Congratulations to our Sport PEI nominees!
The University of Prince Edward Island would like to congratulate the following UPEI athletes and coaches who were nominated for 2013 Sport PEI awards.
'We are very proud of our UPEI nominees for Sport PEI's annual awards,' commented UPEI Athletics and Recreation Director Bill Schurman. 'It's a wonderful reflection of the quality of our high performance Panther programs. Best of luck to our nominees.'
UPEI swimmer Janet Gamble has been nominated for the 'Senior Female Athlete' award. Gamble, a former Olympian, is a swimming sensation who has done something few athletes have accomplished-she is a three-time winner of university female athlete of the year awards (twice at McMaster and once at UPEI). She is the only swimmer in UPEI history to receive the Female Athlete of the Year award. She has been honoured five times as a national swimming all-star throughout her career. She holds eight individual swimming records at UPEI and contributed to two team records. She received three gold medals at the AUS Championship-50m fly, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke. She also claimed a silver medal in the 100m freestyle. She broke AUS records for both the 50m fly and 50m free. While competing at the CIS championships, she competed in four events and ranked in the top 7 out of over 50 swimmers.
Jimmie Mayaleh, a fifth-year soccer senior, was one of the sport's best. He is nominated for Sport PEI's 'Intercollegiate Male Athlete' award. Mayaleh finished the 2012 regular season tied for third in the league in scoring and tied for third in the league in overall points. He was a first team AUS All Star and a second team CIS All-Canadian. He was named UPEI Male Athlete of the Week twice last year. He is the one threat every other AUS coach talks about. One AUS coach was quoted: 'We knew if we stopped Jimmie, we would win the game.'
UPEI head coaches Bruce Donaldson of the women's hockey team, and Bill Calhoun of the UPEI and Charlottetown Bluephins swim teams, were both nominated for Sport PEI 'Coach of the Year.'
Donaldson has been a cornerstone for women's hockey in PEI. This past year it paid off, as the UPEI women's hockey team won their first ever AUS Championship and went on to compete at the CIS Championship. Donaldson was named the AUS 2012 Women's Hockey Coach of the Year making him the first UPEI women's hockey coach to receive the honour. Donaldson fundraises nonstop for, and spends countless hours on building the program. He also runs the annual Paderno Cup Hockey Tournament for women over 35 years old, and that raises money for cancer research. The tournament attracts from all over the Maritimes. He is also a past Canada Games hockey coach.
Calhoun has excelled at coaching both the UPEI and Charlottetown Bluephins swim teams and is integral to the success of both teams. Calhoun's success at UPEI was clear as he coached two prestigious swimmers-Janet Gamble and Eric Beaton. Calhoun was named head coach for the 2013 Canada Games swim team.
The UPEI women's hockey team has been nominated for Sport PEI's 'SCORE Team of the Year' award. This season's players were an incredible group of individuals who came together to win UPEI's first AUS Championship Women's Hockey banner in style. Losing to Dalhousie in game 1 in overtime which gave them a point, they then went on to defeat St.FX in game two in overtime, and advanced to the finals. UPEI faced Mount Allison University in the championship game defeating them 3-0. The team then went on to compete at the CIS Women's Hockey Championship where they finished 6th in the country.
Sport PEI will name the winners at the annual awards banquet on Wednesday, April 9, at the Rodd Royalty in Charlottetown. Congratulations and good luck to all UPEI nominees!
