Anderson and Wright named Athletes of the Year

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - Acadia University's Department of Athletics is proud to announce this year's Major and Team Award winners at the Annual Fred G. Kelly Awards Banquet as selected by the coaches and players of each team.

This year's Athenaeum Male Athlete of the Year is awarded to Football's Dale Wright. From Markham, Ont., Wright was selected as the Atlantic University Sport outstanding player of the year.

Wright led the AUS conference and finished third in the country with 1,030 yards rushing this season for an average of 128.8 yards per game. He is only the second Axemen in Acadia's football history to rush over 1000 yards.

The only other Acadia player rush for over 1,000 yards is former Axemen standout Brian Walling, who posted 1,122 yards rushing during the 1986 season.

Wright also led the Atlantic conference in rushing touchdowns this season with six. He finished second in total carries with 161.

Prior to this standout season, Dale back was plagued by injury his first two seasons, playing in just one game in his 2015 rookie season and being forced to sit out last season in its entirety.

Wright's MVP nod marks the first time since 2014 that an Acadia player has been honoured as the conference's top player. Former Axemen standout Brian Jones took home the award in 2014.

From Phoenix, Arizona Paloma Anderson was named the Jean Marsh Female Athlete of the Year. Anderson averaged 18.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for the Axewomen this season.

She led the nation in assists, averaging 5.5 per game. Her 52 steals this season were the most in the Atlantic conference, while her average of 2.6 steals per game was the second best in AUS, both ranking ninth in U SPORTS.

First in team scoring and second in conference scoring, Paloma amassed 1,446 points to a set a new school record for career points scored.

She also set new school records for career free throws made with 292 and for points in a single game, scoring 41 in a 2016 game versus StFX.

Anderson finishes her career as a two-time AUS MVP, having first earned the conference's top honour in 2015-16. She is the only Acadia player to ever be named U SPORTS MVP.

She is also a three-time AUS first team all-star, having been named to the AUS first team all-star squad for the third consecutive year, as well as a two-time U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian.

The winner for Outstanding First Year Female Athlete of the Year is Volleyball's Lucy Glen-Carter. From Toronto, Ont., Glen-Carter was named to the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team. A first year outside hitter for the Axewomen volleyball team, Glen-Carter was named as an AUS First Team All-Star and on the AUS All-Rookie team. 

Glen-Carter led the Axewomen in kills per set with 2.81 and points per game with 3.60. Her 3.60 points per game was good enough for fourth in the AUS and Lucy was second in the AUS kills with 205.

Hockey's Rodney Southam from Saskatoon, Sask., is this year's First Year Male Athlete of the Year. Southam finish fifth among his team in points with 7 goals and 15 assists and fourth in assists. The first year forward finished sixth in points and in assists among all rookies in the AUS. 

This year's female recipient of The Rev. Roger Prentice Acadia Female Citizens Award is Basketball's Allie Berry from Yarmouth, N.S.

Since spending the summer between her first and second years with the Valley African Nova Scotia Development Association (VANSDA), Berry's summer employment has mostly all been community-driven.

In the summer of 2016, she worked at the Portal youth drop-in centre in Kentville. She focused on youth who were considered 'at risk' to some extent.

Berry identified a lack of programs for youth of that particular age during her time with the Portal.

Berry developed a mentorship program called Rec Buddies, a partnership between the Portal and the Town of Kentville.

This year's male The Rev. Roger Prentice Acadia Citizen Award winner is Soccer's Zachary Visser. From Winslow South, P.E.I., Visser is heavily involved in the community, volunteering his time with an array of initiatives.

He coordinates and organizes team fundraisers for the Canadian Cancer Society, the Alzheimer's Society of Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. He also serves as an instructor for Acadia's S.M.I.L.E. (Sensory Motor Instructional Learning Experience) program and has volunteered at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, P.E.I., during the summer months since 2012.

The President's Award was created three years ago to honour those who have made an outstanding contribution to their chosen sport and Acadia Athletics and is presented annually to a female and male student-athlete. They have displayed the highest standard of leadership and have conducted themselves in such a way that they have contributed to 'setting a higher standard' within their own Axewomen/Axemen Teams and/or Acadia Athletics overall.

These student-athletes have been chosen by a selection committee that includes the Director of Athletics and have been endorsed by the President of Acadia University

Winners of the Award this year included volleyball's Sarah Ross and hockey's Boston Leier.

A native of Saskatoon, Sask., Boston Leier was an assistant captained his team for the last three seasons. Named the Athlete of the Week four times this season, Boston was named to the AUS second team all-star squad.

Boston finished the season second in team goals with 15 and was fourth overall in the conference in points and eighth in goals. Boston was an Academic All-Canadian in his last three seasons.

An impressive U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian in each of her five years. Sarah Ross was an AUS All-Star in three of her four seasons including this year. She was named to the AUS All-Rookie team in 2014.

Sarah brought a competitive temperament to the team in her first season and returned from injury last year with vengeance. Besides being a fierce competitor, she is also involved in the community and was named the AUS and U SPORTS community service award winner in 2016.

Team Awards below: