Campoli and Hawke named Ontario Tech athletes of the year

Capping off the night, Kierstyn Hawke (Oshawa, Ont.) of the women's rowing team and Christopher Campoli (Woodbridge, Ont.) of the men's soccer teams were named athletes of the year.

Wed, Apr 6, 2022

OSHAWA, Ont. – On Tuesday night at the Regent Theatre, Ontario Tech held its 15th annual athletic awards gala, where student-athletes were recognized for their exceptional achievements. Capping off the night, Kierstyn Hawke (Oshawa, Ont.) of the women's rowing team and Christopher Campoli (Woodbridge, Ont.) of the men's soccer teams were named athletes of the year.

Hawke finished her five-year career as a Ridgeback with great success. In her most recent year, she concluded the rowing season by representing the Ridgebacks in the Canadian University Rowing Association (CURA) championship. She finished third in the lightweight B final and fifth in the open 1x B final. Just prior, herself and the rest of the rowing team competed in the OUA rowing championship where Hawke performances led the varsity team finishing first in the B final and sixth overall in the women's 1x. Earlier in the season, Hawke received athlete of the week after her positive results of placing eighth out of seventeen women's 1x rowers with a time of 8:16. With success in her academics as well, she received both OUA and Ontario Tech all-academic awards.

Coming off of his second year as a Ridgeback, Campoli scored an impressive 12 goals in 10 matches in 2021-22, with back-to-back multi-goal games. After Campoli's seven goal week, which helped the men's soccer team secure a spot in the 2021 OUA playoffs, he was named Ontario Tech, OUA and U SPORTS athlete of the week. He was also drafted third overall in the 2022 CPL-U SPORTS draft by Halifax Wanderers FC.

From the women's and men's hockey teams Zoe McGee (Kanata, Ont.) and Matthew Barron (Yarmouth, N.S.) excellent performances earned them the freshman athletes of the year award.

Standing between the pipes, McGee appeared in eight games with two shutouts, earning Ontario Tech's athlete of the week after her first shutout. At the conclusion of conference play, she finished the season with a save percentage of 0.941.

Barron led the Ridgebacks men's hockey program in scoring, contributing four goals and 13 assists in conference play, followed by a goal and two assists in the postseason. The forward from Yarmouth was named an OUA east division all-star, as well as the OUA's all-rookie team.

Other major award winners included Ashlynne Koly (Vancouver, B.C. – Women's Soccer)
and Nathaniel Sadler (Ajax, Ont. – Men's Soccer) who were named the Dr. Gary Polonsky Leadership Award recipients.

For the first time, the Ridgeback alumni award of distinction was presented to Jaclyn Gibson. The award is aimed to honour distinguished alumni who represented the heart, soul and spirit of the Ridgebacks throughout their varsity career and continue to do so in their professional career. The award recognizes one Ontario Tech graduate who was a varsity athlete that demonstrates proven leadership skills, exceptional achievements in business or industry and outstanding contributions to the community.

The Sase Narayan Unsung Hero Award was awarded to Russell Maharlika. The award recognizes a student who has positively influenced a program or organization from behind the scenes with a positive attitude, a willingness to help in whatever capacity necessary, and a commitment to excellence.

The Rob Millikin Award was awarded to Taylor Ruzgys (Amherstburg, Ont. – Women's Rowing) for exemplifying academic success, passion and heart throughout the rowing season.

Erin Ross (Lucan, Ont. – Women's Hockey) and Kari Belec (Sudbury, Ont. – Men's Hockey) were the recipients of James-Baun Cup, which is presented to a student on the women's and men's hockey teams who show commitment, dedication, perseverance, academic responsibility, leadership and is a great teammate in the pursuit of excellence. The Cup is named after Bobby Baun and his long-time friend Don James.

