Chargers celebrate a year of excellence
April 9, 2009
After opening the doors to their shiny new home this past September, it was only fitting for the Camosun College Chargers to hold their 15th Annual Athletic Awards Ceremony inside the newly broken in gym at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE).
“It was a great venue for this year’s ceremony,” said Graham Matthews, Coordinator of Camosun Recreation and Athletics. “Celebrating our first season in PISE and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of our student-athletes and coaches right here where all the work was done was very symbolic. Equally as monumental was raising the curtain this evening to reveal our 13 championship banners and sharing that moment with our student-athletes, alumni and Chargers supporters!”
View the Chargers year in review... (pdf 9MB)
The Chargers had much to celebrate this season, collecting more hardware and individual distinctions than any year before. The Chargers women’s basketball squad earned a gold medal at the BCCAA Provincial Championships and placed seventh in the country out of 60 collegiate college/universities for their outstanding efforts while the Camosun men’s volleyball team also earned Provincial Gold and went on to take the Bronze at the CCAA National Championships.
Three Camosun student-athletes were awarded major prizes at the evening’s event which was emceed by A ‘News’ sports anchor/reporters Mira Laurence and Jordan Cunningham.
First-year wing/post Lauryn Kerr (St. Michael’s University) from the Chargers women’s basketball team was awarded the prestigious President’s Cup for scoring a perfect 9.0 grade point average for the Fall 2008 semester in Camosun’s University Transfer program and for her high level of commitment to the Chargers athletics program.
“Lauryn is the second Camosun Charger to obtain this academic achievement – a clear demonstration that our student-athletes are striving for absolute excellence!” noted Camosun President Dr. Liz Ashton.
Fifth-year Camosun student-athlete Dan Goodburn from the Chargers men’s volleyball program was the inaugural recipient of the Linda Henderson Award for Excellence. Over his five-year career with the Chargers, which began in the Fall of 2004, Goodburn maintained an academic GPA of 7.24 and accumulated over 20 provincial and national academic and athletic awards – more than any other student-athlete in the 15-year history of the Chargers. Goodburn is the first student-athlete to play his full five years of eligibility solely with the Chargers. He leaves Camosun with a Bachelor in Business Administration and will start a new position at Pricewaterhouse Coopers in Vancouver following his graduation.
Second-year wing/post Carmen Lapthorne was recognized for earning a lion’s share of awards from the CCAA National and BCCAA Provincial conferences this year. Lapthorne received a number of distinctive awards including the CCAA Academic All-Canadian, SIRC CCAA All-Canadian, BCCAA Player of the Year, BCCAA First Team All-Star and BCCAA Athlete of the Week. Camosun was also proud to announce that Lapthorne was selected as the 2009 recipient of the Basketball BC Outstanding College Female Player Award for her outstanding achievements, personal sportsmanship and leadership qualities.
Lapthorne and six other Chargers student-athletes were recognized for their stand out performances at the CCAA and BCCAA Championships. CCAA National Championship All-Stars included Aleks Saddlemyer (First Team – men’s volleyball), Dan Goodburn (Second Team – men’s volleyball) and Carmen Lapthorne (Second Team – women’s basketball). Women’s basketball team members Kate Carlson and Carly Hopp earned BCCAA Provincial Championship All-Stars as did men’s volleyball athletes Dan Goodburn and Brent Hall. Lapthorne and Saddlemyer each earned the title of MVP at the BC Championships in their respective sports.
Receiving recognition for their outstanding academic and athletic performances within the BCCAA and CCAA conferences throughout the year were: Nick Adair, first-year post from GP Vanier (BCCAA Men’s Basketball Rookie of the Year and BCCAA All-Rookie Team); Dan Goodburn, fifth-year left-side from Claremont (BCCAA Men’s Volleyball First Team All-Star and CCAA Athlete of the Month), Teresa Hartrick, second-year post from Claremont (SIRC CCAA Academic All-Canadian and BCCAA Women’s Basketball Second Team All-Star) and first-year wing Carly Hopp from Oak Bay (BCCAA Women’s Basketball All-Rookie Team).
Four Camosun student-athletes received the BCCAA Academic Excellence Award sponsored by Accent Inns for achieving an academic honours standing over a minimum period of one full academic year and 27 credit hours. All were members of the Chargers women’s basketball team and included third-year student-athletes Kendall Allen (Associate of Arts), Kate Carlson (Criminal Justice) and Jillian Proudfoot (University Transfer), as well as second-year Teresa Hartrick (University Transfer).
Special recognitions were presented to head coaches Brett Westcott (women’s basketball) and Charles Parkinson (men’s volleyball), recipients of the 2008-09 BCCAA Coach of the Year awards for their outstanding program performance, program development and contributions to sport.
Four student-athletes were acknowledged for their Team Leadership throughout the year. Among those were Dan Goodburn (men’s volleyball), Kate Carlson (women’s basketball), Caitlin Weir (women’s volleyball) and Shahn James (men’s basketball).
Four additional student-athletes were recognized as Team Rookie. Those included Josh Coutts (men’s volleyball), Carly Hopp (women’s basketball), Stephanie Fulcher (women’s volleyball) and Nick Adair (men’s basketball).
A final group of Camosun athletes were honoured for motivating others with their outstanding character and positive attitude. The Team Spirit award was presented to Brent Hall (men’s volleyball), Heidi Padjen (women’s basketball), Laura Ouilette (women’s volleyball) and Dylan Borgerson (men’s basketball).
Soon to be retired Camosun College President Dr. Liz Ashton closed the evening by acknowledging the hard work and dedication of the Chargers coaches, student-athletes and staff and thanked everyone for 15 amazing years.
“It’s truly been a fantastic experience for me to watch the Chargers grow and develop into such a successful program over the years,” commented Dr. Ashton. “The Chargers have made a name for Camosun College in our community and the world of collegiate sport in Canada.”
Contact
Graham Matthews
Camosun College Recreation and Athletics Coordinator
matthews@camosun.bc.ca
250–220–2505
