NIPISSING HONOURS CHURCH AS FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

NORTH BAY, Ont. - Volleyball player Stefanie Hancock and soccer scoring star Leesa Church shared female athlete of the year honours, while twin volleyballers Adam and Andre Leblanc were co-winners of the male athlete of the year as Nipissing University handed out hardware at the 16th annual athletic awards banquet.

Hancock, a fourth-year left-side player had a stellar season, leading the OCAA in scoring with a 4.75 points-per-game average. She was named a first-team and championship all-star as well as being named a CCAA all-Canadian.

Church made an immediate impact in her first season with the Lakers as she tallied 15 goals in 14 games, ranking second in OUA and second in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) scoring. She led her team to its first winning season in program history and was named a first-team all star.

Both Hancock and Church were also named team MVPs for their respective sports.

Sudbury's six-foot-seven twin brothers Adam and Andre Leblanc took the OCAA by storm in their rookie season, leading the team to a 9-6 record and an opening-round playoff match.

Adam was named an OCAA second-team all-star, all-star game MVP and Nipissing's volleyball MVP. He was second in team scoring, averaging 3.09 points per game.

Andre thrived in the second half of the season when he was moved to right side and led the team in scoring, averaging 3.16 points per game. Andre was named the OCAA rookie of the year, a second-team all-star and Nipissing's rookie of the year.

Other Nipissing Lakers award-winners included:

Men's Soccer
MVP: Andrew Clarke & Mohammed Nyangado
Rookie: Shayn Karn
Coaches' Award: Dan Weber
Captain's Choice: Jakob Van Schaick

Women's Soccer
MVP: Leesa Church & Samantha Behm
Rookie: Amy Laidlaw
Coaches' Award: Kendra Kennedy
Captain's Choice: Cayla Austin

Men's Volleyball
MVP: Adam Leblanc Rookie: Andre Leblanc
Coaches' Award: Jamie Vanerzande
Captain's Choice: Tyler Houghtby

Women's Volleyball
MVP: Stefanie Hancock Rookie: Kayla Gerrits
Coaches Award: Ashley Hummel
Captain's Choice: Lindsay Carson

Cross-Country
Women's MVP: Mabel Plourde-Doran
Women's Rookie: Mabel Plourde-Doran
Women's Captain Choice: Taralynn Ray
Men's MVP: Kevin Gallagher
Men's Rookie: Alex Burley
Men's Captain's Choice: Ryan Lahti

Nordic Skiing
MVP: Brianna Yard

Lakers Recognition
For outstanding support and contribution to the Athletics programs
Dr. Dennis Mock
Bob and Deb Hudson

Source: Nipissing Lakers