Boag, Rumball honoured as Queen's top Varsity Team athletes

KINGSTON, Ont. (March 25, 2015) – Liz Boag (Kingston, Ont.) of the women's basketball team and Jacob Rumball (Toronto) of the men's rugby team were named the top student-athletes for the 2014-15 season at the 79th annual Colour Awards Varsity Team athletic banquet Wednesday night at the ARC Main Gym.

Boag, this year's PHE '55 Alumnae Award winner, led the Gaels to their first national championship appearance in over a decade after taking an OUA silver medal in 2014 and got the Gaels to another OUA Final Four appearance this season.

The fifth year biology/psychology student, who stands 5-3 and played guard for Queen's, was a three-time OUA All-Star in her career which also included an OUA All-Rookie team appearance as a first-year student. A captain for the past three years she was also a CIS academic All-Canadian twice and led all scorers at the 2013-14 CIS Championship in points per game. Her peers named her team MVP twice along with being named the team rookie of the year and female Alfie Pierce award winner in 2010-11. This past year she also took on a leadership role with the Varsity Leadership Council as the VP Communications and has annually supported the Shoot for a Cure women's basketball campaign.

Rumball was awarded the Jenkins Trophy as the top male senior student-athlete. A two-time OUA All-Star, OUA MVP in 2014 and team captain for the last two seasons, Rumball is one of the most decorated athletes to don the tricolour for Queen's. To go along with his individual accomplishments he was also a member of the Gaels OUA Championship seasons in 2014, 2013 and 2012 while taking a silver in 2011 and bronze in 2010 as well.

During his time at Queen's, Rumball has been a tremendous ambassador for the university. He is a three-time OUA academic all-star and along with the rest of the men's rugby team raised over $150,000 for the CIBC Run for the Cure during his five years. The Economics major also accumulated numerous national recognitions as he played with the Canada U20 team and was an Ontario Blues national champion three times.

With a number of standout performances by individual athletes in 2014-15, the Outstanding Performance of the Year (OPY) honour was awarded to Larkin Davenport Huyer (Caledon, Ont.) of women's rowing.

Davenport Huyer excelled in all levels of competition for both Queen's and her country this past year. In the summer she competed for Canada at the Commonwealth Rowing Championship finishing with a gold in the 500m double and bronze in the 1500m double.

She then lead her team to a second place team finish at the OUA championship rowing to a gold in the women's double and to a silver as part of the women's eight. For her efforts she was named an OUA All-Star. At the Canadian University Rowing Championship (CURC) Davenport Huyer continued to excel as she won the gold in the women's single event completing her season with a gold medal at the international, national and provincial levels.

The Alfie Pierce Trophy recipients for top male and female rookie of the year were Addi Halladay (North Augusta, Ont.) from women's hockey and Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) from men's hockey.

Halladay settled in nicely with the women's hockey team that was nationally ranked every week this season. She finished the season with 12 goals and 11 assists in 24 games to lead all OUA rookies in points, earning a spot on the OUA All-Rookie team. Halladay came up big for Queen's when it mattered most finishing with six power-play goals, third best in the conference, and two game winning goals. Her first season saw her finish third on the team in scoring contributing with strong play at both ends of the ice.

Abraham, this year's CIS Rookie of the Year and CIS All-Rookie team member, finished tied for the lead in scoring amongst all defencemen in the CIS. He was honoured as the OUA East Top  Defenceman and Rookie of the Year while being named an OUA East All-Star and OUA All-Rookie. Abraham finished the season with five goals and 23 assists for 28 points to lead the Gaels in scoring while scoring the game winning goal in the Carr-Harris Cup win over RMC. The future is bright for both Abraham and the Gaels.

The Jim Tait Trophy, is presented annually to the top performing Varsity Team. The award was presented Tuesday night to the OUA Champion men's rugby team. After losing their first game since 2012 at McMaster in late September the Gaels rallied to defeat a tough Guelph team at home before meeting the Marauders once again, this time in the playoffs. The Gaels were dominant in the playoff re-match with McMaster winning 61-0 at Nixon Field. Queen's then hosted Guelph looking to defend their back-to-back titles at home. After trailing 16-0 early to the Gryphons the Gaels stormed back to win the game, and their third straight championship, 32-23.

The team was led by Jacob Rumball, Tommy Kirkham, Brendan Sloan, James Dent, David Worsley and Kainoa Lloyd who  were named OUA All-Stars. Rumball was also named the OUA MVP for his efforts this season.

In addition to their success on the field, the Men's Rugby team excels off the field as well. They have 12 OUA academic All-Stars and highly involved in community initiatives raising over $40,000 in the annual CIBC Run for the Cure while also supporting programs such as the White Ribbon campaign at Queen's working to promote gender equality along with Soul Food and Martha's Table.

New this season the Varsity Support Service Awards were presented to recognize the individuals who have demonstrated dedication and leadership while making a significant contribution to the success of the Queen's Varsity Sport Program in Athletic Therapy (Hal Dunlop Shield), Athlete Services, Home Events and Strength and Conditioning. This year's winners were Kathryn Telford, Jessie de Boer, Samm Dunseath and Meghan Fisher respectively.

On Tuesday, Queen's Athletics and Recreation honoured its top athletes in the Varsity Club stream. Erin Milner (Newmarket, Ont.) from Synchronized Swimming and Ryan Wilson (Toronto) from Men's Ultimate, claimed the top senior student-athlete awards while Women's Squash earned Varsity Club of the Year.  Haley Golding (Newcastle, Ont.) from Cycling and Austin O'Boyle (Toronto) from Baseball claimed rookie of the year awards.

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS & RECREATION VARSITY TEAM AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR 2014-15
Jenkins Trophy: Jacob Rumball (Men's Rugby)
PHE '55 Alumnae Award: Liz Boag (Women's Basketball)
Outstanding Performance of the Year (OPY): Larkin Davenport Huyer (Rowing)
Jim Tait Trophy: Men's Rugby
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Male): Spencer Abraham
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Female): Addi Halladay
Support Services Awards:  Kathryn Telford (Athletic Therapy), Jessie de Boer (Athlete Services), Samm Dunseath (Home Events) and Meghan Fisher (Strength and Conditioning)

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS & RECREATION VARSITY CLUB AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR 2014-15
Marion Ross Trophy: Erin Milner (Synchronized Swimming)
Jack Jarvis Trophy: Ryan Wilson (Men's Ultimate)
Award of Merit Trophy: Women's Squash
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Female): Haley Golding (Cycling)
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Male): Austin O'Boyle (Baseball)