Acadia Athletics celebrates 2013-14 season at Kelly Awards Night

Acadia  Athletics Release Award Winners
Hockey's Heelis, Basketball's Klassen and Rugby's Chiasson 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 co-winners Liam Heelis and Owen Klassen.

A native of Georgetown, Ont., Liam Heelis is the third straight AUS player – and sixth in the past seven years - to win the CIS Sullivan Trophy as the CIS Most Valuable Hockey Player. The six-foot-one, 195-pound sniper exploded in his third university season as he won the AUS scoring title with 42 points, including a CIS-leading 24 goals, in only 26 league games. A terrific special teams player, he tied for the CIS lead with four short-handed markers and was second in the Atlantic conference with seven power play goals. He also potted three game-winners and ranked second in the Maritimes with 117 shots. Thanks in large part to his stellar play, the Axemen took second place in the ultra-competitive AUS conference with a 21-4-3 record and were ranked in the top five nationally for most of the season. This past December, Liam played an integral part as a team of AUS standouts claimed gold for Canada at the FISU Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy. Liam was named the AUS Most Valuable Player for the regular season and playoffs. Liam was also Acadia's nominee for AUS representation for the CIS BLG Award.

On the other side of the coin, Kingston, Ont., Owen Klassen was an AUS standout this season. Named the AUS Most Valuable Player, Klassen finished second in the Atlantic conference and seventh in the CIS in scoring this season with an average of 20.0 points per game. He also led the AUS in rebounds, averaging 10.6 per game. His 56.1 field goal percentage was good for third best in the conference. Klassen wraps up his AUS career with 1,473 total points, the third most career points of any Acadia Axemen player on record.  Klassen was also named the AUS Defensive Player of the year for the third consecutive season. This is the first time in AUS history that an athlete was named the Most Valuable Player along with Defensive Player of the Year. This is Klassen's third consecutive year being named as an AUS first team all-star and third consecutive year named CIS All-Canadian. In his freshman year, Owen was named to the AUS and CIS All-Rookie Team.

Ottawa, Ont. native Emily Chiasson was named the Jean Marsh Female Athlete of the Year. Rugby’s Chiasson recently set a new AUS record for most points scored in a single regular season with 174 points in eight games. She topped the record of 145 previously held by StFX's Magali Harvey. This is Chiasson's second consecutive year being named to the AUS all-star team. She is also a three-time CIS academic all-Canadian. Completing only three years of eligibility, Emilie led the conference in tries this season with 40 and was second in conversions with 37. Now Acadia's all-time leading scorer, Chiasson has scored 261 points in her career to sit fourth in AUS women's rugby career scoring. She was named as the AUS Rugby’s Most Valuable Player and as a CIS All-Canadian.

The winner for Outstanding First Year Female Athlete of the Year Soccer's Emily Nickerson who hails from Coldbrook, N.S.. Emily earned a first-team All-Star in the AUS as well as Conference rookie of the year in AUS Women’s soccer. An all-round player who combines athleticism, understanding, and technical ability was recognized at the National level as a CIS 2nd Team All-Canadian – a rare honour as a rookie. Her consistent performances were a key component of Acadia’s lowest Goals Against in over a decade as her ability to read the opponent and intercept key attacks. Acadia’s backline in general proved to be very strong this year making it an accomplishment to stand out even amongst the peers in her position.

Football's Adam Melanson from Kentville, N.S., is this year’s First Year Male Athlete of the Year. A graduate of the Valley's Horton High School, Adam is from a line of Melanson’s who played football at Acadia. Named the Nova Scotia High School Player of the Year upon graduating from Horton, Adam played one season with the Champlain Cougars where he was a Quebec CEGEP All-Star. Adam didn’t skip a beat when he arrived to play football on the Acadia Campus. Adam started every game for the Axemen this season on the defensive line. Adam was surrounded by a talented defensive line this season and was a bit overshadowed by the All-Stars he played, but Adam ended the season as the eighth leading tackler on the team from the defensive tackle position – a hard feat in itself.  Adam was named the AUS Football conference’s rookie of the year.