15th Annual Ridgebacks Awards Gala

MAJOR AWARDS

Female Athlete of the Year
Kierstyn Hawke (Oshawa, Ont.) – Women's Rowing

Male Athlete of the Year
Christopher Campoli (Woodbridge, Ont.) – Men's Soccer

Female Freshman Athlete of the Year
Zoe McGee (Kanata, Ont.) – Women's Hockey

Male Freshman of the Year
Matthew Barron (Yarmouth, N.S.) – Men's Hockey

Dr. Gary Polonsky Leadership Award
Ashlynne Koly (Vancouver, B.C.) – Women's Soccer
Nathaniel Sadler (Ajax, Ont.) – Men's Soccer

James-Baun Cup
Erin Ross (Lucan, Ont.) – Women's Hockey
Kari Belec (Sudbury, Ont.) – Men's Hockey

Rob Millikin Award
Taylor Ruzgys (Amherstburg, Ont.) – Women's Rowing

Athletic Therapy Student Trainer of the Year
Sarah Lawrence

Sase Narayan Unsung Hero Award
Russell Maharlika

Alumni Award of Distinction
Jaclyn Gibson

ETS Captain's Award
Brooklyn Parlane (Amherstview, Ont.) – Women's Lacrosse and Badminton.
JC Thivierge (Welland, Ont.) – Men's Hockey

Carleigh Taggart Award
Nicole Escano
Natalie Wozney

Nustadia Recreation Award
Hadeza Ismaila - Women's Basketball
Chris Ogie - Men's Basketball

TEAM AWARDS

Men's Badminton
MVP: Shamal Leon Salim (Oshawa, Ont.)
Leadership: Alex Cyriac (Brampton, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Cooper MacAdams (Bradford, Ont.)

Women's Badminton
MVP: Brooklyn Parlane (Amherstview, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Brooklyn Parlane (Amherstview, Ont.)

Dance
MVP: Brianna Chung-Kelly (Pickering, Ont.)
Leadership: Natalie Bates (Bowmanville, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Jordana Swaby (Scarborough, Ont.)

Men's Soccer
MVP: Christopher Campoli (Woodbridge, Ont.)
Leadership: Nathaniel Sadler (Ajax, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Luciano Nania (Ajax, Ont.)

Women's Soccer
MVP: Alicia Chisholm (Woodbridge, Ont.)
Leadership: Ashlynne Koly (Vancouver, B.C.)
Rookie of the Year: Tia Schaffer (Saskatoon, Sask.)

Men's Rowing
Leadership: Isak Stahlschmidt-Kah (Guelph, Ont.)
Novice Oarsman of the Year: Thomas Sullivan (Rigaud, Que.)

Women's Rowing
Oarswoman of the Year: Kierstyn Hawke (Oshawa, Ont.)
Leadership: Emmeline Meens Miller (Courtice, Ont.)
Novice Oarswoman of the Year: Rebecca Petch (Courtice, Ont.)

Men's Hockey
MVP: Jack Patterson (Bedford, N.S)
Leadership: Sean Ross (Bracebridge, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Matthew Barron (Yarmouth, N.S.)

Women's Hockey
MVP: Megan Johnston (Goderich, Ont.)
Leadership: Megan Johnston (Goderich, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Zoe McGee (Kanata, Ont.)

Women's Lacrosse
MVP: Caitlyn Cote (Oshawa, Ont.)
Leadership: Amanda Di Mascio (Georgetown, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Samantha Blair (Middle Sackville, N.S.)

Men's Curling
MVP: Treyton Cowell (Craighurst, Ont)
Leadership: Danton Kellington (Oshawa, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Gavin Hinton (Baltimore, Ont.)

Women's Curling
MVP: Jasmine Groleau (Hearst, Ont.)
Leadership: Jasmine Groleau (Hearst, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Julia Hambly (Ajax, Ont.)

Golf
MVP: Cory Williams (Courtice, Ont.)
Leadership: Noah McMullin (Beaver Bank, N.S.)
Rookie of the Year: Keaton Holinaty (Hardisty, Alta.)

Women's Basketball
MVP: Vanessa Budimunda (Montreal, Que.)
Leadership: Alyssa Carin (Mississauga, Ont.)
Rookie of the Year: Nadia Ismaila (Ottawa, Ont.)

Men's Basketball
MVP: Ammar Hassan (London, Ont.)
Leadership: Chris Ogie (Morinville, Alta.)
Rookie of the year: Ba-Amara Ajame (Montreal, Que.)