Student athletes recognized for excellence in sport at the 49th annual DC athletic banquet

Durham College held its 49th annual athletic banquet on April 4, recognizing the achievements of DC’s student athletes over the past year and naming Ashley Black and Brandon Halliburton as 2018-19 athletes of the year.

Black delivered another exceptional year in the pitching circle with the Lords softball program and was named the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) pitcher of the year, OCAA all-star, OCAA championship MVP, and the Canadian Collegiate Softball Association (CCSA) national all-star en route to national silver for the Lords this season. Halliburton became the first Durham men’s basketball player to be named a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Canadian since 2010-11, was named an OCAA east first team all-star and was the fourth player in DC men’s basketball history to surpass 1,000 career points.

Other female MVPs included Madison Haigh, Victoria Browne, Emily Glendinning, Cory Lapointe and Althea Boncheff, while male MVPs included Cody Kraemer, Reagan Manley, Malcolm Hooper, Tyler Krabi, Colin Reilly and Josh Taylor.

In addition, this year marked the first year of competition for the Durham Lords Esports teams. Individual game MVPs included Rocket League’s Luke Logan, Hearthstone’s Mitchell Bizjak, League of Legends’ Eric Jones, Overwatch’s Calvin Lapp, Super Smash Bros. Melee’s James Mullins, CS:GO’s Austin Waite and Heroes of the Storms’ Owen Campbell.

Marie Stasiuk of the women’s basketball team and Daniel Cooper of the men’s rugby team were named the freshmen athletes of the year, while team leaders Caleigh Coels of the women’s softball team and Lucas Pichl of the men’s volleyball and golf team were the recipients of the Bonnie Ginter-Brown overall leadership awards, recognizing athletes who have gone above-and-beyond in a leadership role within their team and the greater community.

The women’s softball team was named the team of the year after winning their fourth consecutive OCAA banner, becoming the first OCAA program to capture 20 total banners and the first women’s softball team to win their fourth in a row. The season also saw long-time head coach Jim Nemish record his 500th career win while the team had five players selected as OCAA all-stars, one major OCAA award winner, an OCAA championship all-star and the OCAA championship MVP. The team also captured a CCSA national silver, their first national medal since 2012, while also having two players selected as national all-stars.

The women’s volleyball team won this year’s #DC4DC award, recognizing a combination of academics, strength and conditioning, volunteer work and support for fellow Durham Lord teams.