This year’s female recipient of the Acadia Female Citizens Award is Soccer’s Alana Fairfax from Somerset, N.S.. An Academic All-Canadian for the last three years at Acadia and with a 3.81 grade point average in biology, Alana is on pace to earn the honour again in 2013-14. A dedicated community leader, her major volunteer effort was the past two summers with the Acadia Global Medical Brigade, which involved a 10-day mission to Honduras for the last two summers. She has been the medical chair executive position with the student-led group for the last two years and is responsible for contacting physicians, pharmacies and medical companies to obtain medical supplies. The list of activities and events she is involved with is nothing short of impressive, including S.M.I.L.E., Relay for Life, CIBC run for the cure, Hannah Miller Memorial hockey tournament, WITS anti-bullying program, Acadia Players Association, Wolfville Nursing Home, and Valley United u14 soccer. A very worthy recipient of the Citizen Award. Alana won the AUS community service award in women’s soccer for the second year in a row and was named the AUS James Bayer Award winner.

This year’s male Acadia Citizen Award winner is Football's Zack Clarke who is from Sackville, N.S..  Zack is a leader amongst his peers on the field and off. As Co-President of the Acadia Players Association, Zack along with Amber Davison resurrected the APA into an important cog in the mechanics of the Athletics department operation. Zack has also been involved as a SMILE Instructor, the Wolfville March for Hunger Food Bank Drive, Wolfville Halloween Trick or Eat Food Bank Food Drive, a team football team leader for the Relay For Life, and a team leader in the Acadia Football Alzheimer’s Annual Fundraising Drive to name a few. Zack shows every day what it means to be an Acadia Axeman with his consistent workouts, his dedication to school and his volunteer work throughout the community.

The President's Award was created this year to honour those how have made an outstanding contribution to their chosen sport and Acadia Athletics and is presented annually to a female and male student-athlete who have . 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.

Recipients of this award will have demonstrated the unique leadership trait of having made everyone around them better and will be known as a 'builder' because their impact will have fundamentally improved their particular athletic program. Award recipients will have demonstrated these exceptional leadership skills within any combination of the three pillars of our Acadia Athletics Program: Athletics, Academics, Community.

This award is being presented for the first time as Acadia celebrates its 175th anniversary. The inspiration for the President's Award comes from a desire to recognize current student-athletes whose leadership builds on the generations of Axemen and Axewomen who, since 1838,  have developed Acadia's unique athletic tradition and culture of excellence.

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 Basketball's Abbey Duinker and Swimming's Luc Boudreau.

The 2013-14 has been a banner season for Luc Boudreau, a native of New Minas, N.S. and for the Acadia Axemen’s Swim Team. Following a strong 3rd year which saw Luc lowering his own 200m Breaststroke AUS & Swim NS Record to finish 7th at the 2013 CIS Championships, Luc made the commitment to put himself on the podium the following season. The result of that commitment has seen him move from being a strong regional and conference level competitor, to one who is a true national caliber student athlete at the CIS level. 2014 saw Luc break both the 100m and 200m Breaststroke records for the AUS, making him the fastest swimmer in those events ever in AUS history. Luc captured a Silver Medal at the CIS National Championships this past February – the medal win set a new AUS and Nova Scotia record and also was Acadia’s first medal in swimming in over 20 years. Luc's accomplishments will have an incredible impact on the future of the Acadia swim program for years to come.

With a 17 points per game average, Abbey Duinker carried the young Axewomen team by anchoring her team’s offence and defence; overcoming a career-long problem with foul trouble and did her very best to be a true on-court and off-court Leader. Abbey, a native of Cambridge, N.S., played Point-Forward against full-court pressure, then went into the Post or popped to the perimeter to try to finish the possession for her team. Abbey was the Go-To player for the Axewomen, and everything she accomplished was typically done against double- or triple-teaming. She had her best AUS/CIS season by far, as a star AUS inside scorer who is also a perimeter and three-point threat, and is among the Top 2 or 3 AUS and Top Ten CIS leaders in a number of offensive & defensive categories. A familiar face in the local basketball community, Abbey's relentless offering of her services at basketball clinics and other community initiatives has made her a positive impact on the Axewomen's basketball team and the Annapolis Valley's basketball community.

Team Awards below: