists and free throws made. Her play at the OCAA Championship earned her Tournament All-Star recognition, netting 34 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Atkinson was honored as the OCAA Defensive Player of the Year, as well as a West Division First Team All-Star.

Taking home the year's top Female and Male Leadership awards were men's volleyball fifth year Ben Fillmore (5^th year, Sales and Marketing, Port Dover), and local product Kara Latham (3^rd year, Fitness and Health Promotion, Welland) from women's soccer.

Top Rookie of the Year Honours went to Madelyn Berg (1^st year, Police Foundations, St. Catharines) of women's volleyball and men's soccer player Oti Frigole (1^st year, Social Services, St. Catharines).

While the evening was spent celebrating athletic accomplishments, the success in the classroom did not go unnoticed. With three Niagara Athletes named CCAA Academic All-Canadians, one of the most prestigious honours from the CCAA, several Knights athletes maintained top GPA's this season. Golf's Chris Hallborg (1^st year, Professional Golf Management, St. Catharines) and women's volleyball player Anica Haberstock (1^st year, General Arts and Science, Vernon, B.C.) took home the Top Scholastic Awards, notching an impressive 95% and 99% respectively.

Full list of 2018-2019 award recipients:

Luciano Berardocco Memorial Award: Nick Brayford, Marketing and Communications Intern

Ralph Nero Award: Rob Lalama, Head Coach, Women's Soccer

Athlete of Distinction:

Men's Basketball – Van Hutchinson Jr., Kevin Cooper & Alex Elliot

Men's Soccer - Jordi Amores, Jacob Therrien, David Fimiak, Quinton Leone

Men's Volleyball - Tristan Swinden

Women's Basketball - Kim Shepard

Women' Soccer - Lauren Fresca, Amanda Borowski, Kara Latham, Michelle Maecker, Samantha Macsai

Fourth Year Recognition Award:

Men's Basketball – Jordon McDonald

Golf – Logan Lammerant

Men's Soccer – Alexander Latham, Quinton Leone, Jordi Amores

Men's Volleyball – Tristan Swinden

Women's Volleyball- Jordan Koslowski

OCAA All-Academic Award:

Cross Country – David Ahong, Malachi Clark, Melanie Forget, Shannon Rotteveel, Peter Van Den Bos, and Christopher Vonlanthen,

Golf - Spencer Gates, Chris Hallborg, Logan Lammerant, Marshall Pemberton

Men's Basketball – Keveshan Padachey, Jonathan Ravn

Women's Basketball – Hannah Baker, Steenika Gilbert, Kimberly Shepard

From Women's Basketball & Soccer - Sophia Al-Kayed

Men's Soccer – Nolan Bradshaw, Matthew Ilao, Patrick Loanidis, Alexander Latham, Anuo Makinwa

Women's Soccer – Daniela Aguire, Ashley Bruzzese, and Renee LaFranc

Men's Volleyball – Nicholas Buckborough, Elijah Bugiardini, Benjamin Filmore, Dominic Scibetta, Robert Zalewski

Women's Volleyball – Madelyn Berg, Olivia Burnie, Natasha Desjardins, Tamara Edwards, Anica Haberstock, Jordan Koslowski, Veronika Latawiec, Melissa McFadden, and Taylor Montana

CCAA Academic All-Canadians:

Women's Soccer- Sophia Al-Kayed

Women's Volleyball- Jordan Koslowski, Madelyn Berg

CCAA All-Canadians:

Men's Soccer-Jordi Amores

Men's Basketball-Van Hutchinson Jr.

Team MVP Awards:

Golf- Marshall Pemberton

Cross Country- David Ahong

Men's Volleyball- Jayden Milne

Women's Soccer- Lauren Frasca

Men's Soccer- Jordi Amores