Niagara College celebrated the outstanding achievements of its varsity athletes at the 54th Annual Athletic Awards Banquet, held on March 26 at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The event recognizes NC’s top student-athletes for their athletic performance, as well as their accomplishments in the classroom. The celebration is an opportunity to highlight both team successes and individual accomplishments from the 2023/2024 season. This year, a total of 98 individual awards were presented.
“We had an amazing varsity season this year and I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone,” said Michele O’Keefe, NC Director, Athletics and Student Engagement. “Our student-athletes and coaching staffs demonstrate their incredible school-work life balance year after year. Our academic accolades are especially exciting this season.”
Student-athlete recipients
Janee Harrison (St. Catharines), a guard/forward on the Knights Women’s Basketball team and Carter Thurman (Balgonie, Saskatchewan), a setter on the Knights Men’s Volleyball team were honoured as the Niagara College Knights Female and Male Athletes of the Year. Harrison was named OCAA 2nd Team All-Star, Player of the Game in their semi-final match and named to the OCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament All-Star Team. Thurman led the team in every match and surpassed 1,000 career assists mid-way through the season.
Matthew Takacs (Woodstock), and Sam Cormier (St. Catharines), were honoured as the Knights Male and Female Rookie Athletes of the Year across all sports. Takacs is a 6’3″ outside hitter on the Knights Men’s Volleyball team, and Cormier is a 6’2″ middle blocker on the Women’s Volleyball team.
Aidan Mcvey (Hamilton), a first-year student-athlete and member of the Golf team, was selected as this year’s Knights Male Tournament Sport Player of the Year.
Jamira Rousseau (Welland), a key player on the Knights’ Women’s Basketball team, and Reggie Williams (Toronto), a guard on the Knights Men’s Basketball team, were named Female and Male Leadership Award recipients across all sports.
Tori Hultink (Pelham), a midfielder on the Knights Women’s Soccer team, was named the top Female Scholastic Award recipient for achieving a 96% GPA – the top academic GPA across all sports for a Niagara College student-athlete. Ethan Alino-Dela Cruz (Mississauga), a point guard on the Knights Men’s Basketball team was recognized, for the second time in two years, as the top Male Scholastic Award for achieving a 91% GPA.
For more on NC’s 2023-24 student-athlete award recipients and a full list of winners, visit the Knights website here. The full announcement also includes the CCAA Academic All-Canadian and OCAA All-Academic award recipients.
Coaching and staff awards
The Athletic Awards Banquet is also an opportunity for NC to recognize coaches and college staff who support the Knights varsity teams through the season.
Chris Rao, Head Coach of the bronze medalist Women’s Basketball team was the recipient of the Ralph Nero Memorial Award – for Coaching Excellence & Outstanding Contributions to Student Recruitment and Retention.
Danny Cvetanovic, Operations Manager with NC’s Student Administrative Council, was the recipient of the Luciano Berardocco Memorial Award. Cvetanovic was recognized for his outstanding contribution to intercollegiate athletics in the 2023-2024 season.
Ali Weir, Nimisha Sumathi, Marilia Welter, Shazia Khan and Sarah Singleton, all members of NC’s Student Engagement team, were the recipients of the Ray Sarkis Award. The award is given to individuals who exude passion, commitment and who are community minded.
“We are grateful to our NC partners who support our varsity teams without hesitation. Thank you to everyone for such a successful season and we will see you next fall,” said O’Keefe.
