Cushnie and Clause named 2010-11 Brock Athletes of the Year
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - At the 2010-11 Brock Athletics Annual Awards Dinner Tuesday night men's rower Ben Cushnie (Welland, Ont.) and women's hockey player Beth Clause (Hamilton, Ont.) were named the 2010-11 Brock Male and Female Athletes of the Year.
Cushnie becomes the first men’s rower in the school’s 44-year history to be named Male Athlete of the Year.
In 2010-11, Cushnie had one of the best seasons by a Brock rower in the program’s history. He helped lead the Badgers to their eighth OUA Championship in school history and a second place team finish at the 2010 CURC Championships in Victoria.
In the two Championships, Cushnie, a fourth-year stroke, helped lead the Badgers to three golds and one silver including gold in the Men’s LWT 4 at both the OUA’s and CURC’s, gold in the Men’s LWT 4 at the OUA’s and a silver medal in the Men’s Open 8 at the CURC’s. For is performance, he was named the 2010 CURC National Oarsman of the Year.
During the fall season, he also collected two golds at the Brock Invitational in the Men’s LWT 4 and Men’s LWT 8, gold at the Head of the Trent in the Men’s LWT 8 and a silver medal in the U23 LWT Pair at the National Rowing Championships.
In 2010, Cushnie stroked the Brock Men’s 8 to a gold medal at the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, becoming the first Canadian eight to ever win the event. After winning gold at the Dad Vail, the Badgers were invited to the Royal Henley Regatta in England where they finished Top 8 in the World.
Clause becomes the first women’s hockey player to win the award since Kate Allgood in 2005-06.
In 2010-11, Clause backstopped the Badgers to their best season in school history as they placed second in the OUA with a 22-5 record.
During the regular season, Clause posted a 19-4 record with a career-best 1.64 GAA and .943 SV%. For her performance, she was named an OUA First Team All-Star and CIS Second Team All-Canadian.
In January, Clause also helped lead Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2011 World University Hockey Championships held in Turkey. She led all goaltenders in the tournament with three shutouts and a perfect goals against average of 0.00.
Clause ends her five-year career as the all-time Brock leader in games (113), minutes played (6790:50), GAA (2.16), SV% (.931), wins (52), ties (8), shutouts (11), saves (3297) and consecutive games (91). She also holds Brock single season records for games (27), minutes played (1643), wins (19), ties (6), GAA (1.64), SV% (.943), saves (822), and shutouts (4).
The President's Cup, which goes to the Brock Men's Team of the Year was awarded to the Brock Men's Rowing Team. In 2010-11, the Badgers captured their eighth OUA title in school history and finished second at the CURC National Championships.
At the Dad Vail Regatta, Brock made history as the Men's Varsity Eight became the first Canadian crew to win this prestigious event. From their they went on to the Royal Henley Regatta in England where they finished Top 8 in the world.
At the OUA Championships, Brock finished one point ahead of Western for the men's crown. The Badgers were impressive on the men's lightweight side capturing gold in the double, four and the eight. Also medalling were the men's heavyweight four who placed second and the men's heavyweight eight, men's heavyweight double and men's heavyweight single who all captured bronze.
At the National Championships, Brock's top performance came in the men's lightweight four who repeated their title, capturing a two-length victory over Victoria. The Men's Open Eight finished in second place to round out the medal count.
The Chancellor's Cup, which goes to the Brock Women's Team of the Year was awarded to the Brock Women's Curling Team. In 2010-11, the Badgers had one of their best finishes in school history capturing a bronze at the OUA Championships before going on to capture a silver medal at the CIS Championships. The team consisting of skip Courtney Hodgson (Guelph, Ont.), Joanne Curtis (Brampton, Ont.), Lauren Wasylkiw (Kleinburg, Ont.), Jessica Corrado (Etobicoke, Ont.) finished the season with an overall record of 14-6.
Curtis was named both an OUA All-Star and First Team CIS All-Canadian. Corrado and Wasylkiw were both selected as OUA All-Stars and named to the CIS All-Canadian second team.
Men's Hockey player Derek Brochu (Welland, Ont.) was the 2010-11 recipient of the R.M. Davis Surgite Award and women's swimmer Victoria Culp (Vineland, Ont.) was the 2010-11 recipient of the David Atkinson Surgite Award. The Surgite Award is presented annually to the male and female athlete that best combines athletics and academics.
