Lancer women's basketball star Jessica Clemençon has been named the top female university athlete in Canada.
The second year forward was honoured as the recipient of the prestigious 2011 BLG Award as the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) athlete of the year.
The recipients of the 19th annual BLG Awards were announced Monday night at The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts in Vancouver, British Columbia. The awards show will premiere on TSN on Saturday, June 4, at noon EDT.
A native of Saint-Rambert, France, Clemençon took home the Jim Thompson Trophy, named after the late president of TSN and presented annually to the female BLG Award winner.
The other female BLG nominees for 2011 were Université de Moncton hockey player Mariève Provost of Laval, Que., University of Montreal soccer player Véronique Laverdière of Montreal, as well as University of British Columbia volleyball player Shanice Marcelle of Victoria.
Clemençon became only the second recipient in University of Windsor history, after track and field and cross country star Ryan McKenzie won in 2003.
On the men's side, Carleton basketball player Tyson Hinz was named the male BLG Award winner. It marked the first time in history that two basketball players were honoured in the same year and only the second time that both awards go to the nominees from the Ontario University Athletics regional association. Toronto track and field athlete Foy Williams and McMaster basketball player Titus Channer had swept the awards for OUA in 1998.
All eight nominees – one female and one male from each of CIS' four regional associations - received a commemorative gold ring, while Clemençon and Hinz were also presented with a trophy and a $10,000 scholarship to attend a Canadian University graduate school.
The winners were selected by the Canadian Athletic Foundation, a not-for-profit Board established for the purpose of administering the BLG Awards and protecting the integrity of the selection process.
“On behalf of BLG and the Canadian Athletic Foundation trustees, I would like to congratulate Jessica and Tyson, the winners of the 19th annual BLG Awards,” said Doug Mitchell, National Co-Chair of BLG. “The eight student-athletes who were nominated are all outstanding in their sport and it is always very difficult to choose only two winners from this elite group. I congratulate all the nominees for their accomplishments.”
“Once again this year, all nominees had impressive pedigrees and would have been worthy winners,” said Marg McGregor, chief executive officer of CIS. “CIS is very proud of all the finalists and we congratulate Jessica and Tyson on winning these prestigious awards.”
After being named CIS rookie of the year in her Lancers' debut in 2009-10, Clemençon, a 6-foot-3 post, captured the Nan Copp Award as the most outstanding player in CIS basketball this season, becoming the first player in history to win those two awards in back-to-back campaigns.
She kicked off the 2010-11 schedule by leading the Lancers to three straight pre-season tournament titles – earning all-tourney status on each occasion – and never looked back. After finishing the regular season among the national leaders in almost every statistical category - including an OUA-leading 19.0 points per game - she scored a game-high 17 points in the Ontario final as Windsor claimed its third consecutive OUA banner.
The Lancers then had a chance to make history at the CIS championship by becoming the first team to hoist the coveted Bronze Baby Trophy on home court. They again turned to Clemençon, who once again delivered. She topped all players in both the CIS semi-final and gold medal contests with back-to-back 18-point performances to help Windsor capture its first national title.
It marked the first time since 1991 that the CIS women's basketball championship banner was claimed by a school from outside Canada West.
