November 4, 2005
MERVIN NAMED CIS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
OTTAWA (CIS) – Flanker Barbara Mervin, from the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, is the 2005 Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s rugby player of the year.
Other major award winners announced on Thursday evening during the All-Canadian Banquet held at the Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites in Victoria include University of Lethbridge’s Ashley Patzer (Lethbridge, Alta.), who claimed Tissot rookie-of-the-year honours, and Laval University’s Bill McNeil (Glasgow, Scotland), named coach of the year following the Rouge et Or’s CIS debut.
Mervin, 23, a native of Peterborough, Ont. was named OUA Sheils Division MVP after scoring a conference-best eight tries in five regular-season games. The fourth-year Mustang co-captain added five tries in a 52-0 shutout of the Waterloo Warriors in the conference semi-final round, en route to leading defending CIS champion Western Ontario to its third consecutive OUA title. A two-time all-Canadian and four-time OUA all-star, Mervin, who earned CIS rookie-of-the-year honors in 2002, has been a member of the Canadian U23 program for the past two years, and earned her first senior cap this summer against the defending world champion New Zealand Black Ferns at the Canada Cup Tournament in Ottawa.
“Barbara is a powerful runner and an excellent defensive player who continually applies pressure on the opposition to create turnover opportunities”, commented Mustangs head coach Natascha Wesch, the first CIS women’s rugby coach of the year back in 1998. “Her support play creates an exciting link between back line attack and forwards support, enabling great continuity of play.”
(Source: Michel Bélanger, Communications Manager, CIS)
Other major award winners announced on Thursday evening during the All-Canadian Banquet held at the Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites in Victoria include University of Lethbridge’s Ashley Patzer (Lethbridge, Alta.), who claimed Tissot rookie-of-the-year honours, and Laval University’s Bill McNeil (Glasgow, Scotland), named coach of the year following the Rouge et Or’s CIS debut.
Mervin, 23, a native of Peterborough, Ont. was named OUA Sheils Division MVP after scoring a conference-best eight tries in five regular-season games. The fourth-year Mustang co-captain added five tries in a 52-0 shutout of the Waterloo Warriors in the conference semi-final round, en route to leading defending CIS champion Western Ontario to its third consecutive OUA title. A two-time all-Canadian and four-time OUA all-star, Mervin, who earned CIS rookie-of-the-year honors in 2002, has been a member of the Canadian U23 program for the past two years, and earned her first senior cap this summer against the defending world champion New Zealand Black Ferns at the Canada Cup Tournament in Ottawa.
“Barbara is a powerful runner and an excellent defensive player who continually applies pressure on the opposition to create turnover opportunities”, commented Mustangs head coach Natascha Wesch, the first CIS women’s rugby coach of the year back in 1998. “Her support play creates an exciting link between back line attack and forwards support, enabling great continuity of play.”
(Source: Michel Bélanger, Communications Manager, CIS)