In his three seasons at Brock, Brochu has been named a three-time OUA Academic and three-time CIS Academic All-Canadian holding an average of over 80 percent in the Business Administration program.
On the ice, the two-time assistant captain as led by example ranking among the team leaders in scoring all three years. In 2010-11, he had his best season to date finishing second on the team in scoring with 24 points adding 10 goals and 14 assists. He was also the recipient of the Most Gentlemanly Player Award voted on by the Brock coaching staff.
In her five seasons at Brock, Culp has been the Badgers top performer being selected Team MVP four consecutive times. She has been named a five-time OUA Academic and four-time CIS Academic All-Canadian holding an average of over 80 percent in the Concurrent Education program.
In the pool, she qualified for the CIS Championships four years. This season she broke two Brock individual records including the 200 Free and 1500 Free.
Culp has also been a great role model to youth in Niagara Region. For the past two years she has been the coordinator of the Badgers Winning at Life Program and a volunteer with the Impact Program, two of most prominent outreach programs in Niagara. She is also a club coach for Brock Niagara Aquatics and coaches at Beamsville High School.
Josten's Brock Coach of the Year honours went to men's lightweight rowing coach Mike Purcer and women's hockey coach Jim Denham.
Purcer's commitment to the improvement of the athlete, the program and the sport is truly commendable. Whether Mike is coaching on the water, working on the team training program or discussing with fellow coaches a new excerpt for his book, Mike is always thinking about what is best for the athletes.
Mike is truly deserving of this award for 2010-11 as the athletes that Mike has influenced over the years have stepped up to represent Canada, Brock University and St. Catharines Rowing Club successfully. At all three levels athletes were able to row competitively and proudly as they either wore their countries flag on their chest at the U23 World Championships or won gold medals while racing for Brock and St. Catharines.
In 2010 athletes who were coached by Mike were selected to represent Canada at the U23 World Championships and FISU Games. The success of these athletes at the elite level was directly attributed to the guidance and inspiration taught by coach Purcer. Five athletes that were directly coached by Mike included Eric Woelfl at the U23 Championships and Travis King, Jacob Cushnie, Graham Schenck, and Ian Connell all at the FISU Championships.
Brock put together a highly competitive spring program with its sights set on the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia. After pooling lightweight and heavyweight men together, Mike and the coaches built a strong and fast eight that went on to win the Men’s Varsity Eight, the first ever Canadian crew to win this event. With that win, sponsors of the Dad Vail financially supported the team trip to England where the Brock men raced the Royal Henley Regatta where they placed Top 8 in the world.
To round out the summer season, Mike once again led the St. Catharines Rowing Club Senior Lightweight Men to another outstanding Canadian Henley Regatta capturing five gold medals. The team was also a large factor in contributing to the club winning the 2010 Efficiency Trophy.
In the 2010 fall season with Brock, Purcer led the Badgers to their first OUA Championship since 2004 and a silver medal finish at the CURC National Championships. For his coaching excellence he was named both the 2010 OUA and CURC Coach of the Year. He was also named the 2010 Rowing Canada Coach of the Year.
At the OUA Championships and Brock Invitational the men's lightweight program dominated winning gold at each event. They also captured gold in the Men's 8 at the Head of the Trent and a gold and silver at the CURC National Championships.
In his first season at the helm, Denham led the Brock women's hockey team to their first 20-win season in the program’s history finishing with an overall OUA regular season record of 22-5. For his performance he was named both the OUA and CIS Coach of the Year by his peers.
For three seasons Denham was the head coach of the Ridley College Tigers girl’s hockey team. During that time the team’s overall record was 84–25–10. This included two CISAA championships, a silver medal and bronze medal in the North American Prep Hockey Association, and a bronze medal at OFSAA.
Denham was previously an assistant with the Brock men’s hockey team. He assisted both Brock Hall of Famer Mike Pelino (5 years) and current men’s hockey coach Murray Nystrom (1 year). His experience also includes three years as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Niagara University and two seasons as head coach of the St. Catharines Jr. ‘B’ Falcons.
Dallas Beaton Award recipients included men's hockey player Kurt Jory (Brandon, Man.) and two-sport athlete Brittany Dunbar (Stouffville, Ont.). These awards are presented annually to varsity athletes that exemplify the perseverance and dedication of Dallas’ time at Brock as a varsity athlete, leader and inspiration to those in the Brock Community.
Former men's rugby coach Les Gilson, assistant baseball coach Ron Zimmerman and longtime hockey supporter and local hockey icon Nip O'Hearn were all presented with Director's Awards.
"Our Director's Award recipients have shown dedication and passion to their respective sports," said interim Director of Athletics Chris Critelli. "Les, Ron and Nip are highly respected individuals in our community and we are pleased to be able to recognize them at our Athletic Awards Dinner."
This marks another great athletics season at Brock University as the Badgers added three more championships including Baseball, Men's Rowing and Women's Wrestling who all captured OUA titles. They also added four silver medals at the National Championships in baseball, men's rowing, women's curling and men's lacrosse and a bronze in women's wrestling. In Brock's 44-year athletic history they now have 28 National Championships and 56 Ontario Championships.
MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
Athlete of the Year
Male Athlete of the Year - Ben Cushnie (Men's Rowing)
Female Athlete of the Year - Beth Clause (Women's Hockey)
Team of the Year
Men's Team of the Year (Men's Rowing)
Women's Team of the Year (Women's Curling)
Director's Awards
Ron Zimmerman (Men's Baseball)
Les Gilson (Men's Rugby)
Nip O'Hearn (Men's Hockey)
Surgite Award Winners (Athletics & Academics
excellence)
R.M Davis Surgite Award - Derek Brochu (Men's Hockey)
David Atkinson Surgite Award - Victoria Culp (Women's
Swimming)
Dallas Beaton Award (community)
Kurt Jory (Men's Hockey)
Brittany Dunbar (Women's Swimming & Cross Country)
Josten's Coach of the Year
Mike Purcer (Men's Rowing)
Jim Denham (Women's Hockey)
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TEAM AWARDS
Tom Kearney Athletic Therapy Award - Stacey
Kochnowich
Baseball
Most Valuable Player - Shaun Valeriote
Rookie of the Year - Justin Ayles
Men's Basketball
Most Valuable Player - Mike Cruickshank
Rookie of the Year - Cedric Kasongo
Women's Basketball
Most Valuable Player - Whitney Gorges
Rookie of the Year - Andrea Polischuk
Cross Country
Men's Runner of the Year - Kevin Moore
Women's Runner of the Year - Brittany Dunbar
Curling
Men's Most Consistent Curler - Scott Brandon
Women's Most Consistent Curler - Joanne Curtis
Men's Fencing
Douglas Trophy (MVP) - Sean Boyle
Rookie of Year - Patrick Rodriguez
Women's Fencing
Douglas Trophy (MVP) - Nicole Hagel
Rookie of Year - Jennifer Beaudette
Men's Hockey
Nip O'Hearn Most Valuable Player - Kurt Jory
Rookie of the Year - Matt Abercrombie
Women's Hockey
Most Valuable Player - Kelly Walker
Rookie of the Year - Jessica Fickel
Men's Lacrosse
Most Valuable Player - Dustin Dunn
Rookie of the Year - Justin Pychal
Rowing
Oarsman of the Year - Brendan Coffey
Oarswoman of the Year - Megan Tucker
Men's Rugby
Clubman of the Year - Samuel Rimmer
Rookie of the Year - Ben Thompson
Women's Rugby
Most Valuable Player - Misha Maric
Rookie of the Year - Alexis David
Men's Soccer
Most Valuable Player - Ryan Toale
Rookie of the Year - Eric Van Wissen
Women's Soccer
Most Valuable Player - Stephanie DiMartino
Rookie of the Year - Larissa Bruzzese
Men's Squash
Most Valuable Player - Benjamin Abraham
Rookie of the Year - Graeme Jones
Men's Swimming
Joe Kerkhoven Award - Eliott Dumitru
Women's Swimming
Joe Kerkhoven Award - Victoria Culp
Herb deBray Progressive - Jade Watts
Women's Volleyball
Most Valuable Player - Ally Fast
Rookie of the Year - Tess Palmateer
Men's Wrestling
Wrestler of the Year - Tim Clement
Rookie of the Year - Nick Rowe
Women's Wrestling
Wrestler of the Year - Jasmine Mian / Diana Ford
Rookie of the Year - Marissa Sorrell
Cheerleading
Most Valuable Cheerleader - Kayleen Stewardson
Most Spirited Cheerleader - Alysha Mongraw
